The Silver Rose

Overview

Following last year's fantastic season, The Silver Rose is a fittingly powerful way for the Australian Ballet to usher in 2010's quartet of performances. Originally commissioned in 2005 by the Bavarian State Ballet, the work was conceptualised and choreographed by Graeme Murphy with Janet Vernon, whose style is evident throughout. Though based on Richard Strauss's 1911 comic opera Der Rosenkavalier, Murphy has, as is his way, reworked every detail, allowing it to sit nicely alongside both recent narrative and abstract choices of the company.

The Silver Rose opens in the bedroom of a famous actress canoodling with her younger (secret) lover Octavian. Thankfully, the Marschallin has more of an air of Moira Shearer in The Red Shoes than Courtney Cox in Cougar Town. Their tale unspools over three acts, all in quite finite settings and slight shifts in tone. The arrival of the Marschallin's impresario Baron Ochs signals the unravelling of a romance, and the beginning of two others. Ochs sends Octavian to offer the titular flower to his young fiancee Sophie and in doing so, she and Octavian fall in love. Ochs is angered and at the same time lustful of another character, the Marschallin's maid (Octavian in disguise). The paparazzi are there, following every move. From bedroom to ballroom to a folksy inn, the narrative ranges from languid and romantic to straight slapstick.

The production of the ballet is steeped in nouveau details, with an overwhelming Klimt aesthetic: rich and romantic. There is also a dramatic '40s Hollywood feel, and towards the end, the set lends itself to Black Forest fairy tales. The action onstage is bolstered by occasionally kitsch visuals that add to the plot's playfulness, but one of the particularly nice moments is the sudden fall of a silver scrim right at the start. These small moments of simplicity are crucial to this ballet; the constant razzle-dazzle of the set and costuming occasionally threatens to hide the elegance and agility of the dancers. For all its flash and fun, The Silver Rose begins and ends with the Marschallin and her struggle with time, love and loss: the essence of this lovely comic melodrama.

Discount tickets available if you're 26 or younger.