Bolshoi Confidential
Secrets of the Russian Ballet - From the Rule of the Tsars to Today
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Bolshoi Confidential
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Narrated by:
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Paul Boehmer
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By:
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Simon Morrison
About this listen
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 BooksListeners also enjoyed...
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Story4 out of 5 stars 14
Growing up, Alice Robb dreamed of becoming a ballet dancer. But by age fifteen, she had to face the reality that she would never meet the impossibly high standards of the hyper-competitive ballet world. After she quit, she tried to avoid ballet—only to realize, years later, that she was still haunted by the lessons she had absorbed in the mirror-lined studios of Lincoln Center, and that they had served her well in the wider world. The traits ballet takes to an extreme—stoicism, silence, submission—are valued in girls and women everywhere.
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1 out of 5 stars
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That vocal fry
- By melissa f goodwin on 03-03-23
By: Alice Robb
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The Still Point
- By: Tammy Greenwood
- Narrated by: Vanessa Johansson
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7
Ever, Lindsay, and Josie have ushered their daughters—Bea, Olive, and Savvy—through years of dance classes. They've tended bloodied feet, stitched ribbons to countless pairs of pointe shoes, and forged friendships that seem to transcend rivalry. But now Etienne Bernay, enfant terrible of French ballet, has come to their conservatory. Not only will he direct this year's production of The Nutcracker, but he's brought along a film crew to document his search for one special student who will receive a full scholarship to the Ballet de Paris Academie.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Riveting story
- By LCA on 05-25-24
By: Tammy Greenwood
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Madness Under the Royal Palms
- Love and Death Behind the Gates of Palm Beach
- By: Laurence Leamer
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 128
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 78
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Story4 out of 5 stars 79
In March 1999, a Palm Beach matron and her socially ambitious husband invited the elite of the island for a dinner dance honoring Prince Edward. Among those dancing to the string orchestra that evening would be those accused of murder and spousal abuse, and others who would suffer fates both unseemly and unspeakable. Among the outer circle there would be murders, suicides, and fatal fires.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Just what I've been waiting for
- By kk on 09-29-09
By: Laurence Leamer
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Apollo's Angels
- A History of Ballet
- By: Jennifer Homans
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 23 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 139
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 118
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 119
For more than 400 years, the art of ballet has stood at the center of Western civilization. Its traditions serve as a record of our past. A ballerina dancing The Sleeping Beauty today is a link in a long chain of dancers stretching back to 16th-century Italy and France: Her graceful movements recall a lost world of courts, kings, and aristocracy, but her steps and gestures are also marked by the dramatic changes in dance and culture that followed.
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4 out of 5 stars
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a great book poorly read
- By Anonymous User on 04-14-11
By: Jennifer Homans
What listeners say about Bolshoi Confidential
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- J. Palmer
- 02-27-17
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!
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 05-21-23
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.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- DMgraphicGlass
- 01-06-25
“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,
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