Concerto
A modern English classic by Kenneth MacMillan - set to Shostakovich's joyous Piano Concerto No.2.
Kenneth MacMillan created this short abstract ballet for the Deutsche Oper Ballett in West Berlin in 1966, at the start of a three-year spell as its director. Concerto followed the huge success of his version of Romeo and Juliet for The Royal Ballet the previous year and was partly designed to hone the German dancers' classical technique. Despite its lightweight tone and wit, it demands technical precision and athletic prowess.
The 20-minute work follows the structure and mood of Shostakovich's ebullient Piano Concerto No.2, originally written for his son’s 19th birthday. A different pair of principals dance each of the first two movements and a single principal woman dances the third movement, as well as three subsidiary couples and a corps of 16 women and eight men.
The joyful opening allegro movement is danced by a principal couple with soloists and corps. The choreography for the principal couple follows the piano’s lead, while the corps matches the rest of the orchestra.
The mood changes in the more subdued and romantic second movement. The lights dim and MacMillan sets a breathtaking pas de deux to Shostakovtich’s languorous central andante. MacMillan was famously inspired by watching the dancer Lynn Seymour slowly warming up with a port de bras exercise.
Finally, the lights come up and a lone female figure comes on stage for the last movement, leading the way into an upbeat grand finale for the entire cast.
The work was an instant success and has held a secure place in the ballet repertory ever since.
In brief
Ballet in three movements
Composer: Dmitry Shostakovich,
Piano Concerto No. 2 in F, Op. 102
Choreographer: Kenneth MacMillan
World premiere: 30 November 1966, Berliner Ballett, Deutsche Oper, Berlin
Current Royal Ballet production
Production premiere:
17 November 1970
Set and costume designer:
Jürgen Rose
Revival lighting designer:
John B Read