Everything started ten years ago, when Dmitri Berman, a young and yet unknown 23 year-old stage director, decided to work with a group of fellow-students on a new performance of Stravinsky's "Mavra". They had to reduce the score to the 7 available musicians, helped in the process by Kiril Tikhonov, a famous conductor who had made most of his carreer in the United States.
Helikon (1) Opera was born. Sheltered between the magnificent walls of an old XVIIIth century Moscow palace, near the Tchaikovsky Conservatory and the Bolshoy, the orchestra rapidly grew to normal size, and this new stage soon started to draw every night a faithful audience of opera lovers, both passionnate and fortunate enough to buy tickets 10 times as expensive as at the Bolshoy...
In a few years' time, Helikon Opera repertoire was to include more than 20 different operas, many of them never staged in Russia, or elsewhere in the world. But even in the most popular works, everything was new, daring and brilliant, a long way from the conventionnal and overplayed versions, while every single artist, singer, chorist or musician could compete with the best in Russia.

In 1998, Dmitry Berman was awarded the "Golden Mask", a Russian equivalent of the Grammy Awards, for his sulphurous staging of Bizet's masterpiece "Carmen". A host of "Golden Masks" have followed since : in 1999 for "The Tzar's Bride", in 2000 for "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk"...

Today, Helikon Opera employs some 300 people. This outstanding ensemble, subsidized by the city of Moscow, forms a permanent troupe, not limited to a single production, as is often the case in most opera houses nowadays.
To this singularity, Helikon Opera probably owes its exceptionnal artistic level, and a unity of purpose which is not easily found elsewhere.

But of course, it is the strong personnality of its director, Dmitri Bertman, his modern approach and adaptation of the Stanislavsky method, the corrosive humour, the speed and sheer vitality of every single one of his new productions, which have ensured increasing success to Helikon Opera, bringing fresh blood to the lyrical arts.

In 1999, Helikon's international career takes off : after three performances at the Salzburg Festspielhaus in June, they are invited by the Festival de Radio France in Montpellier (France) in July and are at the Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts in October, followed by a series of performances at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris and a tour across France in November and December.

In February 2000, Helikon is back at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, in May they are in Rouen, where a television feature is filmed during the performances of "Carmen"; in June they are invited by Mstislav Rostropovitch to his Rencontres Musicales d'Evian, for a "Die Fledermaus" that Rostropovitch himself conducted. In July, Helikon is for the second time at the Festival de Radio France et Montpellier, and in November and December, they are once again on tour in France and Spain.

2001 started off with a 21 performance triumphal tour of "La Traviata" in the United States. In June, the Festival de Musique de Strasbourg (France) extends an invitation for a brand new production of "Aida". In August, they conquered the public of the International Festival of Santander (Spain) with "Eugene Onegin" and "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk". In November and December, Helikon is back on tour in France for the third consecutive year.

August 2002 witnessed yet another return of the company to Spain, with "The Tales of Hoffmann" and Alban Berg's "Lulu", at the International Festival of Santander and the Festival Castell in Peralada. In October 2002, Helikon is invited by the Beijing Music Festival for an Asian premiere of Berg's "Lulu".

In March and April 2003, Helikon once again tours extensively in France and Spain. June 2003 is marked by the company's return to Spain, with the performances of "Peter the Great" - an homage to Saint Petersburg's 300th anniversary - at the Salamanca Music Festival.

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(1) Helikon was a mountain in ancient Greece, where poets sang to Apollo and the Muses. It is also an enormous tuba, and the discordant clash between these two meanings seems to have rung in Dmitry Bertman's ears...

