Ballet: JEWELS, Vienna State Opera , 09 December 2019

Description

First performed on 13 April 1967 in New York, Jewels represents the first full-length “abstract ballet” by George Balanchine. The three parts of the ballet, „Emeralds“ (to music by Gabriel Fauré), „Rubies“ (to music by Igor Stravinsky) and „Diamonds“ (to music by Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky) are loosely connected by the idea of gems or jewels; a meeting with the jeweller Claude Arpels was a significant stimulus to Balanchine to create the work. Through the choice of the different composers, the ballet also forms a kind of geographical retrospective of the life of George Balanchine, who spent periods of time in France, the United States and Russia. Manuel Legris’ time as director is also closely connected with the work: after „Rubies“ (2010/2011) and „Diamonds“ (Pas de deux, 2017/2018), the complete work now appears on the programme as his period of office in Vienna draws to a close.