| Voices of Spring was choreographed for a New Year’s Eve performance of The Royal Opera’s 1977 production of Strauss’s operetta Die Fledermaus. It appeared in a ball scene in Act II, danced to the composer’s ‘Frühlingsstimmen’ waltz, Op. 410 (which replaced one of the score’s original numbers), and was preceded by Explosionspolka—an ensemble piece for six couples, also to to music by Strauss (Op. 43). The duet was created for Merle Park and Wayne Eagling, who went on to perform it as an independent piece – under the title Voices of Spring – at the Ambassador Auditorium in Los Angeles the following year. Opening with the memorable image of the man lifting the woman high above his head as she scatters flower petals, it still features regularly in galas and mixed programmes worldwide. |
MUSIC
Johann Strauss Jr (1874)
SCENERY & COSTUMES
Julia Trevelyan Oman
DANCERS
Merle Park, Wayne Eagling
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Royal Opera, Royal Opera House, London, 31 December 1977
New Stagings / Productions
Gala Performance, Los Angeles 1978
STAGING
Gala Performance; Frühlingsstimmerwaltz, under the title Voices of Spring
DANCERS
Merle Park, Wayne Eagling
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Ambassador Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA, 21 September 1978
Royal Ballet, 1981
STAGING
Royal Ballet; under the title Voices of Spring
DANCERS
Merle Park, Wayne Eagling
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Royal Opera House, London, 2 April 1981
Het Nationale Ballet, 1989
STAGING
Het Nationale Ballet; under the title Voices of Spring
REPRODUCED BY
Ann Whitley
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Muziektheater, Amsterdam, 18 October 1989
Birmingham Royal Ballet, 2000
STAGING
Birmingham Royal Ballet; under the title Voices of Spring
REPRODUCED BY
Ann Whitley
DANCERS
Amabra Vallo, Robert Parker
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Birmingham, UK, 5 April 2000
Festival de Sintra, 2004
STAGING
An Evening of British Ballet; under the title Voices of Spring
COSTUMES
Julia Trevelyan Oman
DANCERS
Alina Cojocaru, Johann Kobborg
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Festival de Sintra, Portugal, 23 July 2004
Copyright © 2004 by David Vaughan. ‘Work note’ © Frederick Ashton Foundation.
This listing is part of a chronology that was originally published in Vaughan’s Frederick Ashton and His Ballets (Alfred E Knopf 1976; 2nd ed., London: Dance Books, 1999) and includes new productions added since then, and up until 2007