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Dmitri BERTMAN, artistic director

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Born in Moscow in 1967, Dmitri A. Bertman enters the musical theater department of the GITIS Lunacharsky State Theatrical Arts Institute (Russian Theatrical Arts Academy) in 1984, where he studies musical theater direction with National Artist of the USSR, Professor G.P. Ansimov. While still a student at the GITIS, Dmitry Bertman begins staging productions in professional theaters in Moscow, Tver and Syktyvkar, and works as an assistant at the Boshoi Theatre. In 1990 Bertman works at the Salzburg Elizabet Buhne theater in Austria. In 1990, the twenty-three-year-old Dmitry Bertman founds a new op-era theater in Moscow, called The Helikon Opera Theater. Many of the works that Dmitry Bertman stages are national and world premieres. The company receives the status of state theater in 1993 and quickly becomes popular in Russia and abroad. Dmitry Bertman's stagings were highly acclaimed at inter-national festivals in Switzerland (1990), France (1991, 1999), Great Britain (1992, 1995, 1996), Germany (1993), Ireland (1995,1996,1997), Lebanon (1996,1997,1998) and Austria (1999), as well as in some of the world's most famous halls, including London Queen Elisabeth Hall, Salzburg Festspielhaus, Montpel-lier Opera Berlioz, Paris Theatre des Champs Elysees. Since 1994, Dmitry Bertman is directing master classes at the Bern Opera Studio, where he teaches future opera singers the theatrical methods of Stanislavsky, Chekhov and Shalyapin, and since 1996 he is heading the course in musical theater produc-tion at the Russian Theatrical Arts Academy. In 1997 Dmitry Bertman was awarded the Honored Art Worker of Russia title for his achievement in the performing arts. In 1998, 1999 and 2000 he was awarded Russia's most prestigious theatre award - "The Golden Mask" for best opera director (Bizet's "Carmen"- 1998, Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Tsar's Bride" - 1999. Chostakovitch's "Lady Macbeth on Mtsensk" - 2000). In 2001, Dmitry Bertman's new production of Verdi's Falstaff was critically acclaimed in all of Russia, and in 2002, Dmitry Bertman premiered, in June, a first time ever staging in Russia of Berg's Lulu, before taking it to Santander and Peralada, in Spain, in the month of August and to Beijing in October, for an Asian premiere of the work.

Productions réalisées par Dmitri Bertman

Ulanovsky, La Poule aux oeufs d'or (1988) Komi Republic Musical Theater
Gershwin, About You I Sing (1989) Odessa Musical Comedy Theater
Bortnyansky, Quint Fabius (1990) Forum Theater
Stravinsky, Mavra (1990) Helikon Opera
Hindemit, Hin und Zuruck (1990) Helikon Opera
Prokofiev, Maddalena (1991)* Helikon Opera
Rimsky-Korsakov, Kashey l'immortel (1991) Helikon Opera
Prokofiev , Le vilain petit canard (1992) Helikon Opera
Mozart, Appolon et Hyacinthe (1992) Helikon Opera
Leoncavallo, I Pagliacci (1993) Helikon Opera
Tchaikovsky, Ondine (1994) Helikon Opera
Poulenc, La Voix Humaine (1994) Helikon Opera
Rimsky-Korsakov, Mozart et Salieri (1994) Helikon Opera
Tchaikovsky, Dame de Pique(1994) Helikon Opera
Verdi, La Traviata (1995) Helikon Opera
Tchaikovsky, La Dame de Pique (1995) Wexford Festival Opera (Irlande)
Verdi, Aida (1996) Helikon Opera
Tchaikovsky, La Dame de Pique (1996) (Beyrouth, Liban)
Strauss, La Chauve Souris (1996) Helikon Opera
Tchaikovsky, Eugene Oneguine (1996) Wexford Festival Opera (Irlande)
Puccini, La Boheme (1996) Wexford Festival Opera (Irlande)
Bizet, Carmen (1996) Helikon Opera
Tchaikovsky, Eugene Onegin (1997) Helikon Opera
Rimsky-Korsakov, La Fiancée du Tsar (1997 ) Helikon Opera
Dargomijsky, Rusalka (1997) Wexford Festival Opera (Irlande)
J.Offenbach, Les Contes d'Hoffmann (1998) Helikon Opera
Verdi, La Traviata (1998) Nationaltheater Mannheim (Allemagne)
Verdi, La Traviata (1999) Canadian Opera Company (Toronto, Canada)
Tchaikovsky, Mazeppa (1999) Helikon Opera
Rimsky-Korsakov, Le Coq d'Or (1999) Helikon Opera
Voices of Invisible (Bible's triptych) : Bardanashvili Eva, Kobekin Moses, Schetinski Annunciation (1999) ** Helikon
Mozart, Cosi fan tutte (1999) Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele (Germany)
Dmitri Shostakovitch, Lady Macbeth de Mtsensk (2000) Helikon Opera
Stravinsky, The Rake's Progress (2000) Volksoper Vienne (Austria)
Strauss, La Chauve-Souris (2000) (sous la direction de M. Rostropovitch) Festival d'Evian (France) 
Verdi, Aida (2001) Festival de Musique de Strasbourg
Verdi, Falstaff (2001) Opera Helikon
Aban Berg, Lulu (2002) Opera Helikon
Gretry, Pierre le Grand (2003) Opera Helikon

