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This production
Run time: 2hrs 40min, 2 intermissions
Considered the quintessential classical ballet, this fable of doomed passion, dreamlike transformation and selfless forgiveness, set to Tchaikovsky's famed score, enchants and moves audiences for over 100 years. Based on old Russian and Nordic legends, Swan Lake tells the story of of Prince Siegfried falling in love with Odette, a young woman whom evil sorcerer Rotbart has transformed into a swan. Only unconditional love can break the spell.
In 1964 Rudolf Nureyev choreographed Swan Lake for the Vienna State Ballet. The premiere at the Vienna State Opera was a performance that went down in the history of ballet. With 89 curtain calls the performance was entered in the Guinness Book of Records. Nureyev’s Swan Lake has been in the repertory or the Vienna State Ballet ever since, yet in 2014 it was stylishly revamped for its 50th anniversary revival with attractive new sets and costumes.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) is widely considered the most popular Russian composer. His work includes operas, symphonies, ballets, suites, piano concertos, a violin concerto, overtures, cantatas, choral works, string quartets, a string sextet, and more than 100 songs and piano pieces.
The original choreography of 1877 was by Julius Reisinger, the ballet master for the Russian Imperial Ballet at the time. His work however was considered unsuccessful.
The revival by choreographers Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov (1895) is the version, on which most ballet companies base their stagings of Swan Lake.
