Teatro Alla Scala tickets 3 October 2025 - Evening of ballets "Aspects of Nijinsky": Petrushka. L’Après-midi d’un faune. Le Pavillon d’Armide | GoComGo.com

Evening of ballets "Aspects of Nijinsky": Petrushka. L’Après-midi d’un faune. Le Pavillon d’Armide

Teatro Alla Scala, Milan, Italy
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8 PM
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US$ 103

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If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Important Info
Type: Ballet
City: Milan, Italy
Starts at: 20:00
Duration: 2h 25min

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Cast
Performers
Conductor: Simon Hewett
Ballet company: Teatro alla Scala Ballet
Creators
Composer: Igor Stravinsky
Composer: Claude Debussy
Composer: Nikolai Tcherepnin
Choreographer: John Neumeier
Librettist: Alexandre Benois
Librettist: Igor Stravinsky
Overview

Hailed personality, at the same time fragile and sensitive; in the spotlight or in the shadows of his intimate torments, Vaslav Nijinsky remains today the object of absolute fascination.

Étoile (date to be defined) - ROBERTO BOLLE

John Neumeier has explored this exceptional figure - the dancer, the choreographer, the human, the visionary - his complexity and facets in many of his ballets, driven by a deep artistic, historical but, above all human interest. For the first time at La Scala, his original reading of Le Pavillon d’ArmideL’Après-Midi d’un Faune, and a new version of Petruška for la Scala, three masterpieces symbolic of the creative ferment of the Ballets Russes and of the brightest star of this revolutionary avant-garde.

Teatro alla Scala New Production

History
Premiere of this production: 13 June 1911, Théâtre du Châtelet Paris

Petrushka is a ballet, or more exactly scènes burlesques, in four scenes. It was composed in 1910–11 and revised in 1946. Igor Stravinsky composed the music, and, with Alexandre Benois, fashioned the libretto. Michel Fokine choreographed the ballet; Benois designed the sets and costumes. Petrushka was first performed by Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on 13 June 1911. Vaslav Nijinsky portrayed Petrushka with Tamara Karsavina as the Ballerina. Alexander Orlov portrayed the Moor, and Enrico Cecchetti the Charlatan.

Premiere of this production: 22 December 1894, Paris, France

Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, known in English as Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, is a symphonic poem for orchestra by Claude Debussy, approximately 10 minutes in duration. It was composed in the year 1894, the same year that the piece was first performed. It was first performed in Paris on 22 December 1894, conducted by Gustave Doret. The flute solo was played by Georges Barrère.

Premiere of this production: 25 November 1907, Mariinsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg

Le Pavillon d'Armide is a ballet in one act and three scenes choreographed by Michel Fokine with music by Nikolai Tcherepnin to a libretto by Alexandre Benois. It was inspired by the novella Omphale by Théophile Gautier.

Synopsis

First Tableau: The Shrovetide Fair

Petrushka begins with a festive orchestral introduction based, in part, on historical Russian street-hawkers' cries. The curtain rises to reveal St. Petersburg's Admiralty Square during the 1830s. The stage set (also by Benois) depicts several hucksters' booths, a ferris-wheel, a carousel, and (upstage center) a puppet theater. A crowd has gathered for the Shrovetide Fair (known as Maslenitsa), the carnival (analogous to Mardi Gras) preceding Lent.

In Fokine's original choreography, a group of Drunken Revelers emerges from the crowd, dancing to Stravinsky's adaptation of the folk-tune "Song of the Volochobniki" ("Dalalin' Dalalin'" from Rimsky-Korsakov Op. 24 No. 47).

Suddenly, the festive music is interrupted by strident brass announcing the appearance of the Master of Ceremonies on the balcony of his booth. The equivalent of a carnival "barker", he boasts of the attractions to be seen within.

The squeaks of a street-organ are heard (clarinets and flutes) as an Organ-Grinder and Dancing Girl emerge from the crowd, which at first pays little attention as the barker continues to shout. The Dancer moves downstage and begins to dance to another Russian folk-song, "Toward Evening, in Rainy Autumn", while playing the triangle.

