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Dec. 13th, 2010
In my quest to be as educated in the fine arts as I can be, I've got a cosmic list of Cultural to-dos, among them a variety of plays, ballets and operas to see. Below are a list of the Ballets and Operas I desperately want to see sometime in my life, and the first ten are arguably ranked as the top ten to see, according to online lists, though they are not in any specific order within the top ten. Links lead to more detailed information on performances I have seen.
- Ballets:
- La Bayadère Seen January 27, 2008
- Don Quixote
- Swan Lake
- Romeo and Juliet Seen January 29, 2010
- The Nutcracker
- La Sylphide
- Giselle
- Sleeping Beauty
- Coppélia
- Cinderella
- Le Corsaire
- Sylvia
- La Fille Mal Gardée (The Girl who Needed Watching)
- La Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring)
- Sparticus
- A Midsummer Night's Dream
- Peter Pan
- Operas:
- Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)-Mozart
- Madame Butterfly-Puccini
- Orphée et Eurydice (Orfeo ed Euridice)-Gluck
- I Capuleti e I Montecchi (The Capulets and the Montagues)-Bellini
- La Traviata-Verdi
- Orphée aux Enfers (Orpheus in the Underworld)-Offenbach
- Rinaldo-Händel
- Lucia di Lammermoor-Donizetti
- La Bohème (The Bohemian)-Puccini
- Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville)-Rossini
- Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)-Mozart
- Die Fledermaus-Strauss, Jr.
- Manon Lescaut-Puccini
- Don Giovanni-Mozart
- Aida-Verdi
- Tosca-Puccini
- La Belle Hélène-Offenbach
- Hänsel und Gretel-Humperdinck
- Die Fledermaus-Strauss, Jr.
- The Little Prince-Portman
- Carmen-Bizet
- Lohengrin-Wagner
- Norma-Bellini
- Fidelio-Beethoven
- Die Walküre (The Valkyrie)-Wagner
- L'Elisir d'Amore-Donizetti
Cultural To-Do: Ballet: La Bayadère
Dec. 13th, 2010 03:44 pm| La Bayadère | Seen: January 27, 2008 |
| Theatre: Kennedy Center, Washington DC | Company: Mariinsky/Kirov |
| Synopsis: From the American Ballet Theatre: Set in the Royal India of the past, La Bayadère is a story of eternal love, mystery, fate, vengeance, and justice. The ballet relates the drama of a temple dancer (bayadère), Nikiya, who is loved by Solor, a noble warrior. She is also loved by the High Brahmin, but does not love him in return, as she does Solor. Act I, Scene I, Outside Temple in the Sacred Forest: The High Brahmin, priests, and temple dancers are celebrating the Indian Ritual of Fire. Nikiya, the most beautiful of the bayadères, has been chosen to be consecrated the lead temple dancer. The High Brahmin declares his love for Nikiya, but is rejected by her. Nikiya meets secretly with Solor later than evening. They dance together and swear eternal love over the Sacred Fire, but are discovered by the jealous High Brahmin, who vows to kill Solor. Act I, Scene II, A Room in the Palace: The Rajah has decided to reward Solor’s valor and decrees that the warrior will marry his daughter, Gamzatti. Gamzatti falls in love with Solor’s portrait, and when they meet, he is overwhelmed by her beauty. Even though he has sworn eternal love to Nikiya, he cannot defy the wishes of the Rajah and agrees to marry Gamzatti. The High Brahmin informs the Rajah of Nikiya and Solor’s secret love, hoping that the Rajah will do away with Solor. Instead, the Rajah decides to kill Nikiya. The conversation is overhead by Gamzatti, who summons Nikiya to her rooms and attempts to bribe Nikiya to give up Solor. Refusing, Nikiya frantically attempts to kill Gamzatti. Nikiya flees and Gamzatti swears to destroy her. Act I, Scene III, The Garden of the Palace: At the betrothal of Solor and Gamzatti, Nikiya is commanded to dance. Gamzatti presents her with a basket of flowers which Nikiya believes to be from Solor, and which conceals a deadly snake. Nikiya is bitten, and when Solor leaves with Gamzatti, she refuses the proffered antidote and dies. Act II, The Tent of Solor: Solor, grief stricken and under the influence of opium, dreams of being reunited with Nikiya in the Kingdom of the Shades. Awakening, he realizes that he must prepare to marry Gamzatti. Act III, The Temple: The vision of Nikiya remains with Solor as the wedding ceremony begins at the Sacred Temple. As Solor and Gamzatti say their vows and are blessed by the High Brahmin, the vengeance of the gods is unleashed, and the temple and all the celebrants are destroyed. Nikiya and Solor are once again united in eternal love. The full length La Bayadère received its World Premiere by the Imperial Ballet at the Bolshoi Kamenny in St. Petersburg on February 4, 1877. The dancers were Ekaterina Vazem (Nikiya) and Lev Ivanov (Solor). The mime role of Solor was performed by Pavel Gerdt. La Bayadère, Act II (The Kingdom of the Shades) was first performed in the West by the Leningrad Kirov Ballet in 196l. Rudolf Nureyev, with choreography after Petipa, produced the Kingdom of the Shades scene for The Royal Ballet in 1963. Both the Bolshoi Ballet and the National Ballet of Canada perform this extract from the complete ballet. | |
