Messa da Requiem by Christian Spuck June 27, 2023 Staatsballett Berlin

[Sabine0308]

Last week, I attended Staatsballett Berlin's last performance for this season. We saw Messa da Requiem. Music by Guiseppe Verdi, Choreography by Christian Spuck.  Onstage were the Rundfunkchor Berlin and 4 soloist singers from Deutsche Oper Berlin, and the Staatsballett of course.

I was very sceptical before the show, usually I'm not a fan of both classical singers and dancers onstage, my concern is always, that either the dancers or the singers are  just "decoration" for the other artists. Here, I was very moved and surprised how well the mingle of dancers and singers worked.  It was a total work of art.

 

My personal highlights were:

- the many beautiful Pas de Deux, especially when performed by Polina Semionova and David Soares

- the "mass scenes" were singers and dancers were floating like waves across the stage

- the soloist singers, especially Tenor Andrei Danilov with the voice of an Angel

 

Here's a review I can fully support:

https://kultur24-berlin.de/messa-da-requiem-von-verdi-vom-staatsballett-berlin/#english

 

Before the performance,  I attended the annual meeting of the Ballet friends where we said Good-bye to Christiane Theobald who had worked for ballet and companies in Berlin since 36 years. I don't know if I'm happy with Theobald's idea to merge all 3 ballet companies in 2004 to one big company. A lot of dancers left then, among them many I loved to watch. Her last job was interims AD when Oehman/Waltz left in 2020.

But her commitment to dance and dancers is undeniable, and she overtook the helm in difficult times, especially with the unforeseen Covid disaster.

 

After curtain call, the former Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit and the current Senator for Culture in Berlin Joe Chialo thanked her in very warm and appreciative words. She received Honorary Membership of both Staatsballett Berlin and of the Circle of Friends&Supporters of Staatsballett Berlin.

The following reception was also a nice opportunity to gather with dancers and supporters of Staatsballett.

Edited July 2, 2023 by Sabine0308

[MAB]

I saw this several years ago, so pleased it is still holding its own in the repertoire.

[Sabine0308]

4 minutes ago, MAB said:

I saw this several years ago, so pleased it is still holding its own in the repertoire.

It was certainly a smart move by Christian Spuck to begin his work as AD here with this piece. Next season I'm looking forward to his new piece "Madame Bovary".

Edited July 2, 2023 by Sabine0308