Balanchine: Three Signature Works

Royal Opera House (Covent Garden), Main Stage, London, Great Britain

Scene 1 from the ballet "Serenade", photo 1

Scene 2 from the ballet "Serenade", photo 2

Scene 3 from the ballet "Serenade", photo 3

Scene 4 from the ballet "Serenade", photo 4

Scene 5 from the ballet "Serenade", photo 5

Scene 6 from the ballet "Serenade", photo 6

Scene 7 from the ballet "Serenade", photo 7

Scene 8 from the ballet "Serenade", photo 8

Scene 2 from the ballet "The Prodigal Son", photo 9

Scene 1 from the ballet "The Prodigal Son", photo 10

Scene 3 from the ballet "The Prodigal Son", photo 11

Scene 4 from the ballet "The Prodigal Son", photo 12

Scene 5 from the ballet "The Prodigal Son", photo 13

Scene 3 from the ballet "Symphony in C", photo 14

Scene 1 from the ballet "Symphony in C", photo 15

Scene 2 from the ballet "Symphony in C", photo 16

Scene 4 from the ballet "Symphony in C", photo 17

Scene 5 from the ballet "Symphony in C", photo 18

Scene 6 from the ballet "Symphony in C", photo 19

Scene 7 from the ballet "Symphony in C", photo 20

All photos (20)

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7:30 PM

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Important Info

Type: Ballet

City: London, Great Britain

Starts at: 19:30

Ticket delivery: E-Tickets

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

Can I choose my seats?

Cast

Performers

Ballet company: The Royal Ballet

Conductor: Fayçal Karoui

Orchestra: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Creators

Composer: Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Composer: Georges Bizet

Composer: Sergei Prokofiev

Choreographer: George Balanchine

Overview

Sensuous and shimmering beauty in three works by the man who defined American ballet.

With its extreme speed, dynamism and athleticism, Balanchine’s choreography pushed the boundaries of the art form.

When George Balanchine arrived on the shores of America, he changed the landscape of 20th-century ballet. With his company New York City Ballet, he created the American neoclassical style and reinvigorated the American ballet world. Many of his works are in the repertories of companies around the world.

Serenade was the first ballet Balanchine created in America. Set to Tchaikovsky’s soaring Serenade for Strings, the ethereal ballet was created on the students at the School of American Ballet, which he had newly founded. The choreography of Serenade reflects this – the real-life mistakes made by the students ended up in his finished ballet. It premiered in 1935.

Prodigal Son is an avant-garde ballet of sin and redemption, and was Balanchine’s last creation on Sergei Diaghilev’s famed ballet company, the Ballets Russes. Inspired by the biblical parable, it recounts the story of a rebellious son who returns home remorseful to his father after a dalliance with a beautiful but dangerous siren. The ballet premiered in 1929 with a commissioned score by Prokofiev.

With its symmetrical formations and crystalline placements, Symphony in C brings this programme to a majestic and exhilarating close. Balanchine choreographed this grand classical work on the Paris Opera Ballet in 1947, finishing its creation in only two weeks and using a newly-discovered Bizet score which gives the ballet its name.

History

Premiere of this production: 01 March 1935, Adelphi Theatre New York City, United States

Serenade is a ballet by George Balanchine to Tschaikovsky's 1880 Serenade for Strings in C, Op. 48. Balanchine presented the ballet as his response to the generous sponsorships he received during his immigration to America. The official premiere took place on 1 March 1935 with the American Ballet at the Adelphi Theatre, New York, conducted by Sandor Harmati.

Premiere of this production: 21 May 1929, Théâtre Sarah-Bernhardt, Paris

The Prodigal Son (Le Fils prodigue) is a ballet created for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes by George Balanchine to music by Sergei Prokofiev (1928–29). The libretto, based on the parable in the Gospel of Luke, was by Boris Kochno, who added a good deal of drama and emphasized the theme of sin and redemption ending with the Prodigal Son's return.

