The Israeli Philharmonic opened the concert season in Jerusalem last night with their first collaboration with the Batsheva Dance Company: Stravinsky’s Petrouchka. Choreographer Sharon Eyal’s created a free interpretation of the work, which was performed by the Batsheva Ensemble and the Israeli Philharmonic, conducted by Maestro Zubin Mehta. Upcoming performances will be in Tel Aviv and Haifa, October 7 – 12.
Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes premiered the ballet Petrouchka in Paris in 1911, with music composed by Igor Stravinsky, choreography by Mikhail Fokine, and featuring Vaslav Nijinsky in the lead role. In the ballet, the straw and sawdust puppet Petrouchka comes to life along with the ballerina and the Moor – with the ensuing love and heartache.
Working with the talented young dancers of the Batsheva Ensemble, Sharon Eyal has created her first choreography to an existing musical work, using the libretto written by Alexandre Benois and Igor Stravinsky as a launching point for her personal, more abstract response to the piece. Eyal’s choreography has always been distinguished by a wonderful sense of space, in this instance; she is working with a larger stage as well as a “cast” that includes the orchestra.
The evening’s program features soloist violinist Leonides Kavakos and includes:
Avner Dorman Azerbaijani Dance
Mussorgsky Prelude to Khovanschina
Prokofiev Violin Concerto no. 2
Stravinsky Petrouchka
Performances:
Mann Auditorium
1 Huberman Street, Tel Aviv, 03-6211777
October 7, 9 & 10 at 20:30, October 8 at 14:00
Haifa Auditorium
Rappaport Hall, 142 HaNassi Street, Haifa, 04-8101558
October 11 & 12 at 20:30
