The Lady of the Camellias (Ballet)
The Lady of the Camellias is a ballet in a prologue and three acts by John Neumeier . He did the choreography and the libretto, which is based on the novel Die Kamelliendame (La dame aux camélias) by Alexandre Dumas the Elder. J. based. As music he used only piano compositions by Frédéric Chopin , the set and the costumes are by Jürgen Rose . The work was premiered by the Stuttgart Ballet on November 4, 1978 in the Great House of the Württemberg State Theater in Stuttgart. A performance lasts about three hours (with a break between acts). The Lady of the Camellias premiered on some of the most famous ballet stages in the world, such as B. the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, the Bavarian State Ballet and the Ballet of the Paris State Opera ; the piece is still in the repertoire of the Stuttgart Ballet.
people
| Marguerite Gautier, the lady of the camellias | Desirable courtesan |
| Armand Duval | Son of Monsieur Duval |
| Manon Lescaut | Played courtesan at the Théâtre des Variétés , whose performance Maguerite attended |
| Des Grieux | Faithful lover of Manon |
| Prudence Duvernoy | |
| Gaston Rieux | Armand's friend |
| Nanina | Marguerite's maid |
| Monsieur Duval | Armand's father |
| Olympia | Another courtesan |
| The Duke | Marguerite's lover, who lets her live in his house |
| Count N. | Marguerite seeks great love in him, but is disappointed |
| Prudence's girlfriend | |
| A pianist | |
| A married couple | |
| The auctioneer | |
| His assistant | |
| Workers at the auction | |
| Manon's admirer | |
| Arthur, Edouard and Eugène | Admirer of Marguerites |
| Guests at the Bal Masqué | |
| Society on the way to the country trip | |
| Guests in the country | |
| Marguerite's servant | |
| Walkers on the Champs-Elysées | |
| Ball guests |
action
introduction
The ballet took place in Paris and the surrounding area in the mid- 19th century . It begins with the end of the story and lets the events happen in different flashbacks - like in a film. The plot is interrupted several times by the - from the viewer's point of view - playing in the present framework .
prolog
The contents of a luxuriously furnished apartment are to be auctioned because the owner, the courtesan Marguerite Gautier - the lady of the camellias - has died. Her chambermaid Nanina mourns her while visitors enter the room and look at the items that are up for auction. One of them is Monsieur Duval, who is discovered by a falling young man. It's his son Armand. He faints at the sight of things that are familiar to him, but his father catches him and Armand immediately comes to. Then he tells what moves him.
first act
The flashback begins on an evening at the Théâtre des Variétés . On the program is the ballet Manon Lescaut , which is about a courtesan who, although longing for a life of luxury, does not want to do without honest love. Among the audience is Marguerite Gautier, herself one of the most desirable courtesans in Paris. What happens on stage stirs her up because she recognizes her own fate in it. Also in the audience is Armand Duval, who comes from one of the most respected French families. He has heard a lot about the lady of the camellias and is eager to get to know her personally. When he is introduced to her, he immediately falls in love with the beautiful woman. From that moment he followed the ballet with different eyes, with the character of Des Grieux, Manon's loyal lover, he felt like a soulmate. He believes he can see his own future in it.
After the performance, Marguerite invites some of her friends and Armand over to her. She had hoped to find a charming lover in the young Count N. but instead he turns out to be a bore. To annoy him, she flirts with Armand. Before long the Count leaves the house, furious with jealousy.
The hostess has a fit of coughing and has to withdraw. Armand rushes after and takes care of her. He takes the opportunity and makes her a declaration of love.
Over the next few weeks, Marguerite and Armand meet more and more often. Although Marguerite Armand likes very much, she does not renounce her usual life. She continues to rush from ball to ball and indulge in numerous lovers. One of them is a duke who realizes that her health is deteriorating and gives her a country house in a Paris suburb to relax. Shortly afterwards Armand moves in with her.
Second act
At a party in Marguerite's country house, there is a dispute between the Duke and Armand in front of all the guests. Marguerite has to show her true colors. For the first time she publicly declares that her love for Armand is worth more than all wealth. Furious, the Duke hurries off, followed by the other guests. Armand and Marguerite give in to their love.
