This classic Kirov production of Swan Lake by Artistic Director Oleg Vinogradov includes the familiar happy ending in the final act, where Siegfried fights and ultimately defeats the evil magician, von Rothbart, and at dawn is reunited with Odette.
Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake
Matthew Bourne’s triumphant modern re-interpretation of Swan Lake, with its cast of male swans, has turned tradition upside down and taken the ballet fraternity by storm. Never has such a contemporary re-working of a traditional ballet thrilled both ardent critics and modern dance enthusiasts in such equal measure. “Matthew Bourne has turned Swan Lake on its head, he has given it a sex change and catapulted it into another universe … some of the best performances you will ever see on a ballet stage. It will be a great big hit” The Times
West-Eastern Divan Orchestra at the Proms
The orchestra’s London appearance, as part of the 120th anniversary Proms season, marked a significant date for Barenboim himself: he was celebrating 65 years (less a day) since making his debut in his native Buenos Aires. His programme cleverly contrasts the anti-Romantic terseness and crystalline beauty of Schoenberg’s Chamber Symphony – “a taut, rhythmic performance with a fine sense of dramatic momentum” (Evening Standard) – with the tempestuous emotionalism of Tchaikovsky’s opus, where “the orchestra rose to all technical challenges in an interpretation of overwhelming energy and power” (The Guardian), while Beethoven’s Triple Concerto could almost serve as a paradigm for the orchestra’s egalitarian ethos where Barenboim and his partners “offered urbane poise, ideally suited to this relaxed, airily melodic work” (The Telegraph). PROGRAM Schoenberg: Chamber Symphony; Beethoven: Triple concerto; Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4