Christian Fagetti

MacArthur "Genius Grant" recipient Ratmansky, "the most significant classical choreographer of the current era" (The Guardian), is the former artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet and, having left Russia in protest following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, current artist in residence of the New York City Ballet. His production of Coppélia, a longtime repertoire favorite with sumptuous music by Léo Delibes and based on E.T.A. Hoffmann's The Sandman, features the celebrated corps de ballet of La Scala in never-before-seen sets and costumes by Jérôme Kaplan.

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.