Rachmaninoff. Shchedrin... (Don José’s Tragedy)

Sizzling love and passionate dance: the Kraków Opera is putting on a ballet Rachmaninoff. Shchedrin... (Don José’s Tragedy), directed and choreographed by Ondřej Šoth.

The tale will have two stages. The first, based on the sounds of Rachmaninoff’s Piano concerto No. 2, illustrates the search for affection and perfect romantic love. In the second – as suggested by the title – the idyll will turn into a drama of jealousy and desire. It will feature the suite (on the theme of Bizet’s opera), written in 1960 by the Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin for his wife Maya Plisetskaya; the legendary prima ballerina performed his version of Carmen 350 times! The creator of the play to be performed in Kraków, the Slovak choreographer and director Ondřej Šoth, chose Shchedrin’s music because – as he himself says – it provides a perfect basis for dance theatre. “I lacked a certain reality, passion, seeking the truth, though” he explains. Here he found help in music far removed from operatic repertoire: Šoth found his missing elements in music by Deep Forest. The result was the original version of the life of the fascinating, passionate Gypsy girl, reduced to a lovers’ quartet – Carmen, Don José, Escamillo and Micaëla – with the addition of a fifth character: the menacing Death, pushing the protagonists in their actions.

The play Rachmaninoff. Shchedrin… (Don José’s Tragedy) was created as a co-production with the Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava; Šoth’s choreography includes dancers from the Kraków scene, with art direction and costumes by Andrii Sukhanov, director of the Bratislava ballet. This marks the next step in strengthening the relationship between the Kraków Opera and its southern neighbours: Polish artists performed during the season opening 2011/2012 at the Bratislava theatre, while in the autumn 2012 its stage will feature the premiere of Marie-Therese by Roland Baumgartner, directed by Laco Adamik with stage design by Barbara Kędzierska. (Barbara Skowrońska)

Choreography, stage direction & adaptation: Ondrej Šoth
Set and costume designer: Andrii Sukhanov
Premiere: 3 February 2012