MOZARTIANA (Tchaikovsky / Balanchine

One of George Balanchine’s last masterpieces; choreographed in 1981 when he was 77 years old and already in ill health, MOZARTIANA (Tchaikovsky’s Orchestral Suite #4), was made as part of the NYC Ballet’s 1981 Tchaikovsky Festival. This 1983 performance was filmed shortly after his death in April, and in my opinion is one of the greatest live performance films of his ballets. The three leads, Suzanne Farrell, Ib Andersen, and Victor Castelli, are in top form, and perfectly demonstrate the Balanchine ideal. His musicality, inventive choreography which still uses the traditional ballet vocabulary, and judicial use of children, are all hallmarks of the true Balanchine style. Nothing exaggerated, but everything in an almost divine harmony.