CAPSULE REVIEW : Bolshoi Brings ‘Ivan’ the Tawdry to Shrine

The Bolshoi is back. No other ballet company inspires such mixed or such passionate reactions.

The general public here was conditioned long ago to equate this ensemble from mysterious Moscow with athletic bravura in aesthetic excelsis. The American press, however, has recently registered skepticism.

Reviewing the opening at Lincoln Center for the Village Voice last month, Deborah Jowitt complained of being “gradually numbed” by Yuri Grigorovich’s “Ivan the Terrible.” It was the selfsame “Ivan” that inaugurated the 14-performance season at Shrine Auditorium on Tuesday. A healthy crowd came to cheer, and did. Nevertheless, for at least one minority reporter this seemed a case of better never than late.

“Ivan the Terrible” was new, and controversial, back in 1975. In those distant days, the title role served as a grateful vehicle for two virtuoso danseurs: Yuri Vladimirov and Vladimir Vasiliev. With such compelling artists, it was possible--from time to time--to overlook the abiding kitsch and the tawdry excesses.

A genuinely magnetic czar could draw attention away from the simplistic, nearly comic military maneuvers imposed on the strutting men, the limp cliches visited upon the slinking women, the primitive symbolism sporadically employed to embellish the scenario. Given the right distractions, a friendly observer could try to ignore the political ambiguities that popped out of the quasi-historic libretto, not to mention the passing infelicities of the Prokofiev pastiche drafted as a supportive score.

It wasn’t so easy to look the other way on Tuesday, with Alexander Vetrov as Ivan IV. He is a solid technician and a conscientious, hard-working actor. He stalks the throne with spidery authority, partners his beloved Anastasia attentively in the acrobatic love duets, scowls continuously and ferociously, hoists himself picturesquely in the ubiquitous bell ropes for the ambiguous crucifixion pose that heralds the final curtain. Ultimately, alas, he settles for a one-dimensional, lightweight performance that conveys much agony, little ecstasy and only the vaguest compulsion.

Gedeminas Taranda made his belated local debut as Ivan’s friend-turned-enemy, Prince Turbsky. Although his chunky physique proved somewhat disadvantageous, he exuded a nice aura of crafty ardor and mastered Grigorovich’s nasty kicks and heroic leaps with ease. Maria Bilova as Anastasia stressed the same stoic, willowy lyricism as rapturous bride, willing martyr and grieving ghost.

A complete review runs in Thursday’s Calendar section.