Edwin Landseer, Scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream, Titania and Bottom, 1851

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a two-act ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Felix Mendelssohn's music to Shakespeare's play of the same name.

History

A Midsummer Night's Dream, Balanchine's first completely original full-length ballet, premiered at New York City Ballet on 17 January 1962,[1][2] with Edward Villella in the role of Oberon, Melissa Hayden in the role of Titania, and Arthur Mitchell in the role of Puck. They were joined by Francisco Moncion in the role of Theseus- Duke of Athens.[3]

Description

In addition to the incidental music, Balanchine incorporated other Mendelssohn works into the ballet, including the Overtures to Athalie, Son and Stranger, and The Fair Melusine, the "String Symphony No. 9 in C minor" and The First Walpurgis Night.[1]

The ballet employs a large children's corps de ballet.[4] Act I tells Shakespeare's familiar story of lovers and fairies while Act II presents a strictly classical dance wedding celebration. The ballet dispenses with Shakespeare's play-within-a-play finale. A Midsummer Night's Dream opened The New York City Ballet's first season at the New York State Theater in April, 1964.[1]

Videography

A 1966 performance was filmed and released the following year. It featured Suzanne Farrell, Edward Villella, Arthur Mitchell and Gloria Govrin.[5]

A performance in 1986 was filmed as a part of Live from Lincoln Center. The Lincoln Center released the video online in light of the impact of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic on the performing arts.[6]

In 1999, a Pacific Northwest Ballet performance at the Sadler's Wells Theatre in London was filmed and released as a DVD.[7]

The Paris Opera Ballet also released a recording of a performance during the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic , which featured Eleonora Abbagnato, Laëtitia Pujol, Alice Renavand, Stéphane Bullion, Hugo Marchand and Karl Paquette.[8]

When the coronavirus pandemic cut short the San Francisco Ballet 2020 performance to just its opening night on March 6, it was subsequently recorded in an empty War Memorial Opera House shortly after its opening and released as part of the all-digital 2021 season.[9][10]

Casts

Roles World premiere (1962)[11] 1966 filmed version[5] 1986 filmed version[6] Paris Opera Ballet premiere (2017)[12]
Titania Melissa Hayden Suzanne Farrell Maria Calegari Eleonora Abbagnato
Oberon Edward Villella Ib Andersen Paul Marque
Puck Arthur Mitchell Jean-Pierre Frohlich Hugo Vigliotti
Hippolyta Gloria Govrin Victoria Hall Alice Renavand
Theseus - Duke of Athens Francisco Moncion Cornel Crabtree Florian Magnenet
Titania's cavalier Conrad Ludlow Jock Soto Stéphane Bullion
Helena Jillana Stephanie Saland Fanny Gorse
Demetrius Bill Carter Peter Frame Audric Bezard
Hermia Patricia McBride Judith Fugate Laëtitia Pujol
Lysander - Beloved of Hermia Nicholas Magallanes Kypling Houston Alessio Carbone
Butterfly Suki Schorer Katrina Killian Muriel Zusperreguy
divertissement Violette Verdy
Conrad Ludlow		 Merrill Ashley
Adam Lüders		 Sae Eun Park
Karl Paquette

Other versions

A Midsummer Night's Dream - Bruce Wells

References

  1. 1 2 3 A Midsummer Night's Dream. Archived October 15, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 14 October 2008.
  2. ↑ New York City Ballet: Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Archived 2008-01-03 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 14 October 2008.
  3. ↑ Francisco Moncion in the premier of Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream The George Balanchine Foundation - A Midsummer Night's Dream - Francisco Moncion on balanchine.org Archived 2018-05-19 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ Boston Ballet: A Midsummer Night's Dream. Archived June 21, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 14 October 2008.
  5. 1 2 "Screen: 'Midsummer Night's Dream:Balanchine Helps Turn Classic Into Film". New York Times. 18 April 1967.
  6. 1 2 "A Midsummer Night's Dream (1986)". Lincoln Center at Home. Archived from the original on June 4, 2020.
  7. ↑ "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Pacific Northwest Ballet. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Le Songe d'une nuit d'été". Opéra national de Paris.
  9. ↑ Munice, Amy (25 January 2021). "San Francisco Ballet Presents A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM Review — Delectable!". picturethispost.com. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  10. ↑ Mead, David (22 January 2021). "A dream of A Midsummer Night's Dream from San Francisco Ballet". seeingdance.com. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  11. ↑ "340. A Midsummer Night's Dream". The George Balanchine Foundation. Archived from the original on 23 May 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  12. ↑ "Le Songe d'une nuit d'été". Paris Opera. Archived from the original on 12 July 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  13. ↑ "The Vodafone Season of A Midsummer Night's Dream — RNZB". www.rnzb.org.nz. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
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