Archived event
Performance details
Thursday 15 May 2025 at 7.30pm
Saturday 17 May 2025 at 7.30pm
Arts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall
Friday 16 May 2025 at 7.30pm
Costa Hall, Geelong
Program
Humperdinck Hansel and Gretel: Prelude
Prokofiev Cinderella: At the Ball (Act II highlights)
Tchaikovsky Dramatic highlights from Sleeping Beauty
Fantasy and wonder
Since time immemorial, fairy tales have been a source of fantasy and wonder for the world’s greatest composers. Let your imagination run free as magical music from the worlds of ballet and opera conjure up princes, evil stepsisters and a fairy godmother.
- Based on folk tales by the Grimm Brothers, Humperdinck began Hansel and Gretel as musical accompaniment to his sister’s Christmas songs, yet his sketches turned into one of the most adored operas of all time. The Prelude references many of the opera's musical themes, including the famous 'Evening Prayer'.
- Prokofiev’s Cinderella captures the beloved fairy tale with joyous melodies, lush harmonies, and a feisty modernistic edge. Highlights from Act II of this popular ballet will take you to the ball with Cinderella – and home before midnight!
- Tchaikovsky is the ultimate master of the musical fairy tale and his second ballet, Sleeping Beauty, was a triumph of elegance, magic and theatre. For this concert, Alpesh Chauhan has chosen a suite that focuses on the drama and storytelling, from the standoff between the fairies and the evil Carabosse in the prologue to the breaking of the hundred-year spell and the grand wedding of Aurora and her prince.
Duration: approx. 2 hours including interval
Featuring
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Alpesh Chauhan conductor
Featured artist
MSO's Geelong performance is supported by AWM Electrical, Freemasons Foundation Victoria and the Robert Salzer Foundation.
