In 1966, Rudolf Nureyev chose to focus on the turbulent love story of Kitri and Basil – whom Don Quixote helps to unite despite her father’s resistance – in his Don Quixote in Vienna, creating an opulent story ballet with highly demanding dances, precise characterisation and colourful scenes full of Spanish flavor
In 1841, Adolphe Adam composed a ballet score on this subject for the Paris Opera Ballet which has become one of the main works of the Romantic period. It can be seen with the Wiener Staatsballett in a version created for Vienna in 1993 by Elena Tschernischova, based on a distinctive and original colour concept: against a backdrop of grey tones, the dancers stand out in signal colours.
U27 ballet performances can be seen on 14 / 16 / 22 / 25 / 29 September (Ballet DON QUIXOTE) and 2 / 9 / 22 / 27 October (Ballet GISELLE )
Also read:
Czech National Theatre starts 2022/23 ballet season with a breathtaking repertoire, opened by the composed evening Kylián – Bridges of Time
The 2022-2023 season of Hungarian National Ballet starts with “The taming of the shrew” on September 2
DON QUIXOTE The ballet remained in the Vienna repertoire for almost 20 years
Miguel de Cervantes’s famous epic about the tragic knight who sets off into the world with his servant Sancho Panza to fight the wrongs of society and mistook a windmill for a dangerous enemy or dreams of being swept off to a magic garden in the kingdom of the Dryads, was turned into a ballet by Marius Petipa in 1869 at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.
In 1966, Rudolf Nureyev chose to focus on the turbulent love story of Kitri and Basil – whom Don Quixote helps to unite despite her father’s resistance – in his Don Quixote in Vienna, creating an opulent story ballet with highly demanding dances, precise characterisation and colourful scenes full of Spanish flavour that succeeded in bringing together what were then two competing worlds of ballet: Soviet virtuosity was combined a story that was told in a coherent, dramaturgical form.
The ballet remained in the Vienna repertoire for almost 20 years, from its world premiere until 1985, with Nureyev himself regularly taking to role of Basil. In 2011, Manuel Legris, who had danced several roles in the production in Paris, brought it back to where it had been created in a scrupulously worked reconstruction. Now Nureyev’s comedy ballet, which is a calling card for any company with the extreme technical demands it makes of the dancers, can once again be seen with the Vienna State Ballet from 2023.
Conductor Robert Reimer, Choreography Rudolf Nurejew, Music Ludwig Minkus arrangiert von John Lanchbery, Scenery and Costume Design Nicholas Georgiadis, Lighting Design Marc Anrochte, Staging Florence Clerc
Also read
Éva Julianna Pollák, the student of the Hungarian National Ballet Institute achieved unprecedented success with YAGP
15 Top Ballet Magazines Printed Publications! From Australia to Europe, get to know them and subscribe to right now!
GISELLE, in the choreography of Elena Tschernischova by Jean Coralli, Jules Perrot and Marius Petipa
The poet Heinrich Heine tells the legend of the mysterious Wilis, young women who must die before their wedding day because their love has been betrayed. In their dead hearts, an untamed lust for dancing continues to beat. As spirits, they leave their graves at night – and if a living man comes near them at this time, they will dance him to death.
In 1841, Adolphe Adam composed a ballet score on this subject for the Paris Opera Ballet which has become one of the main works of the Romantic period. It can be seen with the Wiener Staatsballett in a version created for Vienna in 1993 by Elena Tschernischova, based on a distinctive and original colour concept: against a backdrop of grey tones, the dancers stand out in signal colours. The first performance, given by Brigitte Stadler and Vladimir Malakhov with an outstanding ensemble, counts as one of the high points of the Wiener Staatsballett’s more recent history – and with over 80 performances, it is still a »calling card« for the company today.
Conductor Wolfgang Heinz, Music Adolphe Adam, Choreography and Direction Elena Tschernischova by Jean Coralli, Jules Perrot and Marius Petipa, Librettonach Théophile Gautier, Stage Design Ingolf Bruun, Costume Design Clarisse Praun-Maylunas, Staging Brigitte Stadler Lukas Gaudernak Jean Christophe Lesage Alice Necsea
