Raymonda at Mariinsky Theatre

Music by Alexander Glazunov. Choreography by Marius Petipa, revised version by Konstantin Sergeyev.

Ballet in three acts

Musical direction by Valery Gergiev
Ballet and Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre

Music by Alexander Glazunov
Choreography by Marius Petipa, revised version by Konstantin Sergeyev
Libretto by Lidia Pashkova and Marius Petipa, based on a medieval legend
Sets and Costumes by Simon Virsaladze

Petipa created Raymonda when he was in his 80th year, and it was one of his late grand ballets. Its simple story, based on a medieval chivalrous legend, brought together everything that was the best of the best that Petipa had done in the course of his long career as a choreographer. Here there is a ballet and detective plot including dreams, kidnappings and joyous releases, a complex and varied ballerina role and a conflict between the male roles – the refined and classical Jean de Brienne and the passionate and pointedly typical oriental Abderakhman, the vast number of characters, meaning a similar number of dancers engaged in the ballet, the colourful character dances and, arguably, Petipa's main pride and glory – the fully-developed dance scenes of classical ensembles.

The composer, on the other hand, began his ballet career with Raymonda. The production was staged when Glazunov was in his 33rd year. In this work the composer, new to the ballet genre, so ardently used his experience as a symphonist and maestro of vivid and colourful orchestral music that his subsequent dance works (The Trial of Damis and The Seasons) never cast a shadow over the glory of Raymonda, and it is this ballet that remains in history as perhaps his most famous work.

Original title Raymonda
Genre Ballet
Recording location Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg
Recording date 26 and 28 May 2018
Production year 2018
Duration 135 min
Video format HD
Production Company Telmondis
Co-Production Company Mariinsky Theatre, Arte
Producer Antoine Perset
Producer Denis Morlière
Director François-René Martin
Distribution TV Telmondis Distribution
Dance style Classical
Composer Alexander Glazunov
Orchestra / Band Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra
Conductor Valery Gergiev
Choreography by Marius Petipa, revised version by Konstantin Sergeyev
Dance Company Mariinsky Theatre Ballet
Soloist Viktoria TERESHKINA
Soloist Xander PARISH
Soloist Konstantin ZVEREV