Mainly Opera and Ballet
Peter Farmer’s wonderful designs for ENB’s Swan Lake, beautifully lit by Howard Harrison, suggest a world of mystery behind the real world of courtly conformity, all brought to life by Tchaikovsky’s music under the excellent baton of Gavin Sutherland. The dancers respond magnificently, and the Company’s ensemble work is showing glorious precision. The swans of …
The great charm of E. T. A. Hoffmann’s original story is the interplay between the real and imaginary worlds of Clara’s life, both inhabited by her beloved godfather Drosselmeyer. This production emphasises Drosselmeyer’s ambiguous role in his pursuit of a dancing butterfly in the Act II mirliton section, but the clever main idea is to …
The original story by E.T.A. Hoffmann interweaves the real and magical worlds, with Drosselmeyer’s toy Nutcracker based on his own nephew. Wayne Eagling’s production, based on a joint idea with Toer van Schayk, combines the two worlds in various clever ways and the nephew, who appears in the party scene of Act I, later interchanges with …
