Review: Don Quixote at La Scala with Alice Mariani and Mattia Semperboni
Graham Spicer sees La Scala Ballet in Nureyev’s production of Don Quixote featuring sparkling performances under the magical baton of Gavriel Heine.
Christian Fagetti
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Review: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland at La Scala – it is pure joy
Graham Spicer sees Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in Milan – beneath the spectacle is a quiet emotional core.
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Review: Nureyev’s The Sleeping Beauty at La Scala – thrilling in its eccentricity
Graham Spicer sees Rudolf Nureyev’s The Sleeping Beauty at La Scala with an electrifying Martina Arduino as Aurora.
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Review: Nureyev’s Swan Lake at La Scala with Alice Mariani and Navrin Turnbull
Graham Spicer sees Swan Lake at La Scala – one of Rudolf Nureyev’s most successful choreographies.
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Review: Gala Fracci 2025 – Marianela Nuñez and Reece Clarke join La Scala Ballet to celebrate Carla Fracci
Graham Spicer sees Gala Fracci, La Scala’s annual festa to celebrate the great Italian ballerina Carla Fracci who died in 2021, now in its fourth edition.
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Review: Rudolf Nureyev’s The Nutcracker at La Scala – outstanding five-star dancing
Graham Spicer sees Rudolf Nureyev’s The Nutcracker at La Scala – some odd dramatic choices but the company has never looked so good.
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Review: the autobiography of Anna Maria Prina, director of La Scala Ballet School for more than three decades
Anna Maria Prina’s autobiography provides a fascinating insight into La Scala’s history, with juicy titbits, opinions and copious information.
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Review – La Bayadère at La Scala with Nicoletta Manni and Kimin Kim
Kimin Kim debuts as Solor in La Bayadère at La Scala, with étoile Nicoletta Manni, to thunderous applause.
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[Review] La Scala’s Gala Fracci shows a company in spectacular form
Gala Fracci at La Scala has reached its third edition – an annual gala dedicated to the great Italian ballerina Carla Fracci who died in 2021.
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Alexei Ratmansky’s new Coppélia opens La Scala’s Ballet Season (in streaming)
A large gallery of photographs from the dress rehearsal of Alexei Ratmansky’s new version of Coppélia for La Scala with Jérôme Kaplan’s set and costume designs.
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[Review] The second annual Gala Fracci at La Scala
A varied gala at La Scala to celebrate Carla Fracci who died 2 years ago. Roberto Bolle, Alessandra Ferri and other Italian guests joined the company.
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[Photo Album] Wayne McGregor new work at La Scala: AfteRite + LORE
Photos of the world premiere of Wayne McGregor’s AfteRite + LORE at La Scala with Alessandra Ferri.
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Fracci Gala: La Scala celebrates Carla Fracci
A three-hour gala celebrating the career of Carla Fracci, who died last year, was a triumph at La Scala and presented the company at its best.
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La Scala’s enthralling Contemporary Evening is a triumph
Contemporary Evening was very good indeed, with seven works: a contemporary ‘classic’, some lesser-known pieces, and a new creation.
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A Covid-free La Scala to stream its gala ‘A Tribute to Nureyev’
After Covid delayed the filming of La Scala’s Tribute to Nureyev gala, it has been filmed and will be streamed on 28 March. (The post contains a gallery of photos from the gala)
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Tribute to Nureyev – free ballet gala streaming from La Scala
A Tribute to Rudolf Nureyev from La Scala in Milan can be seen on Sunday 28 February at 20.00 CET
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Online: Carla Fracci gives two Giselle masterclasses from La Scala
Carla Fracci works with La Scala’s dancers on Thursday 28 January and Friday 29 January in streaming.
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[Review and Photos] La Scala Ballet Gala sees dance return to its stage, with Ferri, Bonelli, Zakharova and Bolle
On 23 September, La Scala opened its doors for dance for the first time since February. It was a gala which had four showings, the last being yesterday.
The gala was mixed – lockdown has not treated everyone kindly, and some showed that months of home stretching can’t make up for daily classes, rehearsals and performances.
