L'HISTOIRE DE MANON
Kenneth MacMillan
From the 8th to 18th of July 2024
Virna Toppi Marco Agostino Photo: Brescia e Amisano © Teatro alla Scala
Manon, a winsome girl with dangerously innocent allure, gives in to the temptation of wealth and becomes calculating and corrupt. For her brother Lescaut she is a bargaining chip, for old Monsieur G. M. she is an object of desire, for the student des Grieux she is pure and simple love.
Virna Toppi Marco Agostino
L’histoire de Manon by Kenneth MacMillan gives new life to the character created by Prévost and popularized through opera, delineating the allure and tragedy of the protagonist and crafting splendid male roles in an exhilarating and engaging ballet, which captivates audiences at the dramatic, psychological, and choreographic levels. Fifty years after its debut, it has lost none of its dramatic and theatrical power.
LA BAYADÈRE
Rudolf Nureyev
From 26 May to 21 June 2024
Evoking an India of legends, intrigues, and dramatic love, La bayadère is one of the cardinal ballets of the classical repertoire and an expression of the consummate mastery of Marius Petipa. Nureyev’s production, the last of his interpretations of the great classics, came to La Scala for the first time in December 2021 with new sets and costumes designed for the occasion by Luisa Spinatelli. An extraordinary debut for a sumptuous production, rich in virtuosity and variations, which concludes with the third act, a memorable evocation of the classic in the purity of the whiteness of the Kingdom of the Shades, a vision that has embellished the success of this ballet in the West and the brilliant star of Rudolf Nureyev, who both danced in and choreographed this extraordinary ballet.