Based on Peter Tchaikovsky’s world-famous music, such as the Waltz of the Flowers or the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, John Neumeier’s The Nutcracker invites you to dream. The ballet tells the story of 12-year-old Marie, who receives a nutcracker and a pair of shiny, pink ballet shoes as a birthday present. In her dreams, she meets the eccentric ballet master Drosselmeier, who guides her in discovering the fascination of the theatre world, until she starts dancing herself, experiences her first love and becomes a young woman. Paying homage to Marius Petipa and his legendary choreographies, John Neumeier presents his unique version of this classic is a coming-of-age story, presented in colourful costumes and an opulent set design by Jürgen Rose.
The Exclusive Subscription Concert Series – Yannick Nézet-Séguin & Yefim Bronfman
The Subscription Concert Series of the Wiener Philharmoniker from the Golden Hall of the famous Musikverein are special concerts reserved for subscribers. Due to the exceptional quality of the concerts and the limited offer, the average waiting time for subscribers is more than 10 years. With this series, these very special concerts are made available for the first time audiovisually to a wider audience worldwide. With this concert, Yannick Nézet-Séguin gives his successful debut at the renowned, highly exclusive subscription concerts of the Wiener Philharmoniker. Joining him is piano legend Yefim Bronfman, who lives up to his reputation: “It was gratifying to hear how, in Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto, a relaxed, silky-smooth beauty of sound repeatedly gave way to wiry accents of tension” (Der Standard). Bronfman proved an “ideal partner” (Kronenzeitung) for Nézet-Séguin and the Philharmoniker, who were “entirely in harmony with the soloist” (Die Presse). In the second half of the concert, “Richard Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben was given a refreshingly invigorating shake-up” (Der Standard).
La traviata
With its spectacular Lake Stage, the Bregenz Festival celebrates its 80th anniversary with a series of sold-out performances, each offering breathtaking visual experiences before nearly 7,000 spectators. Damiano Michieletto’s staging of Verdi’s La traviata, set in the Roaring Twenties, captures a broken woman’s shattered life through a mirror tilted towards the sky. Marjukka Tepponen’s outstanding Violetta showed “intimate heart through sheer force of personality, expressive intelligence and vocal beauty” (OperaWire). By her side, Julien Behr interprets Alfredo “with lyrical warmth and palpable passion” (Orpheus Magazine), whilst Vladimir Stoyanov performs the role of Giorgio Germont with such “naturalness, elegance, grace and vocal expressiveness that he can be regarded as the baritone of choice for this role” (OperaTeatro). Conducting the excellent Wiener Symphoniker, Kirill Karabits proves to be a very sophisticated Verdian conductor, “bringing extraordinary dynamic and tonal subtlety to the score” (InterClassical). A production that was “visually ambitious, theatrically sophisticated and, at its best, genuinely poetic” (OperaWire).