Ashton: Ballet Triple Bill (Scènes de ballet / A Month in the Country / Rhapsody)

This collection celebrates the masterful art of the Royal Ballet's founding choreographer, Frederick Ashton, with three definitive works. As a pioneer of 20th-century dance, Ashton brought elegance, innovation, and emotional depth to the stage, shaping the identity of British ballet for generations. "Scènes de ballet" is a dance music suite composed by Igor Stravinsky for Broadway producer Billy Rose. Ashton gracefully interprets Ivan Turgenev's play "A Month in the Country" as a one-act ballet, in which the entire drama unfolds in the family's drawing room upon the arrival of a dashing young tutor. The music is by Frédéric Chopin. "Rhapsody," created for Mikhail Baryshnikov and Lesley Collier, combines virtuosic movement with lyrical beauty set to Sergei Rachmaninoff's sweeping composition. Together, these works paint a vivid portrait of Ashton's genius.