The approach of Christmas brings tantalising imagery: twinkling lights, fluttering snow - and fairytale ballet and opera performances. For those of you without a ticket this season, we have a spectacular array of sumptuous fairytale performances to bring a little magic to your home.
The Tsarina’s Slippers (Cherevichki) tells the gleeful and mischievous tale of what the Devil gets up to on Christmas Eve. Combining elements of both opera and ballet, The Tsarina’s Slippers is full of wonderful singing, Tchaikovsky’s unparalleled skill with a ballet score, as well as the exemplary dancing expected from a predominantly Russian cast supported by the Royal Ballet. Cossack dancers add Russian bravura to Francesca Zambello’s production from the Royal Opera House.
In Rudolf Nureyev’s Paris Opera Ballet production of Cinderella, the fairytale is transposed with the gritty realism of Depression-era Hollywood. But true love and happy endings are irrepressible - the magic shines forth nonetheless, not least from Prokofiev’s delightful score and Nureyev’s choreography. Agnès Letestu dazzles as Cinderella and José Martinez is nothing short of charming in his ‘Movie Star’ role.
Another beloved and well known fairytale is retold in The Sleeping Beauty. Marius Petipa’s choreography to Tchaikovsky’s score underlines why he is universally considered the master of classical ballet. In this Royal Ballet production, principal dancer Alina Cojocaru takes on the lead role of Princess Aurora.
Folk music and forest magic weave their way through Engelbert Humperdinck’s fairytale opera, Hansel and Gretel. The tale is brought to life by Angelika Kirchschlager and Diana Damrau singing the bickering, beleaguered brother and sister. Director’s Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser infuse the production with enveloping imagery of woodlands, as you would expect, and include a dose of dark wit that may catch some unawares.
Perennial favourite Swan Lake is ubiquitous in the repertoire of all ballet companies. In this production, featuring the talents of the Paris Opéra Ballet, choreographer Rudolf Nureyev’s fairytale vision is transported fully into the world of dream. Yet even during a visit to the subconscious, the precision of movement is nothing short of meticulous.
Lastly, we stay with Tchaikovsky, the giant of ballet composition, for the ultimate Christmas fairytale ballet: The Nutcracker. In Peter Wright’s glittering production at the Royal Opera House, young Clara’s adventures with a magical present include an enchanted, growing Christmas tree, and an encounter with Miyako Yoshida’s lustrous Sugar Plum Fairy; her last Royal Opera House role before retiring this summer.
What are your favourite fairytale moments, at the ballet or opera - or somewhere else entirely?