Lady of the Camellias

Lady of the Camellias

Paris in the 19th century: extravagant balls, visits to the theater, sparkling diamonds, and champagne. Here, Armand Duval, a young man from high society, falls head over heels in love with the courtesan Marguerite Gautier. Marguerite gives up her former life to be with Armand, but his father rejects their relationship as unsuitable and pressures her until sheagrees to give Armand up, which she does out of love for him. Soon after,, Marguerite dies, lonely and destitute. Only after her death does Armand learn the true reason behind their separation. The inspiration for the novel "The Lady of the Camellias" was the Parisian courtesan Alphonsine Plessis. Her brief but significant love affair with the writer Alexandre Dumas left a deep impression, which the young author processed in 1848 in one of the most widely read works of world literature. The novel inspired numerous works of art, perhaps the most famous of these being Giuseppe Verdi's opera "La Traviata". Dumas' novel has also been repeatedly adapted for cinema, including a version with Greta Garbo as Marguerite as well as Baz Luhrmann’s “Moulin Rouge!”. In 1978, John Neumeier adapted the story for the ballet stage. John Neumeier's sophisticated dramaturgy, combined with Frédéric Chopin's expressive piano compositions and Jürgen Rose's atmospheric sets and opulent costumes, makes the ballet "Lady of the Camellias" a timeless classic that brings the moving story of Marguerite Gautier to life. Music: Frédéric Chopin Choreography and Staging: John Neumeier Set and Costumes: Jürgen Rose 3 hours | 2 intermissions Act I: 40 minutes, Act II: 40 minutes, Act III: 50 minutes PREMIERE: Stuttgart Ballet, Stuttgart, November 4, 1978 Premiere in Hamburg: The Hamburg Ballet, February 1, 1981 ORIGINAL CAST: Marguerite Gautier: Marcia Haydée Armand Duval: Egon Madsen Manon Lescaut: Birgit Keil Des Grieux: Richard Cragun Prudence Duvernoy: Jean Allenby Gaston Rieux: Vladimir Klos Nanina: Ruth Papendick Monsieur Duval: Reid Anderson Olympia: Nora Kimball The Duke: Marcis Lesins Count N.: Mark A. Neal ON TOUR: 1981 Munich 1987 Berlin (East), Copenhagen 1995 Dresden 1996 Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo 1997 Fukuoka, Nagoya, Omiya, Osaka, Tokyo 2001 Palermo 2003 St. Petersburg 2004 Baden-Baden 2007 Los Angeles 2009 Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Nishinomiya, Yokohama 2012 St. Petersburg 2014 Vienna 2018 Tokyo 2019 Beijing 2020 Singapore 2023 Venice IN THE REPERTORY: American Ballet Theatre Ballet de l'Opéra national de Paris Bavarian State Ballet Bolshoi Ballet Corpo di Ballo del Teatro alla Scala Dutch National Ballet Royal Danish Ballet Polish National Ballet The Stuttgart Ballet Vienna State Ballet