Opera & Ballet

A whole new ballet inspired by Shakespeare and created by the choreographer Jean-Christophe Maillot, with his usual Apollonian and very refined taste, for the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. Scenery and costumes of rare elegance for a ballet in which the classical matrix meets contemporary dance.

A tragedy of violent passions, a story of power and deceit, of female redemption – a woman who defeats a blackmailing policeman had never been seen in an opera before – of a woman  who is overwhelmed by a fatal destiny. Puccini achieves a leap forward and creates a poignant masterpiece.

Set in the fascinating and enthralling Orient, among sinuous seaside dances and majestic temples, this is an extraordinary story of love and friendship woven around the figure of a charming priestess. Seductive music, embellished by great poetic lyrics, created by the future composer of Carmen.

Everyone knows Summertime, but few know that it is one of the wonderful songs of this “folk opera” with which Gershwin ended prematurely his career. Aspects of jazz, spirituals, musicals and theatre are the ingredients of the greatest American opera of the twentieth century, an authentic cross-section of Afro-American life.

The eternal love story conceived by the genius of Shakespeare becomes a ballet thanks to Prokofiev’s splendid score. One of the greatest choreographers of the twentieth century, MacMillan, revived it for two ballet stars, Fonteyn and Nureyev, highlighting all of the passion of the two lovers.

The phenomenon of sleepwalking and insanity in general is, in opera, a way to exalt vocal virtuosity. Bellini excels in radiating with his lyric style the tender and hard-won love between the protagonists, whom he entrusts with enchanting music.

«The most moving and evocative opera I’ve ever conceived», wrote Puccini. A story of sexual tourism, because that’s what it’s about, put to music at the dawning of the twentieth century. And since then it has been captivating audiences all over the world. Watch out! You might cry…