Swan Lake

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May 2025
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Will prince Siegfried choose love and stay true to his innocent white swan girl? Or will he forget Odette and follow the requirements of his noble position? After all, foreign princesses can be so charming! It is difficult for him to resist the bewitching black swan Odile supported by the fiendish wizard Rothbart. Rather than a lovestory, this famed fairy tale is a fateful journey of the soul. 

 

Cranko stayed true to the traditional version yet incorporated his typical dramatic talent and original perspective. Moreover, the National Theatre plays an important role in the history of this renowned piece. The first to choreograph the music in Russia was a Czech native, Václav Reisinger (the very first artistic director of the Czech National Ballet), and the second (Czech) choreographer, Augustin Berger, was extremely honoured when, after seeing his staging of Act 2 of Swan Lake in Prague Tchaikovsky said that he had experienced “one minute of absolute happiness”.

 

This John Cranko choreography is the 13th adaptation of the immortal ballet staged in the National Theatre. 

Program and cast

Approximate running time: 3 hours, 1 intermission (30 minutes) minutes

 

Odette / Odile: Alina Nanu; Ayaka Fujii; Nikola Márová; Evgeniya Victory Gonzalez; Aya Okumura

Prince Siegfried: Adam Zvonař; Patrik Holeček; Giovanni Rotolo; Matěj Šust; Fraser Roach; Paul Irmatov; Oleg Ligaj

Rothbart: Danilo Lo Monaco; Marek Svobodník; John Powers; Jakub Groot; Fraser Roach

 

Soloists and corps de ballet of The Czech National Ballet
Students of the Prague Dance Conservatory
Pupils of the National Theatre Ballet Preparatory School State

Opera Orchestra

 

Creative team

Choreography - John Cranko

Music- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Staged by - Birgit Deharde; Andria Hall; Filip Barankiewicz

Set assistant - Reid Anderson

Sets - Martin Černý

Costumes - Josef Jelínek

Light design - Pavel Dautovský

Artistic supervision - Reid Anderson

Musical preparation - Václav Zahradník

Projection and animation - Lunchmeat studio s.r.o.

Conductor - Václav Zahradník; Sergej Poluektov

Ballet master - Alexey Afanasiev; Michaela Černá; Tereza Podařilová; Nelly Danko; Jiří Kodym

Prague State Opera

The State Opera today

 

The State Opera (formerly the State Opera Prague, between 1948 and 1992 the Smetana Theatre, and originally the New German Theatre) has been a part of the National Theatre since 2012. The Opera and Ballet ensembles give repertory performances at the State Opera.

 

History

 

The Prague State Opera resides in the building which on January 5, 1888 was opened as a Prague German stage with the performance of Wagner’s opera, The Mastersingers of Nürnberg. In the 19th century, Prague Germans performed in the Estate’s Theater in alternation with a Czech company. Desire for their own theater led to negotiations in 1883 for the construction of a new theater building for the German Theater Association. Over the next three years, a blueprint was drawn up and handed over to the Vienna atelier of Fellner and Hellmer. Also sharing in the design was the architect of the Vienna Municipal Theater, Karl Hasenauer, while Prague architect Alfons Wertmüller took part in the construction. Financing came from private collections. With its spacious auditorium and neo-Rococo decoration, this theater building is among the most beautiful in Europe.

 

Access:

 

By car

On Wilsonova street, from the left lane close to the State Opera building take the slip road to the Slovan above-ground garage. The parking fee is 40 CZK/h.

 

By tram

 

By daytime tram No. 11 to the stop “Muzeum”, through the underpass beneath Legerova street in the direction of the NationalMuseum, at the crossroads turn right along the NewBuilding of the NationalMuseum.

 

By daytime trams Nos. 3, 9, 14 and 24 or night trams Nos. 51, 52, 54, 55, 56 and 58 to the stop “Václavské náměstí”, then by foot uphill on the left side of the Wenceslas Square to the traffic lights across Wilsonova and Vinohradská streets. Then turn left along the NewBuilding of the NationalMuseum.

 

By metro

To the “Muzeum” station, lines A and C (green and red), and then by foot along the NewBuilding of the NationalMuseum.

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