At the other end of the stage, a second Dancing Girl appears, accompanied by a music box (suggested in the orchestra by the celesta). The two Dancing Girls compete for the crowd's attention to the strains of a ribald French music-hall song about a woman with a wooden leg: "Une Jambe de bois". Both tunes are repeated.

The Drunken Revelers return (again to the "Song of the Volochobniki") interrupted several times by the Barker's boasts. The street-hawkers' cries of the very opening are heard once more.

Suddenly, two drummers summon the crowd to the puppet theater with deafening drumrolls. The Magician (sometimes called the "Charlatan") appears to mystical groans from the bassoon and contrabassoon. When he has everyone's attention, he produces a flute and begins to play a long, improvisatory melody. The curtain of the puppet theater rises to reveal three puppets hanging on the wall: the Moor, the Ballerina, and Petrushka. When the Magician touches them with his flute (to chirps in the orchestra), they seem to awaken.

The astonished crowd watches as, with a wave of the Magician's hand, the three puppets begin a vigorous Russian Dance (based on two more Russian folk-tunes: "A Linden Tree Is in the Field" and "Song for St. John's Eve").

In Fokine's masterly choreography, they first begin to move their feet (while still hanging on the wall), then burst forth from the puppet theater into the midst of the crowd. The Moor (resplendent in turban and exaggerated pantaloons) is swashbuckling. The Ballerina dances perpetually en pointe. Petrushka, on the other hand, is wooden and awkward. It becomes apparent Petrushka loves the Ballerina; but she has eyes only for the Moor. The Magician calls the dance to a halt; the curtain falls rapidly.

Second Tableau: Petrushka's Room
Although Petrushka's room is inside the puppet theater, the Benois design is fantastical, portraying the night sky with stars and a half-moon; abstract icebergs (or snow-capped mountains), and a prominent portrait of the Magician.

Drumrolls announce the beginning of the Second Tableau. Without an Introduction, the music begins menacingly. "A foot kicks him onstage; Petrushka falls..."

As Petrushka gradually pulls himself together, we hear a strange arpeggio in the clarinets: this is the famous "Petrushka chord" (consisting of juxtaposed triads of C major and F♯ major). Petrushka gets to his feet (although shakily) to the accompaniment of waves of arpeggios from the piano (revealing the music's origins in Stravinsky's Konzertstück). The "Petrushka Chord" returns, now violently scored for trumpets, marked in the score "Petrushka's Curses", directed at the portrait of the Magician.

The music turns lyrical as Petrushka falls to his knees and mimes (in turn) his self-pity, love for the Ballerina, and hatred of the Magician.

The Ballerina (still en pointe) sneaks into Petrushka's room, at first unnoticed. As soon as Petrushka sees her, he begins a manic, athletic display of leaps and frantic gestures (although he was barely able to stand before she arrived). Frightened by his exuberance, the Ballerina flees. Petrushka falls to the floor to the mocking of the clarinets.

Another passage of arpeggios for piano grows into a second round of curses directed at the Magician, again represented musically by the "Petrushka Chord", this time scored for full orchestra.

For just a moment, Petrushka peers out of his room at the crowd assembled in Admiralty Square (Stravinsky provides a brief reference to the "crowd music" of the First Tableau). Then, Petrushka collapses as we hear a taunting reprise of the clarinets playing the "Petrushka Chord", followed by an odd trumpet call signalling "blackout, curtain."

Third Tableau: The Moor's Room

As before, drumrolls link the Third Tableau to its predecessor (in the 1911 score, Stravinsky directs that this drumroll should be omitted in concert performance). In sharp contrast to the darkness of Petrushka's Room, the brilliant colors of the Benois design for the Moor's Room evoke a romanticized desert: palm trees, exotic flowers, sand.

In Fokine's choreography, the Moor reclines on a divan playing with a coconut. He then jumps to his feet and attempts to cut it with his scimitar. When he fails he believes that the coconut must be a god and proceeds to pray to it.