| Notes from the Ballet: From The Kennedy Center: Journey to India's legendary past, where a dashing young warrior romances a beautiful temple dancer...lush gardens hide dangerous secrets...and shadows from the netherworld cast their spell. St. Petersburg's Kirov Ballet performs the 1941 three-act Soviet version of Marius Petipa's classic La Bayadère. A tale of forbidden love, murder, and a spectral voyage to the afterlife, this eye-popping spectacle radiates with vibrant sets and costumes, a classic score by Ludwig Minkus, and one of ballet's most mesmerizing scenes: the endless line of ethereal maidens floating across the stage in Act III's "Kingdom of the Shades." Show Specifics:Sun., Jan. 27 at 1:30 p.m. Running Times: | |
Cultural To-Do: Ballet: Romeo and Juliet
Dec. 13th, 2010 03:49 pm| Romeo and Juliet | Seen: January 29, 2010 |
| Theatre: Kennedy Center, Washington DC | Company: American Ballet Theatre |
| Synopsis: From the American Ballet Theatre: ACT I, Scene 1: The market place, Verona. Romeo, son of Montague, tries unsuccessfully to declare his love for Rosaline and is consoled by his friends Mercutio and Benvolio. As day breaks and the townspeople meet in the market, a quarrel develops between Tybalt, a nephew of Capulet, and Romeo and his friends. The Capulets and Montagues are sworn enemies, and a fight soon begins. The Lords Montague and Capulet join the fray, which is stopped by the appearance of the Prince of Verona, who commands the families to end their feud. Scene 2: Juliet's anteroom in the Capulet house. Juliet, playing with her nurse, is interrupted by her parents, Lord and Lady Capulet. They present her to Paris, a wealthy young nobleman who has asked for her hand in marriage. Scene 3: Outside the Capulet house. Guests arrive for a ball at the Capulet house. Romeo, Mercutio, and Benvolio, disguised in masks, decide to go in pursuit of Rosaline. Scene 4: The Ballroom. Romeo and his friends arrive at the height of the festivities. The guests watch Juliet dance; Mercutio, seeing that Romeo is entranced by her, decides to distract attention from him. Tybalt recognizes Romeo and orders him to leave, but Capulet intervenes and welcomes him as a guest in his house. Scene 5: Outside the Capulet house. As the guests leave the ball, Capulet restrains Tybalt from pursuing Romeo. Scene 6: Juliet's balcony. Unable to sleep, Juliet comes out onto her balcony and is thinking of Romeo, when suddenly he appears in the garden. They confess their love for each other. ACT II, Scene 1: The market place. Romeo can think only of Juliet, and, as a wedding procession passes, he dreams of the day when he will marry her. In the meantime, Juliet's nurse pushes her way through the crowds in search of Romeo to give him a letter from Juliet. He reads that Juliet has consented to be his wife. Scene 2: The chapel. The lovers are secretly married by Friar Laurence, who hopes that their union will end the strife between the Montagues and Capulets. Scene 3: The market place. Interrupting the revelry, Tybalt fights with Mercutio and kills him. Romeo avenges the death of his friend and is exiled. ACT III, Scene 1: The bedroom. At dawn the next morning, the household is stirring, and Romeo must go. He embraces Juliet and leaves as her parents enter with Paris. Juliet refuses to marry Paris, and, hurt by her rebuff, he leaves. Juliet's parents are angry and threaten to disown her. Juliet rushes to see Friar Laurence. Scene 2: The chapel. She falls at the Friar's feet and begs for his help. He gives her a vial of sleeping potion that will make her fall into a death-like sleep. Her parents, believing her to be dead, will bury her in the family tomb. Meanwhile Romeo, warned by Friar Laurence, will return under cover of darkness and take her away from Verona. Scene 3: The bedroom. That evening, Juliet agrees to marry Paris, but the next morning, when her parents arrive with him, they find her apparently lifeless on the bed. Scene 4: The Capulet family crypt. Romeo, failing to receive the Friar's message, returns to Verona stunned by grief at the news of Juliet's death. Disguised as a monk, he enters the crypt and, finding Paris by Juliet's body, kills him. Believing Juliet to be dead, Romeo drinks a vial of poison. Juliet wakes and, finding Romeo dead, stabs herself. | |
| Notes from the Ballet: From the American Ballet Theatre: Music by Sergei Prokofiev World Premiere: The Royal Ballet, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, 2/9/65 Fri., Jan. 29 at 7:30 p.m. Running Times: | |