TCHAIKOVSKY NIGHT Dinner with live ballet

The main part of the concert programme, from 20:45-21:45, features acclaimed opera and ballet artists performing with a string ensemble.

For the opening and closing sections, we present classical miniature duets for violin and piano.

MUSICAL PROGRAMME:

1. Kreisler. Minuet in the style of Pugnani. String ensemble.

2. Shostakovich. Waltz. String ensemble.

3. Tchaikovsky. Romance: “I Should Like in a Single Word”. Tenor.

4. Lehar. Su-Chong’s aria from The Land of Smiles. Tenor.

5. Tchaikovsky. The Seasons. June: Barcarolle. String ensemble.

6. Tchaikovsky. The Seasons. September: The Hunt. String ensemble.

7. Tchaikovsky. Odile and Prince Siegfried Pas de Deux. White Adagio from Swan Lake. Ballet duet.

8. Bach. Aria. Suite No 3 en Ré Majeur. String ensemble.

9. Strauss. Voices of Spring Waltz. String ensemble.

10. Tchaikovsky. Romance: “It Was in Early Spring”. Soprano.

11. Puccini. Musetta’s Waltz from La Bohème. Soprano.

12. Tchaikovsky. Waltz from Sleeping Beauty. String ensemble.

13. Chopin. Waltz No 7. Ballet duet.

14. Léhar. Anna and Count Danilo’s duet from The Merry Widow. Tenor and soprano.

15. Verdi. Alfredo’s “Drinking Song” (Brindisi) from La Traviata. Tenor and soprano.

*Programme may be subject to change without prior notice.

THE SWAN LAKE BALLET

Say the word “ballet” and chances are Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, or perhaps The Sleeping Beauty or The Nutcracker, will spring to mind. Yet, hard though it is to imagine now, when Swan Lake premiered at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre in 1877, it was met with a frosty reception from critics and audiences alike. They found the composer’s music lacked melody and was too complicated for a ballet.

Later, it was restaged by choreographers Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, and their 1895 production at St Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre established Swan Lake as a classic for all time.

Tonight, we invite you to enjoy two beautiful ballet performances: White Adagio from Swan Lake and the lilting Waltz No 7 by Chopin.

TCHAIKOVSKY AT GRAND HOTEL EUROPE

Tchaikovsky’s first visit to our hotel was with his wife Antonina Miliukova in July 1877. On arrival, he wrote to his brother Anatoly in Moscow, saying “We are staying at the Europe hotel. Very good, even luxurious.”

Nine years later, on returning to St Petersburg, he again, according to his diary, “went to ‘Europe’”. A certain Johann Strauss happened to be staying at the same time.

Today, our storied L’Europe restaurant, which opened in 1905, offers the perfect setting for a lavish night of opera and ballet. Settle into your seat and admire the stunning art nouveau décor, crowned by the arresting stained-glass mural of Apollo. Then wait for the magic to begin.