The Charlatan places the Ballerina in the Moor's room. The Ballerina is attracted to the Moor's handsome appearance. She plays a saucy tune on a toy trumpet (represented by a cornet in the original 1911 orchestration) and then dances with the Moor in a waltz (the themes taken from Joseph Lanner's Op. 165 No. 1 and Op. 200 No. 1).

Petrushka finally breaks free from his cell; he interrupts the seduction of the Ballerina. Petrushka attacks the Moor but soon realizes he is too small and weak. The Moor beats Petrushka. The ballerina faints. The clown-puppet flees for his life, with the Moor chasing him, and escapes from the room.

Fourth Tableau: The Shrovetide Fair (Toward Evening)

The fourth and final scene returns to the carnival. Some time has passed; it is now early evening. The orchestra introduces a chain of colourful dances as a series of apparently unrelated characters come and go about the stage as snow begins to fall. The first and most prominent is the Wet-Nurses' Dance, performed to the tune of the folk song "Down the Petersky Road". Then comes a peasant with his dancing bear, followed in turn by a group of a gypsies, coachmen and grooms and masqueraders.

As the merrymaking reaches its peak, a cry is heard from the puppet-theater. Petrushka suddenly runs across the scene, followed by the Moor in hot pursuit brandishing his sword, and the terrified Ballerina chasing after the Moor, fearful of what he might do. The crowd is horrified when the Moor catches up with Petrushka and slays him with a single stroke of his blade.

The police question the Charlatan. The Charlatan seeks to restore calm by holding the "corpse" above his head and shaking it to remind everyone that Petrushka is but a puppet.

As night falls and the crowd disperses, the Charlatan leaves, carrying Petrushka's limp body. All of a sudden, Petrushka's ghost appears on the roof of the little theatre, his cry now in the form of angry defiance. Petrushka's spirit thumbs its nose at his tormentor from beyond the wood and straw of his carcass.

Now completely alone, the Charlatan is terrified to see the leering ghost of Petrushka. He runs away while allowing himself a single frightened glance over his shoulder. The scene is hushed, leaving the audience to wonder who is "real" and who is not.

Venue Info

Teatro Alla Scala - Milan
Location   Via Filodrammatici, 2

Teatro Alla Scala is an opera house in Milan. Most of Italy's greatest operatic artists, and many of the finest singers from around the world, have appeared at La Scala. The theatre is regarded as one of the leading opera and ballet theatres globally. It is home to the La Scala Theatre Chorus, La Scala Theatre Ballet, La Scala Theatre Orchestra, and the Filarmonica della Scala orchestra.

The Teatro alla Scala was founded, under the auspices of the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, to replace the Royal Ducal Theatre, which was destroyed by fire on 26 February 1776 and had until then been the home of opera in Milan. The cost of building the new theatre was borne by the owners of the boxes at the Ducal, in exchange for possession of the land on which stood the church of Santa Maria alla Scala (hence the name) and for renewed ownership of their boxes. Designed by the great neoclassical architect Giuseppe Piermarini, La Scala opened on 3 August 1778 with Antonio Salieri's opera L'Europa riconosciuta, to a libretto by Mattia Verazi.

With the advent of Rossini in 1812 (La pietra del paragone), the Teatro alla Scala was to become the appointed place of Italian opera seria: of its history dating back more than a century and of its subsequent tradition up till the present. The catalogue of Rossini's works performed until 1825 included: Il turco in Italia, La Cenerentola, Il barbiere di Siviglia, La donna del lago, Otello, Tancredi, Semiramide and Mosé. During that period the choreographies of Salvatore Viganò (1769-181) and of Carlo Blasis (1795-1878) also widened the theatre's artistic supremacy to include ballet.

An exceptional new season of serious opera opened between 1822 and 1825, with Chiara e Serafina by Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) and Il pirata by Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835). The later operas of Donizetti performed at La Scala were (until 1850) Anna Bolena, Lucrezia Borgia, Torquato Tasso, La fille du régiment, La favorita, Linda di Chamonix, Don Pasquale, and Poliuto. These were followed (until 1836) by Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Norma, La sonnambula, Beatrice di Tenda and I puritani.

