Rome Opera Tickets

Uwe Scholz's version of The Red and the Black, a ballet with music by the French maestro Hector Berlioz, is at the wonderful Teatro Costanzi in Rome. This three-act ballet is set to 19th-century music which is ideal given that this balletic interpretation of French society has been conceived after a novel by Stendhal, first published in 1830. Stendhal was the pen name of Marie-Henri Beyle who satirised the upper classes of France, writing in the aftermath of his country's defeat at Waterloo. Originally published as Le Rouge et le Noir: Chronique du XIXe siècle, his novel The Red and the Black has been adapted into films before, but Scholz’s choreography broke new ground when it was first performed.

Hector Berlioz didn't write the music for The Red and the Black. Instead, Scholz, who died in 2004, selected various pieces and chose to set them to dance to create a narrative that matched Stendhal's famous book. This so-called collage of music allowed the choreographer to have dancers re-enact the passionate triangle of the socially upwardly mobile Julien Sorel with Madame de Rênal and Mathilde de la Mole, the principal characters in the novel. Since it was first performed, the ballet has captured the essence of the drama found in the novel through characterful dance. Many agree that the tension of the plot refers to the clerical and secular interests of the protagonist, represented by the colours black and red respectively, but the title could also refer to the card game 'rouge et noir' that was popular at the time, although other interpretations are certainly possible.

Born in Hesse, Germany in 1958, Scholz's entire life seemed to revolve around ballet. He took up the art form at just four years of age, but he was also an accomplished musician who, in childhood, received formal education in piano, violin and guitar. He was admitted to the Stuttgart Ballet School at the age of 13 and, by 1976, was staging his first choreographic performances. By 1980, Scholz was established as the resident choreographer with the Stuttgart Ballet. Later, with the Leipzig Ballet, he created numerous remarkable productions including dances that were set to music by Mozart, Bach, Beethoven and Schumann. It was during his time with the Leipzig Ballet that Scholz first came up with the choreography for Rot und Schwarz, as the ballet is known in his native language.

The Red and the Black at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma – Teatro Costanzi's other name – is a remarkable production full of passion, intrigue and psychological mystery in a ballet that is still utterly relevant today.