The Paris Opéra Ballet, though historically and famously a classical ensemble, proved over the years to be perfectly at ease with the demands and the subtleties of the contemporary repertoire. A tribute to its dazzling technique and unique style, this collector box-set features three milestones in the recent history of the French company: Pina Bausch’s Orpheus and Eurydice, a “Tribute to Jerome Robbins”, ten years after his passing, and Anne Teresa de Keersmaker’s Rain. All these programs were filmed at the Palais Garnier, a world-renowned temple of classical ballet.

Orpheus and Eurydice
Orpheus and Eurydice is Pina Bausch’s masterpiece and the ultimate symbol of the genius of this German choreographer, who died in June 2009.

Tribute to Jerome Robbins
Ten years after his death, the Paris Opéra Ballet payed tribute to the American choreographer who considered the Paris Opéra as his second home after the New York City Ballet. Jerome Robbins brought new energy to classical dance, introducing 20th-century urban rhythms, confirming its status as a modern entertainment form and instilling it with the interrogations of contemporary theatre. En Sol, set to Maurice Ravel’s Concerto en sol, follows no particular narrative line or dramatic effect. Echoing the music’s jazzy invitations and light-heartedly copying Broadway style, this is a light and joyous piece for two soloists and an ensemble. In the Night and The Concert are two tributes to Frédéric Chopin, each in a different register. Lastly, Benjamin Millepied, who made his dance debut with Robbins in New York, dedicates his second creation for the Paris Opéra Ballet, Triade, to the choreographer. “Dance is composed of human relations”, Robbins used to say. A worthy heir to his master, Benjamin Millepied matches this credo through a fruitful dialogue with composer Nico Muhly.

Rain
Set to Music for Eighteen Musicians, Steve Reich’s major score composed in 1976, Rain embodies the culmination of a dance form drawing its own spatial polyphony from the mathematical principles of musical composition, a polyphony which also materialises on the floor, where the infinite trajectories of the dancers criss-cross like brightly coloured pick-up sticks.

Orpheus and Eurydice
Music: Christoph Willibald Gluck
Choreography & stage direction: Pina Bausch (1975)
- Yann Bridard
- Marie-Agnès Gillot (danseuse étoile)
- Miteki Kudo
- Maria Riccarda Wesseling
- Julia Kleiter
- Sunhae Im
Balthasar-Neumann Ensemble & Chor
Conducted by: Thomas Hengelbrock
HD recording: Palais Garnier, 02/2008
Directed by Vincent Bataillon

Tribute to Jerome Robbins:

En Sol
Music: Maurice Ravel
Choreography: Jerome Robbins
- Marie-Agnès Gillot (danseuse étoile)
- Florian Magnenet

Triade
Music: Nico Muhly
Choreography & costumes design: Benjamin Millepied
- Marie-Agnès Gillot (danseuse étoile)
- Laëtitia Pujol (danseuse étoile)
- Audric Bezard
- Marc Moreau

In the Night
Music: Frédéric Chopin
Choreography: Jerome Robbins
- Clairemarie Osta (danseuse étoile)
- Benjamin Pech (danseur étoile)
- Agnès Letestu (danseuse étoile)
- Stéphane Bullion
- Delphine Moussin (danseuse étoile)
- Nicolas Le Riche (danseur étoile)

The Concert
Music: Frédéric Chopin
Choreography: Jerome Robbins
- Dorothée Gilbert (danseuse étoile)
- Stéphane Phavorin
- Alessio Carbone
- Emmanuel Thibault

Orchestre de l’Opéra national de Paris
Conducted by: Koen Kessels
HD recording: Palais Garnier, 09/2008
Directed by Vincent Bataillon

Rain:
Music: Music for Eighteen Musicians by Steve Reich
Choreography: Anne Teresa De
- Keersmaeker Valentine Colasante
- Muriel Zusperreguy
- Christelle Granier
- Sae Eun Park
- Léonore Baulac
- Amélie Lamoureux
- Laura Bachman
- Vincent Chaillet
- Nicolas Paul
- Daniel Stokes
Ensemble Ictus | Synergy Vocals
Conducted by: Georges-Elie Octors
HD recording: Palais Garnier, 10/2014
Directed by Louise Narboni