Johannes Brahms
Liebeslieder Walzer (ballet)
Liebeslieder Walzer is a two-part neoclassical ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Johannes Brahms' Liebeslieder Waltzes, Op. 52 and Neue Liebeslieder, Op. 65, with original sets and
Structure and analysis#
In the first part of Liebeslieder Walzer, which features 18 songs, Following a brief break with the curtains lowered, before returning two by two, in the costumes from the first half of the ballet, Balanchine had remarked that the ballet is about the “changing aspects of love.” All of them are dressed in evening suits and ball gowns, identical to the ones worn by the dancers.
Music#
Liebeslieder Walzer is set to Johannes Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes, Op. 52 and Neue Liebeslieder, Op. 65, Apart from the final song, which is set to poetry by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, all the lyrics are taken from Georg Friedrich Daumer’s poets. Balanchine had said that he “had to do dances set to this music” despite its length.
Designs#
The original set, designed by David Hays, is a bourgeois salon. In 1984, a year after Balanchine died, New York City Ballet co-founder Lincoln Kirstein commissioned a new Rococo-inspired sets by David Mitchell, which were inspired by Nymphenburg Palace, where Balanchine had visited in 1971, and was the sets Balanchine envisioned when he made the ballet. Barbara Karinska designed the costumes.
Original cast#
Dancers: Pianists: Singers:
Revivals#
Other companies that had danced Liebeslieder Walzer include Vienna State Ballet, The Royal Ballet, Ballett Zürich, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Boston Ballet and San Francisco Ballet. In 2020, in response to performance cancellations due to the coronavirus, New York City Ballet released two extracts of Liebeslieder Walzer online. The first one, recorded in 2012, features Maria Kowroski and Jonathan Stafford. The second one was recorded in 2016 with Lauren Lovette, in her role debut, and Jared Angle.
- Composer
- Johannes Brahms