Nicoletta Manni

Il Giardino degli Amanti - Magic in Mozart's Garden. In the garden of a Baroque villa, a chamber orchestra is playing Mozart's wonderful quartets and quintets, and everywhere is pervaded with echoes and references to the composer's world.

In the garden of a Baroque villa, a chamber orchestra is playing Mozart’s wonderful quartets and quintets, and everywhere is pervaded with echoes and references to the composer’s world. As if by magic or conjured by the imagination, figures emerge from the shadows of the labyrinthine garden: they are Mozart’s characters, and they play with – or perhaps make fun of – the guests at the party, embroiling them in their well-known amorous dalliances. This piece, in which the spectator encounters among the dreamlike medley many well-known protagonists from Mozart’s operas (including Figaro, Don Giovanni, and the Queen of the Night), is a full-length choreographic work by Massimiliano Volpini, who himself performed on stage for many years as a dancer with the Scala ensemble.

Manon, a winsome girl with dangerously innocent allure, gives in to the temptation of wealth and becomes calculating and corrupt. For her brother Lescaut she is a bargaining chip, for old Monsieur G. M. she is an object of desire, for the student Des Grieux she is pure and simple love. MacMillan’s exhilarating and engaging ballet gives new life to the character created by Prévost and popularized through opera, delineating the allure and tragedy of the protagonist and crafting splendid male roles. Fifty years after its debut, it has lost none of its dramatic and theatrical power.