Raymonda

Raymonda, first performed in 1898 in St. Petersburg's Imperial Mariinsky Theatre, is the final great work by the choreographer Marius Petipa, creator of Cinderella, Nutcracker and Don Quijote. Set to the music of Alexander Glazunov, this ballet is regarded as the equal of Tchaikovsky's greatest works. If Petipa had been a world famous artist in his final creative phase during his work on Raymonda, then the chances are that the 32 year old Alexander Glazunov would have made his name as a young, emerging talent. Together they created the Ballet highlight of the late Tsarist era in St. Petersburg, which has had a lasting impact on our definition of classical ballet today.

At the first Ballet gala in January 2017, the stars of the Staatsballett led by Igor Zelensky presented the First Soloist Ksenia Ryzhkova and Demi-Soloist Alexander Omelchenko in the Grand Pas Hongrois, one of Raymonda's choreographic highlights. After a break of eight years, the full-length piece will return to the National Theatre stage in May 2018. The choreographer Ray Barra, who has previously reworked Swan Lake and Don Quijote in Munich, will also be responsible for the Bayerisches Staatsballett Raymonda adaption. He has retained Marius Petipa choreography while working more intensively on developing the leading heroine's story. Raymonda is stuck between two men: the crusader knight Jean de Brienne, to whom she has been betrothed since childhood and the Saracen caliph from Córdoba, Abderakhman, who woos and tries to seduce her. Although Jean kills Abderakhman in a fight, paving the way for a splendid wedding feast at the ballet's climax, Raymonda will never forget her encounter with Abderakhman, his disturbing, erotic power and the deeply conflicting emotions she experiences.