John Cranko’s mastery of the art of the pas de deux finds its climax in Onegin, one of the most successful full length ballets of the 20th century. Set to sweeping music by Tchaikovsky, it tells Alexander Pushkin’s tragic love story of the world-weary aristocrat Onegin and the naïve country girl Tatiana in a superbly nuanced way. This very first recording of Cranko’s legendary ballet features world stars Alicia Amatriain and Friedemann Vogel. A must for all lovers of dramatic – and romantic – ballets!
Iolanta and the Nutcracker
When Tchaikovsky premiered his famous ballet The Nutcracker in Saint Petersburg 130 years ago, it was presented as a double bill, as standard at the time, together with the opera Iolanta. The Volksoper Wien, being part home to the famous Wiener Staatsballett, under the helm of the new artistic director Lotte de Beer and music director Omer Meir Wellber presents both works again in one evening, but not as two separate pieces, but by fusing the two works into one. It’s a “successful debut that is also musically convincing” and the “two pieces intertwine like gears”. Jorine van Beek’s costumes makes it a “feast for the eyes” (Die Presse). “This imaginative ‘music theatre for the whole family’ enchants above all the numerous children and young people. (…) The Volksoper Orchestra once again demonstrated its power of performance” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). In short: it’s a family-show to the core!
Pique Dame
Former Music Director Mariss Jansons returns to Amsterdam to conduct Pique Dame at the Dutch National Opera with “his” Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. He encounters a noteworthy cast and under his baton the orchestra sounds “brilliant and splendid“ (Der Tagesspiegel). Renowned director Stefan Herheim staged Tchaikovsky’s much-loved opera about a young man who, for the prospect of earthly wealth, gambles away his chance for love and happiness. Herheim, whose stagings are famous for their multi layered levels of interpretation, attempts to reflect on the composer’s hidden love for men. “The Latvian maestro, the intriguingly performing orchestra, the smartly-chosen soloists, and director Stefan Herheim have succeeded in staging an extraordinary production” (Die Presse). “Stefan Herheim makes a great picture show out of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Pique Dame’” (NMZ). “A masterpiece” (Der Standard).
The Nutcracker
The Wiener Staatsballett is one of the great companies in the world. Yet never before had Rudolf Nureyev’s world-famous choreography of The Nutcracker been performed in Vienna. The present production remedies this omission by presenting Nureyev’s final, 1985 Paris version with two magnificent young soloists and the splendid Vienna corps de ballet. Nureyev’s version enjoys a particular standing in the history of this well-known ballet in that it was the first to incorporate the psychology of E. T. A Hoffman’s fairy tale on which Tchaikovsky’s ballet is based. The critic Clive Barnes set the tone by remarking: “No version of The Nutcracker that we have ever seen has been more potently dramatic; few have displayed so sharp an imprint of personal style. “Elegant, romantic, delightful” (Die Presse) · “Outstanding soloists” (Der Standard)
Swan Lake
It is the one ballet that everyone knows, has heard of or seen, and it is one of the loveliest and most frequently performed works in the ballet literature. No other ballet is capable of conjuring up such intensive images, dreams and yearnings simply at the mention of its name as Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. Rudolf Nureyev created a new version of it in 1964 for the Vienna State Opera; it helped the dancer and choreographer, then 26 years old, to achieve international fame and also projected the Vienna State Ballet onto the world stage, where it was to become one of the company’s greatest successes.To mark the 50th anniversary of this ballet, the Vienna StateOpera is now reviving it with new sets and costumes designedby Julia Spinatelli, whose concept is inspired by the fairytalephantasy world of King Ludwig II incorporating simple, paintedbackdrops and few accessories, to present a new Swan Lake.
Eugene Onegin
In his first year as Music Director of Valencia’s Palau de les Arts, the exciting young conductor Omer Meir Wellber scored a triumph with Tchaikovsky’s beloved opera Eugene Onegin. In Mariusz Trelinski’s timeless production, consisting of a series of surrealist tableaux of great suggestive beauty, he leads a dream team of rising opera stars headed by Artur Rucinski as Onegin and Kristine Opolais as Tatyana. “An ideally well-balanced vocal cast” (Die Welt).
Gatti conducts Shostakovich, Tschaikovsky & Stravinsky
This remarkable concert led by designated Chief Conductor Daniele Gatti marks the return of master cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s (after twenty years) to the Concertgebouw Orchestra. In this season opening night they perform Shostakovich’s intense First Cello Concerto, which bears witness to the strained relationship between the composer and the Soviet authorities. Maestro Gatti juxtaposes the concerto with two successful works from the great Russian dance tradition: The three-part suite from Tchaikovsky’s ballet “The Nutcracker” being enormously popular, partly as a result of the Disney film “Fantasia” and Stravinsky’s “Firebird”, which, with his phenomenal orchestration, is evoking an exotic and often brooding atmosphere. “After twenty years, this is a unique opportunity to work together with the wonderful RCO again – very special indeed!” (Yo-Yo Ma)
Barenboim conducts Strauss & Tchaikovsky
On the occasion of the Festival de Música y Reflexión at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Daniel Barenboim returns to his native city to perform with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra who regularly “exceed all expectations” (FAZ) with their festival programme. During their Summer Residency at the magnificent theatre, they play Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 and Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote, enlisting the help of Kian Soltani and Miriam Manasherov. The soloists unite effortlessly with Barenboim’s orchestra which famously brings together young Israeli and Arab players from the warring states of the Middle East in a model of peaceful harmony. PROGRAM Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5; Strauss: Don Quixote
None But the Lonely Heart
24 song compositions by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky are combined to create an intimate evening of musical theatre that shows five characters and their contradictory emotions: repressed feelings of love are juxtaposed with the search for intoxicating moments; the grief over broken relationships repeatedly leads to withdrawal and loneliness. An interpersonal dynamic develops in which unfulfillable longings, repressed memories and emotional dependencies of the individual characters are revealed. In a poetically dense sequence of images, the production also alludes to motifs from Tchaikovsky’s biography, which is characterised by ambivalences. Christof Loy’s staging includes rarely performed Lieder, interspersed with short works for piano and chamber music. “I don’t know which singer to single out, they were all great.” Opernwelt
The Vienna Christmas Concert
The Wiener Symphoniker perform a grand Advent concert at Vienna’s St. Stephen’s Cathedral featuring a diverse program conducted by Marie Jacquot. The concert includes works from various composers, such as Michael Praetorius, Leopold Mozart, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Albert Malotte, and Adolphe Adam. Soprano Fatma Said, tenor Jonathan Tetelman, and the Singverein will explore global Christmas traditions, with classics like Bach’s “Jesus bleibet meine Freude” and “O du fröhliche” concluding the event.