In 1839 Oberto Conte di San Bonifacio inaugurated the cycle of operas by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), the composer whose name is linked more than any other to the history of La Scala. After the dismal failure of Un giorno di regno, Nabucco was performed in 1842. It was the first, decisive triumph of Verdi's career. At the same time, the strong patriotic feelings stirred by Nabucco founded the "popularity" of opera seria and identified its image with the Scala.

Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957) became the artistic director and introduced radical reform into the theatre, both in its organisational aspects and in its relations with the public. Toscanini, one of the greatest conductors of all time, took up Verdi's musical inheritance and launched a tradition of interpretation that continued uninterruptedly and was renewed during the twentieth century. It was he who reappraised and regularly performed at the Scala the works of Richard Wagner (hitherto only belatedly and inadequately recognised). He also firmly extended the Scala's orchestral repertoire to include symphonic music.

In 1948 maestro Guido Cantelli (1920-1956) made his debut and established himself as one of the leading postwar conductors. Numerous opera performances productions (the Wagnerian cycle conducted in 1950 by Wilhelm Furtwängler, the Verdi repertoire by Victor De Sabata, etc), concerts (Herbert von Karajan, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Bruno Walter, etc), singers (Maria Callas, Renata Tebaldi, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Mario Del Monaco, etc), ballet performances (Margot Fonteyn, Serge Lifar, Maya Plissetskaya, Rudolf Nureyev), and productions (Luchino Visconti, Giorgio Strehler) belong not only to the history of the Scala, but to that of the history of musical theatre since the war.

In 1965 Claudio Abbado made his début at the Scala and in 1972 was named conductor of the Scala Orchestra. Until 1986 he directed among other works Il barbiere di Siviglia, Cenerentola, L'Italiana in Algeri by Rossini, Simon Boccanegra, Macbeth and Don Carlo by Verdi, the recent Al gran sole carico d'amore by Luigi Nono, and Pelléas et Mélisande by Claude Debussy. He also conducted numerous concerts. The chorus-master was Romano Gandolfi. In 1975 the ballet dancer Oriella Dorella debuted at La Scala. Among other contemporary composers, up till 1986 the Theatre continued to give works by Luciano Berio (La vera storia), Franco Donatoni (Atem) and Karlheinz Stockhausen (Samstag aus Licht).

In 1981 Riccardo Muti debuted at the Scala as an opera conductor (Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro). Giulio Bertola was appointed to direct the Chorus. In 1982 the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala was established. In 1985 Alessandra Ferri made her debut at the Scala. In 1986 Riccardo Muti was appointed musical director. From 1989 to 1998 he reintroduced the best-loved works (Rigoletto, La traviata, Macbeth, La forza del destino) and numerous other titles by Verdi including Falstaff and Don Carlo.

In 1991 Roberto Gabbiani took over the directorship of the chorus. In 1997 La Scala was converted into a Foundation under private ownership, thus opening a decisive phase of modernisation.

On 7 December 2001 a new production of Otello, conducted by Muti, concluded the Verdi Year and, for the time being, performances at Piermarini’s original building in Piazza Scala. Major restoration and modernisation works of the Theatre began in January 2002.

The 2005-2006 Season, dedicated to the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth, was inaugurated by Idomeneo conducted by Daniel Harding. The 2006/07 season saw the return on 7 December of an opera by Verdi, Aida, conducted by Riccardo Chailly, and the launch of the Celebrations for the 50th Anniversary of Arturo Toscanini’s Death. On 7 December 2007 the 2007/08 season opened with Tristan und Isolde conducted by Daniel Barenboim. The opera marked the beginning of a closer collaboration between the Teatro alla Scala and the Israeli-Argentinian Maestro.

Important Info
Type: Ballet
City: Milan, Italy
Starts at: 20:00
Duration: 2h 25min
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