Le Corsaire ****
English National Ballet, The Coliseum, 13th January 2016
For oriental opulence crossed with swashbuckling bravado, English National Ballet’s Le Corsaire is a welcome antidote to winter gloom. Never mind that the plot – nominally based on Byron’s poem – is escapist nonsense. Verdi made more sense of it in his 1848 opera Il corsaro. Adolphe Adam’s ballet premiered in 1856, with choreography by Joseph Mazilier, but grew in scale in St Petersburg and Moscow as Marius Petipa added to it through the late 19th century. Anna-Maria Holmes’ production, based on those she created for Boston Ballet and American Ballet Theatre, edits down the libretto to three breathless acts.
Tamara Rojo (Medora), Osiel Gouneo (Conrad) and Cesar Corrales (Ali)
© Laurent Liotardo
Read the full review on Bachtrack.