Diabelli
Malone and Robinson in a promotional photo. Photo by Andrew Eccles.
Company dancers perform the theme and opening variations.
Malone and Robinson in a promotional photo. Photo by Andrew Eccles.
Malone and Robinson in a promotional photo. Photo by Andrew Eccles.
Premiere
Production
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Choreographer
Twyla Tharp
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Composer
Ludwig van Beethoven (Diabelli Variations, or, 33 Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli, Op. 120, 1823)
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Live Musician
Paige Hoffman
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Costume Designer
Geoffrey Beene
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Production Director
Cynthia Argo
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Rehearsal Director
Dancers
Sandi Cooksey, Jennifer Howard, Jessica Lang, Gabrielle Malone, Sandra Stanton
Nigel Burley, Jay Franke, Roger C. Jeffrey, Shawn Mahoney, Victor Quijada, Andrew Robinson
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Number of Dancers
11
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Runtime
00:55:30
Description
In the early 1820s, Beethoven completed one of the most revered sets of variations for solo piano. Utilizing Anton Diabelli’s simple Waltz in C Major, Beethoven composed 33 variations that demonstrate the breadth of his technical mastery, creativity, humor and knowledge of Western music.
The opening sequence of Tharp’s Diabelli presents a simple movement theme – swinging arms, skips and gallops, a basic waltz step. From there, Tharp matches Beethoven variation for variation. She makes allusions, varies rhythm and tempi, inverts and reverses material from the theme. The mood of each section is distinct: one may be academic and technical, the next theatrical.
Diabelli is a tour de force requiring technical facility, stamina and dramatic presence from the pianist and the dancers.
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Commissioned by
The Cité de la Musique (Paris), The Barbican Center (London), and Hancher Auditorium (University of Iowa)
Past Performances
- 1998
- 1999