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Donald Macleod explores The Sleeping Beauty with Dame Monica Mason and Sir Matthew Bourne

Tchaikovsky is responsible for some of the world’s best loved and best known ballets. His music for Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker has become so popular and ubiquitous that we’re as likely to hear it in the concert hall, or accompanying a TV ad, as in the theatre. But this week, Donald Macleod is on a mission to take Tchaikovsky back to his dancing roots, in the company of two of British ballet’s brightest stars. Dame Monica Mason joined the Royal Ballet as the age of sixteen, becoming the youngest dancer in the company at that time. She went on to dance many principal roles, eventually becoming Director of the Royal Ballet in 2002, before her retirement in 2012. Sir Matthew Bourne has been hailed as the most popular and successful British choreographer and dancer, with a string of awards for his many productions, not least his ground-breaking production of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. Both guests bring their expertise to the series, sharing with Donald Macleod their views on Tchaikovsky, and their experience of performing and choreographing his works.

Tchaikovsky’s second ballet was The Sleeping Beauty, composed in the late 1880s. On this occasion he worked much more closely with the choreographer, Marius Petipa, than he had managed previously, resulting in a more unified final work. So far, Tchaikovsky hadn’t shown much interest in conducting his own music but now he began to take conducting lessons. His conducting skills developed to such a degree that he was soon being invited to conduct in Leipzig, Hamburg, Copenhagen and Berlin.

Today, Matthew Bourne shares with Donald Macleod his experience of devising his own radically different production of The Sleeping Beauty, and how a visit to Tchaikovsky’s home in Russia inspired him to take up the challenge of this ballet. Monica Mason discusses the challenges of dancing the lead role of Aurora, and explains why the Rose Adagio in Act One is both terrifying and technically demanding.

The Sleeping Beauty, Op 66 (excerpt)
The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Mark Ermler, conductor

The Golden Cloud has Slept
USSR Ministry of Culture State Chamber Choir
Valery Polyansky, conductor

The Fancy Slippers (Danse des cosaques)
Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra
Theodore Kuchar, conductor

The Enchantress (excerpt)
Julia Varady, soprano
Munich Radio Orchestra
Roman Kofman, conductor

The Sleeping Beauty, Op 66 (Act 1 No 7: Valse)
The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Mark Ermler, conductor

The Sleeping Beauty, Op 66 (Act 1 No 9a: Rose Adagio)
The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Mark Ermler, conductor

The Sleeping Beauty, Op 66 (Act 2 excerpt)
The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Mark Ermler, conductor

Produced by Luke Whitlock