Pathétique

Martin Schläpfer has titled his latest production at the Vienna State Opera Pathétique, once again showcasing his distinctive style as a choreographer and artistic director of the ballet. Set against a backdrop of summer joy and passion, the programme brings together two icons of New York modernism in a world premiere.

Divertimento No. 15, from 1956, is one of George Balanchine’s most ethereal ballets, and a brilliant interpretation of the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. But Merce Cunningham, too, in his Summerspace, full of leaps, has not lost touch with the heights. With set design by Robert Rauschenberg and to the piano music of Morton Feldman, the dancers fly like birds across the stage. With this work, premiered in 1958, a choreography by this important American artist is being presented for the first time at the Vienna State Opera.

Martin Schläpfer, for his part, has drawn inspiration from the emotional highs and lows of Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky’s 6th Symphony. Present and past, shadows and light emerge in a labyrinth of allusions, reinterpretations and ruptures. With indomitable force, Patética explores the transience of dreams and life’s burning questions, transcending Tchaikovsky’s score with an aria by Handel to lead the audience towards a sublime joy.