Shurale to visit Mezzo

Partnership

Two plays of Kazan have already been recorded and transmitted on Mezzo — it is Zhiganov’s Jalil opera and Akhiyarova’s The Golden Horde ballet. Moreover, a gala concert of opera stars was recorded during the Universiade. Jalil, by the way, once was shown on this French TV channel on Victory Day. It was on 9 May 2015, music director, head conductor of the Kazan opera theatre Renat Salavatov chaired the orchestra. Both The Golden Horde and Zhiganov’s opera have been shown many times.

The next play to be shot for Mezzo was Shurale. But this project is a bit different from the two previous ones. Now we are talking about the partnership of the M. Jalil Tatar Academy Opera and Ballet Theatre and the TV channel. The technical rehearsal was on 22 June, the final rehearsal, in fact, a play without spectators, was on 23 June. Shurale was recorded in the presence of spectators on 24 June.

Then the material will be edited, and Shurale will be aired on Mezzo TV channel in several months. It will be the director’s cut with pure sound.

“Within the long-term cooperation of the TV channel and the theatre, Mezzo decided to grant us the status of partner.” A delegation headed by Mezzo officials from France was going to come on 24 June. “If everything is great, our joint projects will have the logo of Mezzo, there will be a link to our theatre on the TV channel’s website. Mezzo already began to show Shurale ballet’s promo video, it was their initiative, the TV channel edited it itself, and this will be free for us,” Vice Director in Tours Eduard Bagautdinov explained.

“Listen, Watch, Dare”

Mezzo TV channel began broadcasting in 1992. It belongs to MCM Groupe. The channel’s slogan is “Listen, Watch, Dare”. In 2003, Mezzo merged with Muzzik channel, which strengthened its position more and expanded the audience. It is almost a monopolist in the segment.

Mezzo’s key content is classical music, folklore, jazz, ballet and opera. A part of the programmes are recordings of previous years done by the channel during live transmissions. Mostly it is live transmissions of concerts, festivals, opera and ballet stagings. In addition, documentaries about music and musicians are broadcasted.

A new format has recently appeared on the TV channel: clips of musical styles that are characteristic of Mezzo. This attracted a younger audience, now 15+ spectators are watching it. According to statistics, 51% of the channel’s audience is men, 49% are women. 40% of spectators are music professionals. The TV programme is divided into genres, the broadcasting is around the clock. The TV channel is also called a “concert hall at your home”.

The channel has twice won the Russian National Award in Cable Television The Golden Ray in Best Music Channel.

The TV channel broadcasts in French and English, but all compositions are shown in the original language and have subtitles.

Our tales and legends

Shurale wasn’t chosen in the theatre accidentally, it is planned work on conservation and popularisation of Tatar classical music. Shurale almost doesn’t leave the theatre’s billboard, and, of course, it is the only Tatar national ballet to get worldwide popularity.

“Two genius coincided in Shurale ballet — composer Farid Yarullin and choreographer Leonid Yakobson. It also has a reference to Tatar folklore, to our customs. We should show our culture to the world,” head conductor of the theatre Renat Salavatov commented on the future project for Realnoe Vremya. The conductor held the baton when Shurale was shot by the French. Director of the theatre Raufal Mukhametzyanov and Salavatov became the initiators of the recording of Farid Yarullin’s ballet.

It should be noted that Mezzo TV channel broadcasts almost around the world. So millions of spectators will see the ballet — the national pride of Tatarstan.