Hommage aux Grimaldi celebrated the second evening in a series of three spectacular Galas at the Hôtel Hermitage in Monte Carlo last Saturday . The event was one of the highlights of the Russian year in Monaco, featuring spectacular performances by the Bolshoi and the Mariinsky Theatre.
The subdued terrace of the Hermitage Hotel welcomed guests with champagne before inviting them into the famous Salle Belle Epoque, where they were treated to an intimate performance by Bolshoi ballet soloist Anna Tikhomirova and principal dancer Artem Ovcharenko to an Adagio from Adolphe Adam’s ballet de Giselle. This first orchestration was followed by a scene from Don Quichot by soloist Kristina Karaseva and dancer Dmitry Ekaterinin. All this under the experienced eye of Bolshoi Artistic Director Sergei Filin, who had travelled specially for the occasion.
“We are all united here to honor culture and art. I represent the wonderful art of ballet, a dance that represents beauty and love,” he declared.
Lyric stars Julia Matochkina and Gregory Thernetsov also performed arias from Russian operas, accompanied on piano by Larisa Gergiev.
The artists and the evening’s host, Agata Gotova, were dressed by couture designers Isabell Kristensen and Robert Nowosad. Among the guests of international sovereignty, VIPs and the elite of Monegasque society were Baron Christian de Massy, Prince Serge of Yugoslavia, Prince Lobanov-Rostovsky, Prince de Polignac, Princess Anne de la Tour d’Auvergne Lauraguais, Princess Nina Seborga, Count Pierre Sheremetev, Lady Monika Barcardi, Archimandrite Aleksandr of the Russian Orthodox Church of Saint Nicholas in Nice, Stéphane Renault, Helga Piaget, sculptor Mateo Mornar and designer Isabell Kristensen.
The Principality of Monaco thus honored its choice to celebrate Russia in 2015. This initiative had been taken by Hommage aux Grimaldi, as the princely family had traditionally maintained strong links with the Russian arts. Throughout the year, the principality presented a series of Galas and events, including the famous “Russian Seasons”, designed to showcase the diversity of historical and cultural relations that have existed for over 150 years between the two territories. The principality has also provided significant support to Serge de Diaghilev and his troupe, who have brought the world the enchantment of Russian ballet, opera and set painting, as well as the music of the great Russian composers of the 20th century.
Thus, last Saturday’s Gala d’Hommage aux Grimaldi succeeded in creating a gathering vigorously similar to those that might have taken place in the 19th and 20th centuries. Certainly, the desire for an intense and complete immersion in a universe where the arts reach their apogee was satisfied. We can only imagine what the next and final gala will have in store for us next September.
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