THE CONCERT (OR, THE PERILS OF EVERYBODY)
The American choreographer Jerome Robbins (1918-1998) intended his ballet The Concert (or, The Perils of Everybody) as a comical parody of classical music listeners. The action unfolds during a Frédéric Chopin piano recital, where the music draws its listeners into the depths of their imagination and innermost thoughts. As imaginary characters come to life, they reveal human weaknesses and the boundless landscapes of the imagination.
Premiered in 1956, The Concert (or, The Perils of Everybody) is an entertaining work that playfully reflects our own delightful flaws and quirks with humour and charm.
Robbins wrote about his ballet: “One of the pleasures of attending a concert is the freedom to lose oneself in listening to the music. Quite often, unconsciously, mental pictures and images form, and the patterns and paths of these reveries are influenced by the music itself, or its programme notes, or by the personal dreams, problems and fantasies of the listener. Chopin’s music in particular has been subject to fanciful ‘programme’ names, such as the Butterfly Etude, the Minute Waltz, the Raindrop Prelude, etc.”