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REVUE DE PRESSE 

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"The transposition of Prosper Mérimée's story into the world of a present day megapole works perfectly. The chorus is reminiscent of Bernstein's West Side Story, as they dance as well as sing : there's musical comedy in this nowadays Carmen." ...
"Dmitri Bertman's staging... is intelligent, sulphurous and coherent, the music, intoxicatingly vigorous and expressive. Remarkably played and sung (impeccable diction) by a young company full of talent, fire and spirit, the opera captivates with its sarcastic, chocking irony." ...
"A most original Carmen, without any question. (...) And the cast shows fabulous vitality." ...
"This is vivid, coloured, intense, packed with inventions. Not a second goes without its weight in time, meaning and movement. (...) Paul Mägi's direction smoothes it all like a velvet, allowing sharp, elegant bursts of music to sparkle. Bertman has won his bet (...)." ...
A touring company with a legitimate and original theatrical concept (...) Helikon's imaginatively reconceived "Traviata" raised the bar for originality in touring opera productions in the U.S." ...
"... A winning bet for these flamboyant performers. The premiere of "La Traviata" was nothing but long, crackling fireworks (...). Music, above all! Breath, lightness, vivaciousness... (...) Each scene is corrosive and tender all at once." ...
"The orchestra, conducted by an energetic Valery Kritskov, displayed luminous transparency, it's solid texture and great fluidity deserving the highest of praises.(...) The high-flying chorus was outstanding, with its fiery might and joyous verve." ...
"... A relentless dramatic tension..." ...
"... The Helikon singers rise to ever greater heights. These are uncommonly beautiful, expressive voices, to whom dramatic singing seems to come as naturally as breathing. Vadim Zaplechny,... has got to be one of the great singers of our time. (...) Open your ears and your eyes to the magic of this production. You will never forget it." ...
Helikon gives us a great lesson in professionnalism: the orchestra shows fabulous transparency, tuning, dynamics, colours, the choir is irresistible (how can they sing so well while madly dancing ?) (...) an Olympia, an Antonia and a Giulietta vocally so superb are not often to be heard." ...
"We need companies like the Helikon Opera of Moscow (...) And the Helikon singers gave performances of extraordinary concentration, relating to each other, and to the audience, with a flair rarely seen on the opera stage."

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Répertoire

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Stravinsky Hindemith Prokofiev Rimsky-Korsakov  Prokofiev Mozart Leoncavallo Tchaikovsky Poulenc Fleishman-Shostakovich Rimsky-Korsakov Donizetti Tchaikovsky Scriabine Bach Verdi Strauss Bizet Tchaikovsky Tchaikovsky Rimsky-Korsakov J.Offenbach Tchaikovsky Rimsky-Korsakov	Mavra Hin und Zuruck Maddalena Kashey the Immortal The Ugly Duckling Appolo and Hyacinthus I Pagliacci Undine La Voix Humaine Rotshield's Violin Mozart and Salieri Don Pasquale The Queen of Spades Keistut and Biruta Coffee Cantata La Traviata Die Fledermaus Carmen Eugene Oneguin Iolanta The Tsar's Bride Les Contes d'Hoffmann Mazeppa The Golden Cockerel
The Voices of the Invisible (Biblical triptych) : Bardanashvili Kobekin Schetinski	... ... Eva Moses Annunciation
Dmitri Shostakovitch Verdi Strauss Verdi Verdi Alban Berg Janacek	Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk Macbeth Die Fledermaus (conducted by M. Rostropovitch) Aida (1996 and 2001) Falstaff (2001) Lulu (2002) The Makropulos Case