Classical Ballet John Neumeier's Gala Tribute to Diaghilev. Hamburg Ballet Company. Alexandrinsky Imperial Ballet Theatre (established 1756)
Running time: 3 hours
Schedule for John Neumeier's Gala Tribute to Diaghilev. Hamburg Ballet Company. 2022
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach Composer: Igor Stravinsky Choreography: Michel Fokine Choreography: Vaslav Nijinsky Choreography: John Neumeier
Orchestra: Symphony Orchestra "Congress"
On the 12th of October the International «Diaghilev. P.S.»
Festival will open with a performance by the world-famous Hamburg-ballet
company of John Neumeier. During his artistic career
as a ballet choreographer John Neumeier — a well known adept
of the Russian ballet — often turned to the most important
ballets of the beginning of the XX century and created his own
versions. Neumeier also carefully studied the history of the Russian
ballet, particularly the work of Vaslav Nijinsky and the epoch
in which Nijinsky lived. The great choreographer eagerly supported the
idea of creating in Saint-Petersburg the «Diaghilev. P.S.» festival
and agreed to become a member of its Honorary Committee.
On the opening night of the festival the Hamburg-ballet company
will perform ballets and fragments from ballets by John Neumeier, that have
never been performed in Russia before: «Vaslav», «Le Pavillon d'Armide» and «Le
sacre du printemps».
Programme:
Act 1
Vaslav
The ballet is dedicated to the fascinating life and work of
Vaslav Nijinsky. "Vaslav" is one of John Neumeier's first ballets, and helped to
bring fame to the great choreographer.
Music by Johann Sebastian Bach is played in the performance by
pianist Vladimir Mischuk.
The world premiere of the ballet took place in Hamburg at the
Nijinsky Gala in July 1979.
Act II
Le Sacre
The French word sacre, meaning rite in English, refers
here to the ancient ritual of sacrifice. The premiere of the ballet "The Rite of
Spring," originally entitled "The Great Sacrifice: Pictures from Pagan Rus,"
took place on May 29, 1913 as part of the Russian Seasons.
Music by Igor Stravinsky.
The original idea for the ballet came to Stravinsky in his
sleep, when he dreamt about an ancient ritual in which a young girl surrounded
by village elders dances and dances until she collapses and dies in order to
bring forth the onset of spring.
The artist Nikolai Roerich and choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky
also worked on the ballet. One member of the audience wrote of the 1913 premiere
in Paris:
"It seemed as though the theatre was being shaken by an
earthquake. People were shouting insults at the stage, whistling and booing,
drowning out the music. People were fighting in the aisles... the ballet itself
was astoundingly good."
"The Rite of Spring" was one of Diaghilev's favorite ballets.
He wrote: "Now that is a true victory! Let them boo and have hysterics!
Inwardly, they can already feel its value... You will see what happens
next."
Since Diaghilev, many outstanding choreographers have turned
their hand to "The Rite of Spring," including Pina Bausch and Maurice
Bejart.
The premiere of John Neimeier's staging of the ballet took
place in Frankfurt in November 1972.
Act III
Le Pavillon d'Armide
A magical story about a young man who dreams that he is in the
fantasy world of the temptress and enchantress Armide. Anna Pavlova, Tamara
Karsavina and Vaslav Nijinsky dazzled audiences when the ballet was performed by
Diaghilev's troupe to choreography by Michel Fokine in 1909. The premiere of
John Neumeier's staging of "Le Pavillon d'Armide" took place in June 2009, and
Russia is the first country in which audiences will see this ballet as part of a
festival.
Music by Nikolai Tcherepnin
Schedule for John Neumeier's Gala Tribute to Diaghilev. Hamburg Ballet Company. 2022
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