American Ballet Theater – Neumeier’s Lady of the Camellias. June 3, 2011.

Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center – Dress Circle (Seat A17, $66).

Conductor – Ormsby Wilkins; Roberto Bolle – Armand Duval, Mary Mills Thomas – Nanina, Clinton Luckett – The Duke, Olympia – Hee Seo, Julie Kent – Marguerite Gautier, Manon Lescaut – Gillian Murphy, Des Grieux – David Hallberg; Pianists – Koji Attwood (Acts I & II), Nimrod Peeffer (Prologue & Act II), Emily Wong (Act III).

Story. This is basically another retelling of the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils, made famous by the Opera La Traviata. The protagonists are named Marguerite and Armand (Verdi renamed them Violetta and Alfredo), and the story is told as Armand’s reminiscene after Marguerite’s death. In the ballet she dies alone and her possessions sold off at auction. The ballet ends with Armand closing the dairy of Marguerite, which was handed to him by her maid Nanina. Intertwined in the plot is another ballet based on Manon Lescaut whose life parallels that of Marguerite.

By my nomenclature which associates a ballet with the composer of music, this should be titled “Chopin’s Lady of the Camellias” as all the music is composed by Chopin. However, Chopin clearly didn’t have this ballet in mind when he wrote his various piano pieces that ended up being used to accompany this ballet. Indeed Dumas wrote the novel in 1848, a year before Chopin’s death. John Neumeier first choreographed this in 1978, and the Programs Notes also attributes to him the lighting design. One would think another choreographer and lighting designer can come along and redo these things, but leave the story and music basically intact. Would the ballet still be considered Neumeier’s? If you go to Amazon.com and search for the music, you will find a 2007 DGG DVD entitled “Chopin – Die Kameliendame” which is how I would have called it. Strange genre, this ballet stuff.

I find the juxtaposition of Manon’s story quite confusing at times. That they tend to dress in different colors help, and I am glad Kent (Marguerite) and Murphy (Manon) look very different. If you simply want to enjoy the ballet dancers and Chopin’s music, it would have worked quite well. But if you want to follow the story, such as it is, then you will have some difficulty: you have both reminiscene and a second story going on, sometimes at the same time.

While searching the web for more information, Anne came across an article that panned this ballet. Among the criticisms is the choreography. I am not even close to being knowledgeable on what constitutes good choreography, yet I did find the dancing mostly uninspired. Without the help of that article, I won’t know why I feel that way. Being the skeptic, naturally I am not sure that’s the (sole) reason. This does not mean there wasn’t great artistry or athleticism, only that it wasn’t as consistent as I would expect.

The music, a Chopin Piano Concerto and various other works (preludes, nocturnes), fits the mood of the ballet. After all, Chopin was a great composer of Romantic music. Act I was basically Chopin’s Piano Concerto (not sure which one); Act II consisted of piano solos (no orchestra); and Act III had a slow movement from another concerto and various other pieces. The pianists did okay, making this a good concert to go to for the music alone.

I wouldn’t call this a great ballet, but there are touching moments, and I certainly enjoyed the 2 hour 45 minute performance (with an hour’s worth of intermission). Between the opera and the ballet, however, I would definitely opt for the opera.

This is Julie Kent’s 25th year with ABT. Tonight probably was the first night of the season for her, and that would explain the extended ovation for her and the many many bouquets of flowers given to her. She tried to acknowledge her coworkers, but the night properly belonged to her. I do feel a bit bad for Gillian Murphy since she had an important role as Manon and danced equally well. She has only 15 years, though, so it will be a while for her.

It was 11 pm when we picked up our car from the 62nd St garage, and West End Ave was unexpectedly busy. Well, relatively busy, since we got home before midnight.

I did find an interesting review of the ballet from last year. The principal dancers were the same. The reviewer isn’t kind, but has considerable insight into what she feels is wrong. NJ.com has a kinder review.