Simon Virsaladze al Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Simon (Soliko) Virsaladze ( ka, სოლომონ(სოლიკო) ვირსალაძე) (13 January 1909 – 7 February 1989) was a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

and one of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

's leading designers of ballet, film and opera. He also worked as collaborator with the founders of Georgian National Ballet company, Iliko Sukhishvili and Nino Ramishvili, in the creation of classic Georgian costumes.

Life and career

He was born in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...

. As a child he studied both ballet and art, and although he went on to design for plays, operas, and films it is as a ballet designer that he made his name. He was chief designer for the

Zacharia Paliashvili Zacharia Petres dze Paliashvili ( ka, ზაქარია ფალიაშვილი, ''Zakaria Paliaşvili''), also known as Zachary Petrovich Paliashvili (russian: Захарий Петрович Палиашви́ли, ''Zacharij Petrovi� ...

Theatre for Opera and Ballet in

(1932–1936) and designed

Vakhtang Chabukiani Vakhtang Mikheilis dze Chabukiani (Russian: Вахта́нг Миха́йлович Чабукиа́ни, ka, ვახტანგ ჭაბუკიანი) (March 12, 1910 – April 6, 1992) was a Soviet and Georgian ballet dancer, choreogra ...

's The Heart of the Hills (1938) for the Kirov in Leningrad, where he eventually became chief designer (1945–1962). He also designed for the Maly Theatre Ballet and the Novosibirsk Theatre. He was chief designer of the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow from 1964 until his death. He collaborated with

on many productions in Tbilisi and Kirov, but he was best known internationally as

Yury Grigorovich Yury Nikolayevich Grigorovich (russian: Ю́рий Никола́евич Григоро́вич; born 2 January 1927 in Leningrad) is a Soviet and Russian dancer and choreographer The Stone Flower "The Stone Flower" ( rus, Каменный цветок, Kamennyj tsvetok, p=ˈkamʲɪnːɨj tsvʲɪˈtok), also known as "The Flower of Stone", is a folk tale (also known as ''skaz'') of the Ural region of Russia collected and reworked by Pave ...

'' (1957), '' Legend of Love'' (1961), '' The Sleeping Beauty'' (1965 and 1973), ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchai ...

'' (1966), ''

Spartacus Spartacus ( el, Σπάρτακος '; la, Spartacus; c. 103–71 BC) was a Thracian gladiator who, along with Crixus, Gannicus, Castus, and Oenomaus, was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprisin ...

'' (1968), '' Swan Lake'' (1969), '' Ivan the Terrible'' (1975), ''Angara'' (1976), '' Romeo and Juliet'' (1979), '' The Golden Age'' (1982), and ''

Raymonda ''Raymonda'' (russian: Раймонда) is a ballet in three acts, four scenes with an apotheosis, choreographed by Marius Petipa to music by Alexander Glazunov, his Opus 57. It was first presented by the Imperial Ballet at the Imperial Mariinsk ...

'' (1984). He also designed Sergeyev's ''Raymonda'' (Kirov, 1948), ''Swan Lake'' (Kirov, 1950), and ''The Sleeping Beauty'' (Kirov, 1952) and Vainonen's ''The Nutcracker'' (Kirov, 1954). American reviewers, writing of touring Soviet productions, praised Mr. Virsaladze's designs for their grand scale, tastefulness, sensitivity to period and style and for often furthering the action of the ballet. He died in Tbilisi on 7 February 1989.

References

1909 births 1989 deaths 20th-century painters from Georgia (country) Artists from Tbilisi Full Members of the USSR Academy of Arts Tbilisi State Academy of Arts alumni People's Artists of the USSR (visual arts) Stalin Prize winners Lenin Prize winners Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the USSR State Prize Russian male painters Russian scenic designers Scenic designers from Georgia (country) Soviet painters Burials at Didube Pantheon {{USSR-artist-stub

Life and career

See also

References