Vienna State Opera tickets 23 January 2025 - An Evening of Modern Ballet "Shifting Symmetries": Concertante. In The Middle, Somewhat Elevated. Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet | GoComGo.com

An Evening of Modern Ballet "Shifting Symmetries": Concertante. In The Middle, Somewhat Elevated. Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet

Vienna State Opera, Main Stage, Vienna, Austria
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7 PM
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US$ 105

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If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Important Info
Type: Modern Ballet
City: Vienna, Austria
Starts at: 19:00
Intervals: 2
Duration: 2h 25min

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Cast
Performers
Ballet company: Vienna State Ballet
Conductor: Matthew Rowe
Creators
Composer: Frank Martin
Composer: Johannes Brahms
Composer: Leslie Stuck
Composer: Thom Willems
Choreographer: George Balanchine
Choreographer: Hans van Manen
Choreographer: William Forsythe
Overview

Choreography Hans van Manen, William Forsythe, George Balanchine

"Choreography is a language. It is like an alphabet, and you do not need to spell words that you already know. The meaning of a language is determined by the context in which it appears. The most important is how you speak this language, and not what you say." What William Forsythe says here about choreography articulates a view of dance that applies not only to his own works, but is equally valid for artists such as Hans van Manen and George Balanchine. The American presents himself along with them in the premiere of the Vienna State Ballet’s Shifting Symmetries – a triple bill of three master works linked by the common factor that their creators have each confronted ballet as an art from in a way that is both rigorous and thrilling.

Hans van Manen created Concertante in 1994 for Nederlands Dans Theater 2 to Frank Martin’s Petite Symphonie Concertante – music whose wealth of expression, dynamic rhythms and forceful character inspired him to choreograph a ballet in which eight dancers become momentarily attached to and detached from each other again like the pieces of a puzzle; at times joyfully, at times bristling with eroticism, at times filled with aggression, always full of surprises and yet following their own inner logic. Like a crime drama, complex structures within the space and strictly defined sightlines build an unresolved tension, through which the dance broadens out into an encounter between people of whom Hans van Manen said: "However close to each other you may become, ultimately you never know exactly what someone else is thinking."

With In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated – created by William Forsythe in 1987 in response to a commission from Rudolf Nureyev for the Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris – a work that fundamentally revolutionised ballet joins the Viennese repertoire for the first time. To the powerful, stamping electronic sounds provided by his long-term artistic partner Thom Willems, Forsythe drives classical ballet to the level of absurdity with breath-taking virtuosity, using the pattern of theme and variation and the techniques of deconstruction and manipulation in an atmosphere of eccentric coolness: physical configurations aspiring to harmony are destabilised, symmetries are shifted, classical movement sequences are taken apart and reassembled, and a new stability emerges from the battle against gravity. As the tension builds, the level of difficulty increases until the demands exceed anything experienced in ballet before – while the dancers confront each other with an irreverent cold-bloodedness but also an uninhibited theatricality in the hope that they might be able to win the golden cherries elevated on the ceiling of the theatre, after which the piece was named.

George Balanchine adopted a suggestion from Igor Stravinsky’s assistant Robert Craft to take on the Piano Quartet in G minor op. 25 in the sumptuous orchestral version that Arnold Schönberg arranged from Johannes Brahms’ composition in 1937 and proudly claimed as his "Fifth Symphony" when he was looking for a large-scale work for his new venue – the New York State Theater – in 1964. The Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet eventually received its world premiere in 1966 – not only to celebrate the magnificent proportions of the Lincoln Center stage, but also as a homage to an incomparable company that appeared in a 55-strong ensemble whose different qualities were displayed in four miniature ballets to match the movements of the composition: full of elegance in the Allegro, full of romanticism and lyricism in the two central movements, and exhibiting an intoxicating virtuosity in the "alla Zingarese" finale with its elements of folk dance. Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet is not one of Balanchine’s experimental works: it is a thrilling celebration of dance and the orchestra, suffused with echoes of a grand Austro-Hungarian musical tradition that is heard through Brahms and Schönberg as well as reminders of the marvellous divertissements of Marius Petipa, where the roots of Balanchine’s neoclassicism originated.

History
Premiere of this production: 12 April 1966, New York State Theater, New York

Brahms–Schoenberg Quartet is a ballet created by New York City Ballet original ballet master (and co-founder) George Balanchine to Brahms's Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25 (1861) orchestrated by Arnold Schoenberg in 1937. The premiere took place Tuesday, April 12, 1966 at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, with costumes by Karinska, original lighting by Ronald Bates and current lighting by Mark Stanley.

Venue Info

Vienna State Opera - Vienna
Location   Opernring 2

The Vienna State Opera is one of the leading opera houses in the world. Its past is steeped in tradition. Its present is alive with richly varied performances and events. Each season, the schedule features 350 performances of more than 60 different operas and ballets. The members of the Vienna Philharmonic are recruited from the Vienna State Opera's orchestra. The building is also the home of the Vienna State Ballet, and it hosts the annual Vienna Opera Ball during the carnival season.

The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll, and designs by Josef Hlávka. The opera house was inaugurated as the "Vienna Court Opera" (Wiener Hofoper) in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth of Austria. It became known by its current name after the establishment of the First Austrian Republic in 1921. The Vienna State Opera is the successor of the Vienna Court Opera, the original construction site chosen and paid for by Emperor Franz Joseph in 1861.

The opera house was the first major building on the Vienna Ringstrasse commissioned by the Viennese "city expansion fund". Work commenced on the house in 1861 and was completed in 1869, following plans drawn up by architects August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll. It was built in the Neo-Renaissance style by the renowned Czech architect and contractor Josef Hlávka.

Gustav Mahler was one of the many conductors who have worked in Vienna. During his tenure (1897–1907), Mahler cultivated a new generation of singers, such as Anna Bahr-Mildenburg and Selma Kurz, and recruited a stage designer who replaced the lavish historical stage decors with sparse stage scenery corresponding to modernistic, Jugendstil tastes. Mahler also introduced the practice of dimming the lighting in the theatre during performances, which was initially not appreciated by the audience. However, Mahler's reforms were maintained by his successors.

Herbert von Karajan introduced the practice of performing operas exclusively in their original language instead of being translated into German. He also strengthened the ensemble and regular principal singers and introduced the policy of predominantly engaging guest singers. He began a collaboration with La Scala in Milan, in which both productions and orchestrations were shared. This created an opening for the prominent members of the Viennese ensemble to appear in Milan, especially to perform works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Richard Strauss.

Ballet companies merge

At the beginning of the 2005–2006 season, the ballet companies of the Staatsoper and the Vienna Volksoper were merged under the direction of Gyula Harangozó.

From the 2010–2011 season a new company was formed called Wiener Staatsballet, Vienna State Ballet, under the direction of former Paris Opera Ballet principal dancer Manuel Legris. Legris eliminated Harangozós's policy of presenting nothing but traditional narrative ballets with guest artists in the leading roles, concentrated on establishing a strong in-house ensemble and restored evenings of mixed bill programs, featuring works of George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Jiří Kylián, William Forsythe, and many contemporary choreographers, as well as a reduced schedule of the classic ballets.

Opera ball

For many decades, the opera house has been the venue of the Vienna Opera Ball. It is an internationally renowned event, which takes place annually on the last Thursday in Fasching. Those in attendance often include visitors from around the world, especially prominent names in business and politics. The opera ball receives media coverage from a range of outlets.

Important Info
Type: Modern Ballet
City: Vienna, Austria
Starts at: 19:00
Intervals: 2
Duration: 2h 25min
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