Premiere of this production: 28 July 1947, Théâtre National de l'Opéra

Symphony in C, originally titled Le Palais de Cristal, is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine, to Georges Bizet's Symphony in C. The ballet was originally created for the Paris Opera Ballet, and premiered on July 28, 1947 at Théâtre National de l'Opéra.

Synopsis

Prodigal Son was the last work Balanchine made for Diaghilev’s Ballets russes in 1929 with Serge Lifar in the role of the Prodigal Son; it was revived in 1950 by the New York City Ballet with Jerome Robbins in the title role. Its music by Prokofiev was written for the ballet, and its costumes and décor were created by Rouault, making it a perfect example of the collaborative efforts among artists that produced some of the best works of the Diaghilev era. New for a Diaghilev ballet was the Biblical theme and the religious spirit. In seeking eternal themes and turning to past artistic devices, western artists were trying to avoid the complete intellectual and artistic degeneration towards which their rootless experimentation was leading. Prodigal Son anticipated the trend toward religion of the 1930s and 40s. It was Diaghilev’s fate that he would always be ahead of fashion, even when he believed he had turned his back on vogue. The return of Prodigal Son to St Petersburg is of great significance. For the first time, a ballet of the most radical, late period of Diaghilev’s Saisons russes has returned to the stage of the Mariinsky Theatre. That period of Russian and world ballet has come home, which until recently was under artistic (avant-garde aesthetics of the late Diaghilev era) and ideological (use of religious motifs) censorship.
With the return of Prodigal Son, the Mariinsky Theatre and its generation of young dancers have begun to restore an objective picture of the development of ballet in the 20^th century.

Venue Info

Royal Opera House (Covent Garden) - London
Bow St, Covent Garden

The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in London and Great Britain. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House.

The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Originally called the Theatre Royal, it served primarily as a playhouse for the first hundred years of its history. In 1734, the first ballet was presented. A year later, Handel's first season of operas began. Many of his operas and oratorios were specifically written for Covent Garden and had their premieres there.

The current building is the third theatre on the site following disastrous fires in 1808 and 1856. The façade, foyer, and auditorium date from 1858, but almost every other element of the present complex dates from an extensive reconstruction in the 1990s. The main auditorium seats 2,256 people, making it the third largest in London, and consists of four tiers of boxes and balconies and the amphitheatre gallery. The proscenium is 12.20 m wide and 14.80 m high. The main auditorium is a Grade I listed building.

The Royal Opera, under the direction of Antonio Pappano, is one of the world’s leading opera companies. Based in the iconic Covent Garden theatre, it is renowned both for its outstanding performances of traditional opera and for commissioning new works by today’s leading opera composers, such as Harrison Birtwistle, Mark-Anthony Turnage and Thomas Adès.

The Royal Ballet is one of the world’s greatest ballet companies. Under the directorship of Kevin O’Hare, the Company unites tradition and innovation in world-class performances at our Covent Garden home.

The Company’s extensive repertory embraces 19th-century classics, the singular legacy of works by Founder Choreographer Frederick Ashton and Principal Choreographer Kenneth MacMillan and a compelling new canon by Resident Choreographer Wayne McGregor and Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon.

The Orchestra performs in concerts of their own, including performances at the Royal Opera House with Antonio Pappano. They have also performed at venues worldwide including Symphony Hall (Birmingham), Cadogan Hall, the Vienna Konzerthaus and on tour with The Royal Opera.

Members of the Orchestra play an active role in events across the Royal Opera House, including working with the Learning and Participation teams. The Orchestra accompanies performances that are streamed all over the world, including through cinema screenings and broadcasts. They appear on many CDs and DVDs including Pappano’s acclaimed studio recording of Tristan und Isolde with Plácido Domingo and Nina Stemme.

The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House was founded in 1946 when the Royal Opera House reopened after World War II.

Important Info

Type: Ballet

City: London, Great Britain

Starts at: 19:30

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