Raymonda

RaymondaRudolf NureyevOpéra BastilleDuration: 3h05 with 2 intervalsHaving set off to fight the Saracens in the Holy Land, Count Jean de Brienne returns just in time to rescue his fiancée Raymonda, abducted from her Provençal castle by the brooding Abderam, to whom she may not be entirely indifferent… When Rudolf Nureyev created his own choreography of Raymonda for the Opéra national de Paris in 1983, based on the version created by Marius Petipa at the Mariinsky Theatre in 1898, he reworked the dramaturgy to place greater emphasis on the young girl's coming-of-age journey and to strengthen the character of Abderam.

Set to the richly contrasting music of Alexander Glazunov, this ballet, enhanced by the sumptuous sets and costumes of Nicholas Georgiadis, proves to be more than just a medieval fantasy of tournaments and wedding festivities: if it continues to captivate audiences so strongly, it may be because it opens a door onto the unsettling realm of the unconscious and secret desires.

The Étoiles, Premières Danseuses, Premiers Danseurs and the Corps de Ballet de l'Opéra Orchestre de l'Opéra national de Paris