Edward Watson and Mara Galeazzi give an insight into Kenneth MacMillan's dark ballet Mayerling. On from April to June 2013, find out more about Mayerling - www.roh.org.uk/productions/may...
Kenneth MacMillan turned to the double suicide of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and his teenage mistress for this 1978 work. The music of Franz Liszt, arranged by John Lanchbery, provides a sweeping soundscape to match the high emotion of the drama, while the designs of Nicholas Georgiadis bring to life the privileged and oppressive society of the Austro-Hungarian court.
MacMillan's choreography balances the large-scale -- the pomp of a royal wedding and the splendour of a ballroom -- with intimate scenes and a willingness to push the boundaries of classical ballet. The role of Rudolf, the violent and troubled Crown Prince of Vienna, is one of the most demanding ever created for a male dancer. His psychological and emotional decline is charted in a series of shockingly charged pas de deux with the women in his life: his mother, his unhappy bride and his young mistress, the neurotic Mary Vetsera.
Find out more at www.roh.org.uk