The New York City Ballet- February 5th 2011

Saturday evening I saw the most amazing ballet at the New York City Ballet.  I believe it was only playing for one evening, which is just too sad.  It consisted of three parts, one rather traditional, one quite modern, and one referencing Fred Astaire (in that order).  Each was lovely and unique and done by such talented dancers.

I've copied the program notes below for anyone with more interest in it... I don't think my words would do it justice.

Photo © Paul Kolnik

Music	Excerpts from Raymonda (1896-1897) by Alexander Glazounov
Choreography	George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust
Premiere	May 17, 1973, New York City Ballet, New York State Theater
Original Cast	Melissa Hayden, Karin von Aroldingen, Colleen Neary, Merrill Ashley, Jacques d'Amboise, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux
Average Length	32 min.
	Cortège Hongrois ("a courtly parade in the Hungarian style") was created by Balanchine as a farewell gift for Melissa Hayden when she announced her retirement after more than 20 years of dancing principal roles in the Company. The mixture of "character" ethnic dances with classical ballet, including a grand pas de deux, is also a tribute to Marius Petipa, choreographer of the original full-length Raymonda (1898). As a student and dancer in St. Petersburg, Balanchine knew Raymonda and the character dances typically included in Petipa's great 19th century ballets. The full-length Raymonda ends with a lavish Hungarian divertissement, which is recalled in Cortège Hongrois' ethnically accented costumes of green, white and gold. Balanchine considered the Raymonda score "a treasure chest of music." For Cortège Hongrois he chose some of the same music he had used for Pas de Dix in 1955. Still other excerpts were chosen for the 1961 Raymonda Variations. Alexander Glazounov (1865-1936), a student of Rimsky-Korsakov, was director of the St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music from 1906 to 1917. It was during his tenure there that he was called to the Maryinsky to play piano for a rehearsal ofRaymonda; Balanchine was one of the dancers present. Besides ballets, Glazounov composed eight symphonies, a piano concerto, a violin concerto, chamber music, and orchestral tone poems.

Photo © Paul Kolnik

Music	Violin Concerto (Concentric Paths), Op. 24 (2005) by Thomas Adès
Choreography	Wayne McGregor
Premiere	May 14, 2010, New York City Ballet, David H. Koch Theater
Original Cast	Ashley Bouder, Sterling Hyltin, Maria Kowroski, Tiler Peck, Wendy Whelan, Adrian Danchig-Waring, Joaquin De Luz, Robert Fairchild, Gonzalo Garcia, Craig Hall, Amar Ramasar
	Concentric Paths, the subtitle of the composition of Thomas Adès, refers to having a common center, with outliers remaining peripheral to the action.  Those within the circle dance harmoniously until an outlier intrudes.  There is conflicted action among the men in regard to the women.  The lighting effects create changes in mood--red for strong emotionality; yellow for tranquility; grey for somberness.  The choreography reflects the changing moods, using both flowing lyricism and sharp angularity which echoes the music.  The triad structure of the music is reflected in the use of threes in the groupings of the dancers in three movements. Thomas Adès (b. London 1971), studied piano at the Guildhall School of Music, and read music at King's College, Cambridge.  Between 1993 and 1995 he was Composer in Association with the Hallé Orchestra. Mr. Adès’ first opera, Powder Her Face (commissioned by Almeida Opera for the Cheltenham Festival in 1995), has been performed all round the world.  Most of the composer's music has been recorded by EMI, with whom Adès has an exclusive contract as composer, pianist and conductor. His second opera, The Tempest, was commissioned by the Royal Opera House and was premiered there under the baton of the composer to great critical acclaim in February 2004. Thomas Adès' music has attracted numerous awards and prizes, and he is in demand worldwide as a conductor and pianist.  As well as being a renowned interpreter of his own music, his performances and recordings of composers including Kurtág, Janácek, Nancarrow, Schumann, Schubert, Ruders, Tchaikovsky and Gerald Barry have been critically acclaimed.  He performs regularly in collaboration with other artists including Ian Bostridge and the Belcea Quartet and has conducted many orchestras including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National de Radio France, the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and ensembles including the London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Modern, the Athelas Ensemble and the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. Adès has an exclusive contract with EMI Classics as composer, pianist and conductor, for whom he has recorded music by composers including Janácek, Schubert, Castiglioni, Stravinsky, Grieg and Busoni, as well as almost all of his own music.  Mr. Adès has been Artistic Director of the Aldeburgh Festival since 1999.

Photo © Paul Kolnik

Music	Morton Gould, based on a theme by Jerome Kern, "I'm Old-Fashioned" (film sequence You Were Never Lovelier, starring Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth). Score commissioned by New York City Ballet.
Choreography	Jerome Robbins
Premiere	June 16, 1983, New York City Ballet, New York State Theater
Original Cast	Joseph Duell, Judith Fugate, Sean Lavery, Kyra Nichols, Bart Cook, Heather Watts
Average Length	33 min.
	Morton Gould (1913-1996) was an American composer, conductor, and arranger whose lighter works generally drew on American subject matter and music. In his later works Gould concentrated on abstract, as opposed to programmatic or popular, works. His style became more contrapuntal, dissonant, and complex in its treatment of musical materials. Throughout his career Gould was a skillful orchestrator, sensitive to color and texture, and original in his combinations of instruments. His ballets include Fall River Legend, choreographed by Agnes de Mille, and Interplay, choreographed by Jerome Robbins, and he composed numerous scores for film, Broadway, and television.

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