Bolshoi Confidential

Secrets of the Russian Ballet - From the Rule of the Tsars to Today

De: Simon Morrison

Narrado por: Paul Boehmer

On January 17, 2013, a hooded assailant hurled acid into the face of the artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet, making international headlines. A lead soloist, enraged by institutional power struggles, later confessed to masterminding the crime. The scandal, though shocking, is not an anomaly in the turbulent and tormented yet magnificent history of the Bolshoi.

Renowned music historian Simon Morrison reveals the ballet as a crucible of art and politics, beginning with the disreputable inception of the theater in 1776 and proceeding through the era of imperial rule, the chaos of revolution, the oppressive Soviet years, and the recent $680 million renovation project. Drawing on exclusive archival research, Morrison creates a richly detailed tableau of the centuries-long war between world-class art and life-threatening politics that has defined this storied institution. As Morrison makes clear, as Russia goes, so goes the Bolshoi Ballet.

©2016 Simon Morrison (P)2016 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Not very engaging

This book didn't have a lot of potential to begin with but why on why can't they choose readers who can pronounce the Russian words? I'm not even sure he got Da right - it was painful to listen to!

Not Sure Why Reviews Are So Negative

This isn’t by far the best book I’ve ever listened to, but it certainly was not the worst either! I thought the narrator did a sufficient job and I found him easy to listen to. As far as the material, I’m not sure what people we’re expecting but this book is what it says it is, a history of the Bolshoi ballet. As a history buff and a fan of classical music and ballet, I found it very interesting and picked up quite a few nuggets I hadn’t been aware of before. It was intriguing to learn about the evolution of the Bolshoi through the many political phases of Russia to current times.

“Confidential” in the title is a great hint

While the book gives an in-depth history of the institution (which is its saving worth), it is written in a tabloid style — mixed with Pravda (Soviet) press releases — leaving the the listener to deal with locating the soul of the Bolshoi. Is it in the passion found in Russian literature? Or gray and ponderous like Soviet architecture? I didn’t particularly like the style of writing, but it got across the riddle of Russian artistic expression,