Liebeslieder Walzer
Maria Caligari and Bart Cook talk about their rehearsal work on George Balanchine's »Liebeslieder...
Liebeslieder
Cast 01.03.2023
Other Dances
Komponist
Frédéric Chopin
Choreography
Jerome Robbins
Costume Design
Santo Loquasto
Lighting Design
Jennifer Tipton
Staging
Isabelle Guérin
Tänzer
Hyo-Jung Kang
Davide Dato
Piano
Schaghajegh Nosrati
Concerto
Komponist
Henryk Mikołaj Górecki
Choreography
Lucinda Childs
Costume Design
Anne Masset
Lighting Design
Dominique Drillot
Staging
Ty Boomershine
Liebeslieder Walzer
Komponist
Johannes Brahms
Choreography
George Balanchine
Stage Design
Rolf Langenfass
Costume Design
Karinska
Staging
Maria Calegari
Bart Cook
1. Paar
Ketevan Papava
Marcos Menha
2. Paar
Sonia Dvořák
Lourenço Ferreira
3. Paar
Kiyoka Hashimoto
Arne Vandervelde
4. Paar
Ioanna Avraam
Masayu Kimoto
Sopran
Maria Nazarova
Tenor
Hiroshi Amako
Bass
Ilja Kazakov
Details
Digital programme booklet (mainly in German)
»I’ll come whatever you want me to do. I can dance, I can choreograph.« With these words Jerome Robbins approached the Director of the New York City Ballet in 1948. And he – George Balanchine, who knew Robbins’ work on Broadway and his talent very well, – simply replied: »Come!« This sealed an American success story: from now on Robbins would play a key role alongside Mr. B., not only as a ballet master but also as a choreographer, in New York City Ballet’s growth into one of the most important dance companies in the world.
In 1976 he created »Other Dances« for Natalia Makarova and Mikhail Baryshnikov – a Chopin ballet that beautifully illustrates what the Russian star ballerina once said about its choreographer: »Robbins is the most Romantic of all the moderns.« In this Pas de deux the Romanticism of the music blends with the elegance of classical ballet technique in a way that is both sublime and yet also natural.
What happens to our perception of a movement when it is constantly repeated, albeit in different situations? Lucinda Childs considers this question, creating dance architectures in pure form. »Concerto«, which received its world premiere in Lisbon in 1993 performed by the Lucinda Childs Dance Company, marks the first time that a work by this important American choreographer will be seen at the Vienna State Ballet. In its elementary combination of geometric patterns, repeating movement sequences and rhythms, »Concerto« produces a hypnotic effect in congenial partnership with Henryk M. Górecki’s Concerto for Harpsichord and Strings – a score that is like a »prank«, according to the Polish composer.
By contrast, Balanchine’s »Liebeslieder Walzer« whisk us away to the world of Viennese balls. This work, world premiered in 1960 by the New York City Ballet, was a fixture of the Vienna State Ballet’s repertoire from 1977 to 1991, and now returns in a restaged version. Four pairs of dancers, singers and pianists meet as if for an exuberant Schubert celebration on a stage that is transformed into a ballroom by Johannes Brahms’ »Liebeslieder-Walzer« op. 52 and his »Neue Liebeslieder« op. 65. Initially in elegant and playful evening dress, then in ballet wear and pointe shoes, Balanchine presents intimate portraits of passion: »In the first act it is real people who are dancing. In the second act, it is their souls«, the choreographer claimed.
Jerome Robbins‘ »Other Dances« is performed with the permission of © The Robbins Rights Trust, George Balanchine’s »Liebeslieder Walzer« is performed with the permission of © The George Balanchine Trust.
Digital programme booklet (mainly in German)
»I’ll come whatever you want me to do. I can dance, I can choreograph.« With these words Jerome Robbins approached the Director of the New York City Ballet in 1948. And he – George Balanchine, who knew Robbins’ work on Broadway and his talent very well, – simply replied: »Come!« This sealed an American success story: from now on Robbins would play a key role alongside Mr. B., not only as a ballet master but also as a choreographer, in New York City Ballet’s growth into one of the most important dance companies in the world.
In 1976 he created »Other Dances« for Natalia Makarova and Mikhail Baryshnikov – a Chopin ballet that beautifully illustrates what the Russian star ballerina once said about its choreographer: »Robbins is the most Romantic of all the moderns.« In this Pas de deux the Romanticism of the music blends with the elegance of classical ballet technique in a way that is both sublime and yet also natural.
What happens to our perception of a movement when it is constantly repeated, albeit in different situations? Lucinda Childs considers this question, creating dance architectures in pure form. »Concerto«, which received its world premiere in Lisbon in 1993 performed by the Lucinda Childs Dance Company, marks the first time that a work by this important American choreographer will be seen at the Vienna State Ballet. In its elementary combination of geometric patterns, repeating movement sequences and rhythms, »Concerto« produces a hypnotic effect in congenial partnership with Henryk M. Górecki’s Concerto for Harpsichord and Strings – a score that is like a »prank«, according to the Polish composer.
By contrast, Balanchine’s »Liebeslieder Walzer« whisk us away to the world of Viennese balls. This work, world premiered in 1960 by the New York City Ballet, was a fixture of the Vienna State Ballet’s repertoire from 1977 to 1991, and now returns in a restaged version. Four pairs of dancers, singers and pianists meet as if for an exuberant Schubert celebration on a stage that is transformed into a ballroom by Johannes Brahms’ »Liebeslieder-Walzer« op. 52 and his »Neue Liebeslieder« op. 65. Initially in elegant and playful evening dress, then in ballet wear and pointe shoes, Balanchine presents intimate portraits of passion: »In the first act it is real people who are dancing. In the second act, it is their souls«, the choreographer claimed.
Jerome Robbins‘ »Other Dances« is performed with the permission of © The Robbins Rights Trust, George Balanchine’s »Liebeslieder Walzer« is performed with the permission of © The George Balanchine Trust.
Geometry and minimalism
Lucinda Childs in conversation with Nastasja Fischer