Submitted by K. E. Jones, Nov 14, 2006 18:01

Gergiev most certainly calls the all the shots at the Maryinsky Theatre. He is not a figure head all; he is a king or queen maker. Therefore Vishneva turned to him as a last resort. Vishneva was denied Odette/Odile for a decade because the Maryinsky Ballet Administrative staff maintained that her legs and feet were unsightly for this ballet. Gergiev 's number one concern and preocupation is and always has been the Maryinsky Opera and Orchestra, not the Maryinsky Ballet. He knows very little about the ballet in general, and doesn't care about ballet. He only cares about music. If Vishneva were not the main breadwinner for the Maryinsky name, he wouldn't have "lifted a baton" on her behalf for a role that, IMO, she is aesthetically, technically and artistically unsuited for. In this case the Maryinsky Ballet Administrators and I agree, but it's moot now.

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