NDR Big Band: Neumier’s “Liliom” at the Hamburg Opera | NDR.de – Orchestra and Chorus

Ballet legend John Newmyer Lilium depicts a tragic love affair with a showman’s environment. The choreographer was inspired by the classic theater of the same name by Ferenc Molnar, which had already inspired the famous musical Carousel.

Composition by Michel Legrand

The accompanying ballet was commissioned by film composer Michel Legrand, who weaved classical and jazz into a poetic vocal scene.

As with the world premiere, the outcome will also be interpreted directly by the Philharmonic State Orchestra and NDR Bigband when it resumes in 2022.

Poetic love drama

John Neumer’s choreographic interpretation, which set it on the show scene in the United States in the 1930s, adds a new chapter to the story’s hundred-year history.

“For me, dance has always been an art form that shows the relationships between people, their encounters, their contradictions, and the tensions that arise from them,” says John Neumeier. “Liliom definitely needs a magical level. Ballet as an art form works in very different mediums than drama or music, for example.”

The tragic story of the fairground hero Lilium, who cannot believe the strength of his feelings, is one of the greatest stories in world literature. Love plays a major role in this, too, for John Neumeier: “Julie knows that one would rather be unhappy with a loved one than be happy without.”

The ballet director created the jolly role of Alina Kojokaru, the internationally sought-after ballerina of the English National Ballet. He created the role of Liliom for the lead soloist of Hamburg BalletCarsten Jung.