Paris, Adés and Dante
This weekend, I head to France to spend six weeks conducting a very exciting new ballet with music by the English composer, Thomas Adès, for the Opéra national de Paris at the famous Palais Garnier. Inspired by Dante Alighieri’s 14th century epic poem, “The Divine Comedy,” “The Dante Project” is a rarity in new music: a piece that lasts the whole evening. Clocking in at 90 minutes, “Dante” is a ballet in three acts, each depicting a locale of the afterlife: Inferno (Hell), Purgatorio (Purgatory) and Paradiso (Heaven). With choreography by Wayne McGregor, the acclaimed British choreographer, the ballet made its debut at the Royal Ballet in Covent Garden, London, last year and now enters the repertoire of the Paris Opera Ballet with performances throughout May.