Performances cancelled until 31 January 2021
We have had to cancel our performances of the Nutcracker until 6 February and a performance of Die Walküre 29 January 2021.
We have had to cancel our performances of the Nutcracker until 6 February and a performance of Die Walküre 29 January 2021.
Edward Hyde, a mysterious villain, is wreaking havoc in London, leaving hatred, fear and disgust in his wake. At the same time the respected doctor Henry Jekyll is conducting experiments in his laboratory to change human character and personality. The connection between Jekyll and Hyde is stranger than anyone could ever imagine.
The case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a story about the deep contradictions of the human psyche and its capacity for both good and evil. Now these two iconic characters spring from the classic novel form the basis of a full-length ballet by choreographer Val Caniparoli. The ballet, set in Victorian England, travels from the misty streets of London to the horrors of a mental hospital to the elegance of high society
Jekyll & Hyde will see its world premiere at the Finnish National Ballet in 06/11/2020.
We recommend the performances to visitors over the age of 10.
For safety reasons, music requiring a large orchestra is played as a recording performed by the Finnish National Opera Orchestra.
The writer Robert Louis Stevenson is lying feverishly in bed at night, hallucinating. He begins to imagine the tale of a good doctor who turns into his evil twin.
Dr. Jekyll is trying to demonstrate the idea of dual personality to a group of wealthy donors in a mental asylum. Failing to convince the crowd of the efficacy of his ideas, Jekyll returns to the privacy of his own laboratory for further experimentation, frenetically pursuing his goal of unearthing the hidden underbelly of the human experience. He drinks a potion and feels a premonition of Mr. Hyde, the repressed force of evil whom Jekyll is trying to unleash. To resist the pull of Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll attends a party at Sir Danvers Carew, whose daughter Nellie he is engaged to. As the party draws to a close, the gentlemen guests decide to finish the evening at Deacon Brodie’s Tavern, an underworld den of prostitutes, lowlifes, and drugs. Jekyll begins to shed his proper demeanor and come alive, as we sense his “other self” emerging. Propelled back out onto the city streets, Jekyll begins to transform before our eyes. The effects are immediate and startling: nightmare versions of characters we have already encountered begin to appear. At the climax of Jekyll’s hallucination, Mr. Hyde emerges triumphantly from the shadows.
In an elegant ballroom, Sir Danvers Carew is giving a party. Mr. Hyde appears, engaging provocatively with the guests. Fearing that the effects of the potion are about to wear off, Hyde escapes back to the streets, where he collides with a small child. In his rage and panic, Hyde beats the child to death with his cane. Back at his lab, Hyde struggles to resist returning to the body and mind of Dr. Jekyll. The terrifying figures of hallucination return.
Dr. Jekyll, isolating himself from the public eye and frightened about where his “research” is taking him, returns to his experiments in the lab. Friends and colleagues come to visit but Jekyll resists seeing them. Finally at Dr. Lanyon’s insistence, Jekyll consumes the dangerous potion in front of them, transforming into the raging Mr. Hyde. Violence and destruction ensue as Hyde attacks his former friends and destroys Dr. Lanyon, Sir Danvers Carew, and Rowena, a prostitute at the tavern. When Nellie Carew goes to Dr. Jekyll’s house out of concern for the doctor she has loved, her encounter becomes more and more violent until Hyde tells her to “RUN!” and she escapes. In the empty lab, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde battle with each other for dominance and survival. Stevenson reappears, and all of this has been happening in his feverish imagination. The world of the mental hospital returns, as Stevenson realizes that in writing the story of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, he has unleashed a monster into the world, the dark side of all of our better selves.
The Scottish novelist Robert Louis Stevenson wrote his classic story The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1886. The novel, which shocked Victorian readers with its unusually deep forays into the human soul, had such impact that the phrase “Jekyll and Hyde” has become a standard reference to the polarities within the human character.
At the time of writing, Stevenson suffered from lung haemorrhages and took hallucinogenic drugs to alleviate his pain. He completed his nightmarish novella in his sickbed in a matter of days. Stevenson’s illness and the suffering it caused are profoundly embedded in the story of this new ballet.
Like the Victorian era, the story of Jekyll and Hyde is layered with multiple secrets, including promiscuity and homosexuality, which were rarely addressed openly in that morally conservative culture. These hidden longings will help inform the choreography of this world premiere.
Val Caniparoli is a highly renowned choreographer from the United States. He is most closely associated with San Francisco Ballet, where he has worked 46 years, and also served as resident choreographer. His productions have been performed by more than 50 ballet companies, for example The Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, San Francisco Symphony and American Conservatory Theater and internationally in South Africa, Singapore, Scotland and Hong Kong, among others. His choreography has also been seen at the Finnish National Ballet in 2017 in Lady of the Camellias.
Read more: Val Caniparoli’s homepage
Photo by Chris Hardy
The score for Jekyll & Hyde is drawn from the powerful works of composers Krzysztof Penderecki, Henryk Gorecki, and Wozjciech Kilar with interpolations by Henryk Wieniawski and Frédéric Chopin.
The musical framework supports the storyline and choreography in its contrast between good and evil with its usage of intimate chamber works and massive orchestral walls of sound.
A season ticket guarantees you a seat for all our premieres, which amount to 7 in the 2020–21 season. Two of these include more than one work, so your season ticket gives you access to a total of 10 memorable productions. You will also enjoy a dedicated seat in the auditorium and a dozen more substantial benefits.
There is a limited amount of season ticket packages on sale. There are no season ticket packages available at the moment.
Choose your favourite refreshments from this season’s tasty menu. You can easily add refreshments to your shopping basket while selecting tickets in our online store.
The services of the Opera Restaurant are available before performances and during the interval. Order beforehand and avoid the queues.
Please note that we cannot guarantee a specific table for orders made via the online store. We may also seat several parties at the same table. You may be assigned a bar height table for enjoying refreshments standing up.
As a guest of the Finnish National Opera and Ballet you will enjoy the hospitality of Helsinki Radisson Blu Hotels at a special price.
We offer you 20% off the daily rate. Luxury accommodation includes accommodation for two at your chosen hotel in Helsinki, glasses of sparkling on arrival, relaxing Blu Dreams and a superb Super Breakfast.
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