Thomas Mann once named Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina “the greatest social novel of world literature.” When reading the novel, John Neumeier was deeply fascinated by Tolstoy’s work: not only by the main characters and the plot, but also by the extraordinary variety of thematic connections. It is a story of three families. John Neumeier states: “Tolstoy himself wrote and published ‘Anna Karenina’ as a serial story over a number of years. The feeling in the novel of a developing contemporary narrative – similar to a television series of today – is underlined by the fact that the novel does not end with the death of the title character. My challenge was therefore to give true life and relevance to the story by selecting key emotional situations and essential characters to fit within the framework of an evening-long ballet.“
Tatiana – A ballet by John Neumeier
In choreographic episodes, combining dream, memory, premonition and reality John Neumeier’s ballet Tatiana brings to life the story of Tatiana, a young girl brought up in the Russian countryside and her first great love. When considering Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin as a plot for a ballet, it was obvious that Neumeier would not be content with a simple story line. He was more interested in the complex strands of Tatiana’s destiny, the influence of her early life, her experience and evolution into womanhood. As I read Pushkin’s verse novel, I realised that I was fascinated by the role of Tatiana Larina. She became more profound and more interesting with every paragraph, every page that I read. And so I had the idea to explore her role and her perspective in more detail through my ballet”, says Neumeier. “Nearly nobody else besides John Neumeier can tell story with the bodies of his dancers. Tatiana is three hours of danced poetry.” Hamburger Morgenpost
Hosokawa: Stilles Meer
Under the baton of Kent Nagano, the Philharmoniker Hamburg performed the eagerly awaited world premiere of the opera Stilles Meer by Japanese composer Toshio Hosokawa, starring superb singers as the world famous countertenor Bejun Mehta. Stilles Meer transfers a prominent theme of the Japanese dance theatre, Sumidagawa, into the setting of Fukushima, picturing the grief of a German woman who lost her boy and her husband during the Tsunami that attacked Fukushima in March 2011 and her unrelievable sorrow not being able to accept that reality. “The orchestra plays [for Kent Nagano] with delicate precision. Susanne Elmark sings with clarity and warmth. Bejun Mehta infuses his lines with affectingly bittersweet melancholy. ” (Financial Times).
The Nutcracker – A ballet by John Neumeier
Ballet master Drosselmeier takes Marie to the court theater, where she dances in new pointe shoes with cadet Günther—who gives her a mysterious nutcracker. John Neumeier’s touching choreography tells the story of saying goodbye to childhood. John Neumeier’s choreography tells the story of saying goodbye to childhood and growing up. In the course of the piece, the childlike Marie not only discovers the world of theater for herself, but also falls in love for the first time and matures into a young woman. John Neumeier’s unique version of this classic is a coming-of-age story and at the same time a tribute to the legendary ballet master and choreographer Marius Petipa, who brought classical ballet to perfection in the 19th century. The Hamburg Ballet dazzles with virtuoso elegance and opulent imagery – a Christmas fairy tale that gets under your skin.