Scheherazade by Jean-Christophe Maillot, music by Rimsky-Korsakov
Bernice Coppieters (Zobéïde), Jérôme Marchand (The Sultan Shariar), Oliviers Lucea (The big Eunuch)... – Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo
Cast
Jean-Christophe Maillot — Choreographer (In homage to Michel Fokine)
Jérôme Kaplan — Stage sets and costumes (after Léon Bakst)
Dominique Drillot — Lighting
Bernice Coppieters — Zobéïde
Jérôme Marchand — The Sultan Shariar
Olivier Lucea — The Great Eunuch
Alexis Oliveira — The golden slave
Program notes
Much more than just an homage to Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, Jean-Christophe Maillot’s vision of Scheherazade resonates as an exploration of the artistic universe that shaped his thirty-year-long career. Léon Bakst’s sets and Michel Fokine’s original choreography inspire this fascinating 2011 reinterpretation.
In 1888, Rimsky-Korsakov took just months to complete his Scheherazade, an orchestral work inspired by episodes from the ancient Arabian literary collection One Thousand and One Nights. While not intended as a program, the vivid music was adapted in 1910 (two years after the composer’s death) by Sergei Diaghilev for a ballet with his Parisian Ballets Russes, the production premiering to great success. Fascinated by the Russian composer’s music, Jean-Christophe Maillot was inspired by the lavish score to create a new, modern choreography that plunges audiences into a mesmerizing kaleidoscope of images, giving birth to a sensual and fantastical spectacle.