Back in the present: Armand realizes that this happy time is over forever. The thought of it makes him collapse again. But the story doesn't leave his father indifferent either. He himself had a major role in it that he remembers. Another review begins. When he is told what lifestyle his son is leading, he takes the offensive. He visits Marguerite in her country house and asks her to end the affair with Armand immediately. Marguerite is convinced that this is best for Armand, travels back to Paris and plunges into her old life.
On arrival at the country house, Nanina gives Armand a letter in which his lover says goodbye to him. Armand doesn't want to admit it. He hurries after Marguerite to Paris. In her city apartment he finds her in the arms of someone else and runs away in despair.
Third act
A few weeks later, Armand is walking on the Champs-Elysées. By chance, Marguerite meets him with another courtesan - Olympia - to get revenge on Marguerite for her shameful behavior, Armand approaches Olympia and pretends that nothing has ever been between Marguerite and him.
Again some time has passed. Marked by a serious lung disease, Marguerite comes to Armand and asks him not to humiliate her any further. They both realize how much they still love each other and spend the night together. Marguerite is plagued by feverish dreams in which Manon Lescaut appears again and again. When she wakes up, she remembers the promise she made to Monsieur Duval and leaves her lover, who is still sleeping.
Armand doesn't understand Marguerite's behavior. He's going insane and now wants to expose her in public. He finds the opportunity to do so at a big ball. In front of all the guests, he hands her an envelope filled with banknotes as a symbol of reward for the services she has rendered to him.
Back in the present, Armand's story ends. His father leaves the auction. Meanwhile, the grieving Nanina has noticed Armand's arrival and hands him her mistress' diary. From this Armand learns how much his lover struggled with her illness.
In a final flashback, you can see Marguerite attending the Manon Lescaut ballet a second time . Manon Lescaut was exiled to America and Des Grieux followed her to the New World. Completely exhausted, Manon breathes her life into his arms.
When Marguerite leaves the theater, they follow the characters in the ballet. During the night she is haunted again by febrile nightmares. She longs to be in Armand's arms just one more time. Left completely alone, she puts her thoughts on paper. When she is done, she hands the diary to Nanina with the request that she give it to Armand. Then she dies.
Emergence
The Lady of the Camellias was created by John Neumeier in 1978 at the Stuttgart Ballet. In his book On The Move , Neumeier explains how ballet came about. The thought began with John Cranko's funeral in 1973 when he promised Marcia Haydée to help her and the Stuttgart company. After taking over from Cranko as ballet director, she occasionally asked Neumeier to choreograph pieces for the Stuttgart Ballet. After initial considerations with other pieces, Neumeier came up with the idea of creating The Lady of the Camellias for her while working on The Hamlet case in Stuttgart during a meal with Marcia Haydée . The novel by Alexandre Dumas d. J. had fascinated him for many years. "The form of the whole novel, the complexity of the indirect narrative, its poetic power, the fragmentary way of looking back have inspired me to write the ballet."
performance
The work had its world premiere at the Stuttgart Ballet on November 4, 1978 in the Great House of the Württemberg State Theater in Stuttgart. The title at the premiere was Lady of the Camellias , without an article; the ballet has only been called Die Kamelliendame in Stuttgart since its resumption in 1998 . Marcia Haydée, to whom Neumeier also dedicated the ballet, danced the title role. The other leading roles were cast by Egon Madsen (Armand Duval), Birgit Keil (Manon Lescaut), Richard Cragun (Des Grieux), Jean Allenby (Prudence Duvernoy), Vladimir Klos (Gaston Rieux), Ruth Papendick (Nanina), Reid Anderson (Monsieur Duval ), Nora Kimball (Olympia), Marcis Lesins (The Duke) and Mark A. Neal (Count N.).
His Hamburg premiere Lady of the Camellias by John Neumeier on 1 February 1981. Since then, it stands in Hamburg again regularly on the program and on guest performances shows the Hamburg Ballet John Neumeier Choreography:
| 1981 | Munich |
| 1987 | Berlin (East), Copenhagen |
| 1995 | Dresden |
| 1996 | Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo |
| 1997 | Fukuoka, Nagoya, Omiya, Osaka, Tokyo |
| 2001 | Palermo |
| 2003 | St. Petersburg |
| 2004 | Baden-Baden |
| 2007 | los Angeles |
| 2009 | Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Nishinomiya, Yokohama |
| 2012 | St. Petersburg |
| 2014 | Vienna |
The Lady of the Camellias has been danced at the Bavarian State Ballet in Munich since 1997. John Neumeier's choreography is regularly rehearsed by international ballet companies around the world, such as the American Ballet Theater, Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris , Bolshoi Ballet, Corpo di Ballo del Teatro alla Scala, Dresden Semperoper Ballet, Het Nationale Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet and Polish National Ballet.
