Principals Natalia Osipova and Steven McRae dance Ashton’s Rhapsody, created for The Royal Ballet in 1980 with the star parts taken by Mikhail Baryshnikov and Lesley Collier. Ashton provided spectacular choreography to suit the dancers’ virtuoso abilities.
Lauren Cuthbertson and Vadim Muntagirov lead a charismatic cast in Ashton’s poignant and heart-warming reflection on love, The Two Pigeons, based on an old French folktale and first performed on Valentine’s Day 1961.
These two ballets by the Company’s Founder Choreographer capture The Royal Ballet’s famous skill and distinctive style. Barry Wordsworth conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House in the rapturous Rachmaninoff and Messager scores.
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Rhapsody
Composer: Sergey Rachmaninoff
Dancers: Natalia Osipova and Steven McRae
Emma Maguire, Yasmine Naghdi, Beatrix Stix-Brunell, Luca Acri, Tristan Dyer, Nicol Edmonds, Benjamin Ella, Kevin Emerton, Marcelino Sambé
The Two Pigeons
Composer: André Messager
The Young Girl: Lauren Cuthbertson
The Young Man: Vadim Muntagirov
A Neighbour: Elizabeth McGorian
A Gypsy Girl: Fumi Kaneko
Her Lover: Ryoichi Hirano
A Gypsy Boy: Marcelino Sambé
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Conductor: Barry Wordsworth
Choreography: Frederick Ashton
Picture: 16:9
Format: NTSC
Sound: PCM & DTS 5.1
Region: 0 (all regions)
Running time: 118 mins
Year: 2016