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Danza&Danza Awards 2019 announced
The critics of the Italian magazine Danza&Danza (which also has an edition in English) huddle together at the beginning of each year to decided the ‘best’ of the previous year in Italian dance and dance seen in Italy. The jury, since 1987, has always underlined its objectivity and honesty in its selection of interpreters, productions…
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Manuel Legris’ Sylvia shows La Scala’s dancers on top form
Sylvia opened the 2019-2020 ballet season at La Scala. It is a co-production with the Wiener Staatsballett where it opened in November 2018. There have been no changes to Luisa Spinatelli‘s sets and costumes or Manuel Legris‘ choreography, which suggests that everyone was pleased with how it turned out in Vienna. However, while the overall…
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Photo Album: First Night at La Scala with “Sylvia” in a New Production
Sylvia Photos of the opening night of Sylvia, with choreography by Manuel Legris, starring Martina Arduino, Claudio Coviello, Nicola Del Freo, Christian Fagetti, Maria Celeste Losa and company. Choreography Manuel Legris from Louis Mérante and others Dramaturgy and libretto Manuel Legris and Jean-François Vazelle from Jules Barbier and baron Jacques de Reinach Conductor Kevin Rhodes…
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Save the best until last – La Scala’s triple bill shows a company in excellent form
Save the best until last. Not a bad programming policy, and with La Scala‘s recent triple bill, the last was Maurice Béjart‘s Boléro. Obviously, with the first item on the programme being George Balanchine’s Symphony in C it can hardly be the best for many, but the Béjart is undoubtedly a crowd-pleaser and whoops and…
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Review: Giselle at La Scala with Zakharova/Hallberg, Manni/Andrijashenko, Valerio/Coviello
Giselle is one of La Scala Ballet’s international calling cards. Together with Nureyev’s Don Quixote, this production has been seen all over the world, and rightly so. The company dances it beautifully, and its staging by Yvette Chauviré (based, of course, on the Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot choreography) would be difficult to better. It is clearly told, the story points being so carefully prepared that focus is…
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In with the old – La Scala returns to Nureyev’s Sleeping Beauty
If there is a ballet that belongs to La Scala, it’s Rudolf Nureyev’s production of The Sleeping Beauty, created for the ballet company in 1966 with Carla Fracci and Nureyev in the main roles. It was performed 152 times until 2007, when Tchaikovsky’s score fell silent for eight years until awoken by Alexei Ratmansky when…
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McGregor’s Woolf Works thrills and enthralls at La Scala
The La Scala Ballet usually fields a first cast, and several alternative casts, but not with Wayne McGregor’s Woolf Works – here it was very much a case of a first cast and a second cast. The first featured two guests from the original Royal Opera House production from 2015 – Alessandra Ferri and Federico…
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First photos of Wayne McGregor’s Woolf Works at La Scala with Alessandra Ferri, Federico Bonelli and Company dancers
These are the first photos of La Scala’s restaging of Wayne McGregor’s Woolf Works created for The Royal Ballet in 2015. The work was seen again in London in 2017, and in Milan, two of the original interpreters- Alessandra Ferri and Federico Bonelli – reprise their roles. The photos are accompanied by extracts of a…
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Winterreise at La Scala rejoices in Angelin Preljocaj’s sublimely melodic choreography
Winterreise is Angelin Preljocaj‘s latest creation, danced to the complete Schubert cycle of Lieder. I stand by my arguments that a large theatre like La Scala is not the right theatre for a piece with just 13 dancers and two musicians, but let’s leave that aside — Winterreise is a beautifully crafted gem of dance…
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Photo Album: first look at Preljocaj’s new piece Winterreise for La Scala
Winterreise by Angelin Preljocaj New commission from Teatro alla Scala in Milan – runs from 24 January to 9 March 2019 Winterreise Franz Schubert Running Time: 1 hour 20 minutes Teatro alla Scala Ballet Company World Premiere Choreography Angelin Preljocaj Sets Constance Guisset Lights Eric Soyer Costumes Angelin Preljocaj MUSICIANS Bass-baritone Thomas Tatzl Piano James Vaughan DANCERS Antonella Albano, Alessandra Vassallo,…
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Lescaut almost steals the show among excellent performances in Manon at La Scala
I wonder how many reviews of Manon start by appraising the portrayal of Lescaut. A very important character of course, but certainly he has less plot points or stage time than Des Grieux and the eponymous heroine. At La Scala, in the cast of 27 October, Lescaut was played, quite brilliantly, by Walter Madau. Madau…
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Review: Manon at La Scala with Svetlana Zakharova and Roberto Bolle
While the role of Manon doesn’t represent the pinnacle of acting challenges, it is surely one of the most satisfying. For a dancer who can act it is a gift, with each scene offering a new state to convey: from the young girl playing at flirting, to becoming the joyfully passionate lover (in the first…
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