Reception history
Dumas' novel was so successful that the author himself brought out a stage version of it three years after it was published. In his ballet version, however, Neumeier explicitly refers to the novel and not to the drama of the same name. The ballet in ballet, by which the ballet performance is meant that the characters in the play visit and parts of which Neumeier incorporated into his work, cannot be found in the original.
John Neumeier's “Lady of the Camellias” ... is a high point that will hardly be reached again so quickly. Simply because, as it is realized by the State Theater Ballet, it represents a model case of dramaturgical considerations, musical coherence, artistic taste and choreographic maturity. A model case that almost inevitably has to remain an exception.
music
Order of the piano compositions used by Frédéric Chopin:
In the prologue:
- Largo from the Sonata in B minor, op.58 (1844)
In the first act:
- Second Concerto pour le piano avec orchester, F minor, op. 21 (1829)
In the second act:
- Waltz No. 1 in A flat major from Trois Valses Brillantes, op.34 (1835)
- Trois Ecossaises from Nocturne, Marche Funèbre et Trois Ecossaises, op.72 (1826)
- Waltz No. 3, F major, from Trois Valses Brillantes, op.34 (1838)
- Largo from the Sonata in B minor, op.58
- Prelude No. 2 in A minor
- Prelude No. 17 in A flat major
- Prelude No. 15, D flat major from Vingt-quatre Preludes, op.28 (1836-39)
- Largo from the Sonata in B minor, op.58
- Prelude No. 2 in A minor,
- Prelude No. 24 in D minor, from Vingt-quatre Preludes, op.28
In the third act:
- Grande Fantaisie sur des airs polonais pour le piano avec orchester, A major, op.13 (1828), Largo ma non troppo, Andantino, Allegretto canceled, Vivace
- Ballad in G minor, op. 23 (1831-35)
- Grande Polonaise brillante précédée d'un Andante spianato pour le piano avec orchester, E flat major, op.22 (1830-31 / 1834)
- Romance, 2nd movement from the Grand Concerto pour le piano avec orchester, E minor, op.11 (1830)
- Largo from the Sonata in B minor, op.58
Furnishing
Sets and costumes drew Jürgen Rose, German stage and costume designer and opera director , in addition to many collaborative works with Neumeier, with Dieter Dorn , Otto Schenk worked and John Cranko. In collaboration with John Neumeier, many well-known works were created, such as Romeo and Juliet , The Nutcracker , A Midsummer Night's Dream and A Cinderella Story .
About the collaboration with Jürgen Rose, John Neumeier writes in his book In Motion that it was particularly important to him in this ballet and that it was as harmonious and productive as it would probably only be possible with a long-term team. On the one hand, it was primarily about reducing it to the essentials and, on the other, maintaining the structure of the novel, which consists of many filmic fades in, fades out and cross-fades. "Rose's stage design gives me the opportunity to cross-fade directly from the ›› outer ‹‹, the social situation, to ›› inner ‹‹, emotional states."
When working on the costumes, too, they found a solution on the one hand to authentically portray the epoch of the action and on the other hand to allow the body complete freedom of expression.
filming
John Neumeier himself filmed his ballet in 1987 with Marcia Haydée, Ivan Liška , François Klaus, Colleen Scott and Vladimir Klos in the leading roles. The 129-minute film was released on November 19, 1987. The Wiesbaden film evaluation agency awarded him the title “particularly valuable”. The lexicon of international films judges: “The famous love fate of the Parisian 'Lady of the Camellias' ... as a lyrical, morbid ballet of exemplary artistic unity. However, through aestheticization and romanticization, the social context of the socially conditioned soul drama experiences an inadequate weakening. Impressive especially because of the masterful choreography and the brilliant dance performances. "
Individual evidence
- ↑ John Neumeier: On the move. Collection Rolf Heyne, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-89910-403-5 , p. 138
- ↑ Otto Friedrich Regner, Heinz-Ludwig Schneider: Reclam's ballet guide. 8th edition. Stuttgart 1980, ISBN 3-15-008042-8 , p. 514.
- ↑ John Neumeier: On the move. Collection Rolf Heyne, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-89910-403-5 , p. 138