Boston Ballet's ‘Swan Lake' flies higher than ever

Boston Globe

28-02-2025

'Swan Lake' premiered in 1877 with a libretto of uncertain authorship, a score by neophyte ballet composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and choreography, now lost, by the now forgotten Julius Reisinger. In 1895, two years after Tchaikovsky's death, the ballet got a complete overhaul, with new choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. Neither production was a success. Flash forward almost 150 years and audiences can't get enough 'Swan Lake.' Perhaps it's the enigma of a universe where men turn women into swans and then hunt them. Perhaps it's the story of betrayal and redemption. Perhaps it's just the allure of the swan corps. Whatever, Boston Ballet presented the piece only three years ago, and now it's back at the Citizens Bank Opera House for an unusually extended run of 17 performances. Thursday's opening night, with Viktorina Kapitonova as Odette/Odile and Sangmin Lee as Prince Siegfried, attested to why 'Swan Lake' has become practically synonymous with ballet.
The company continues to showcase the production that artistic director Mikko Nissinen and designer Robert Perdziola introduced in 2014. Perdziola's Act One castle-park backdrop sports a mazy river, the fortress-like mountaintop castle itself, a small village church, and, looming in the distance, a massive mossy structure that dwarfs the castle. The set for the swans' lake, midnight blue to better show them off, confirms your suspicion that this is sorcerer Rothbart's abode. Rothbart himself is not the owl-headed monster you see in many productions but an alluring prince of darkness. Perdziola's costuming throughout is light and airy; the red-and-white of the Polish flag for the mazurka is a particularly apt touch.
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Nissinen's own additions to this 'Swan Lake' include a mimed prologue in which a group of picnickers pack up and exit, leaving one book-reading woman behind. That's when Rothbart strikes and casts his spell. This explanation of how he's enchanted so many swan maidens is helpful, and so is the brief passage Nissinen inserts into the finale, enabling Siegfried to dance his contrition and Odette her forgiveness.
Thursday's performance began with beautifully phrased oboe and clarinet solos. The solo playing all evening was exemplary, and overall the Boston Ballet Orchestra, under music director Mischa Santora, sounded as sumptuous as I have heard it over the past 40 years. When the curtain rose for the prologue, Lasha Khozashvili's Rothbart proved a true spellbinder, commanding the stage and casting a shadow over the proceedings to come. His Act Two manège through a sea of dry-ice mist stamped him as a formidable opponent.
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Boston Ballet in "Swan Lake," which opened Thursday for 17 performances at the Citizens Bank Opera House.
Theik Smith
Lee's Siegfried was up to the challenge; you would never think this was his debut in the role. Regal but collegial and full of wonder, he exuded a boyish confidence as he celebrated the eve of his 21st birthday with his peasant friends. Some Siegfrieds look sheepish when the Queen Mother's arrival is announced; Lee merely adjusted his jacket. Some Siegfrieds lose interest in Odette once they see Black Swan Odile; Lee, when Rothbart's deception was revealed, made it clear he'd thought Odile
was
Odette. He was able, at the end of Act One, to sustain the difficult line of Tchaikovsky's Andante sostenuto, making the progression from sissonnes to renversés to tours-jetés landed in arabesque seem inevitable. His Act Three variation included high-flying cabrioles and double tours turning in both directions.
Kapitonova was the opening-night Odette/Odile in 2022; she looked better than ever this time out. Her Odette was wild and wary, a swan who's been shot at before and perhaps failed by previous princes. Here she was protective of Lee's Siegfried but also slow to warm to him, deep penchés and pliant backbends expressing a world of fear and longing. Her growing trust was reflected in the confidence of their partnering; big lifts were no problem. Neither, for Kapitonova, were the soft ronds de jambes and développés of Odette's variation, or the razor-sharp passé-relevé sequence. Her Odile was an entirely different creature, all teasing smiles and naughty promises, conspiratorial with Rothbart and in total control of Siegfried. She managed most of Odile's 32 fouettés; more important, she did them all on the beat.
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The first-act pas de trois benefited from luxury casting, Yue Shi landing double tours in neat fifth position, Chisako Oga and Ji Young Chae contributing precise pointe work. All three principals are scheduled to dance Siegfried or Odette/Odile during the course of the run. Joan Boada was old school but not doddering as Siegfried's tutor. Lauren Herfindahl and Sage Humphries gave an easy volume to the big swans; Lia Cirio anchored a crisp pas de cinq at the outset of Act Three. The six prospective princess brides displayed six different shades of disappointment. And the company made the first act's waltz and polonaise and the third act's national dances look fresh and important.
There's no easy resolution to this 'Swan Lake.' For the final act, Kapitonova gave us a troubled, emotionally exhausted Odette, and even though love conquers Rothbart, the lovers still have to throw themselves into the mist-shrouded lake, leaving the swans … still enchanted? Thursday's performance ran nearly three hours, and yet it seemed short measure. I could have sat through it again.
SWAN LAKE
Music by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, with additional choreography by Mikko Nissinen. Sets and costumes by Robert Perdziola. Presented by Boston Ballet. At Citizens Bank Opera House, through March 16. Tickets $40-$275. 617-695-6955,
Jeffrey Gantz can be reached at