Manfred
Rudolf Nureyev was recovering from an injury and unable to participate in rehearsals or to dance the opening night of his choreography of Lord Byron’s poem. When he finally performed the role on 15 December 1979, attired in a white shirt with flowing sleeves resembling ghostly wings, he embodied the haunted melancholy associated with Byron and his work. In her biography of Nureyev, Julie Kavanagh wrote that, ‘in Byron, as in Liszt, Rudolf recognized an alter ego, all three having experienced the same explosive kind of fame, peripatetic life, and passion for the exotic’.
Manfred was written shortly after Byron had fled England for Switzerland, following the scandal of his affair with his half-sister. The poem tells the story of a suicidal nobleman living in gothic isolation in the mountains. Riven with guilt over the loss of his beloved, he seeks in vain to have his memory purged by a host of magical beings. Ultimately, Manfred finds relief only in death.
Nureyev was fascinated by the confessional elements of the poem. His ballet broadened the poem’s scope by taking Byron’s autobiographical tendencies even further with the direct inclusion of historical figures from the poet’s own life. Byron’s half-sister, various lovers, and the Shelleys, among others, all make appearances. Their presence shows Manfred haunted by the memories of his feverish mind.However, retaining a linear plot while depicting so many relationships proved challenging, and the most inventive aspect of the ballet also proved to be its main flaw. By the time of its American debut in 1983, performed by the Zurich Ballet, Nureyev had added recited excerpts of Byron’s poetry to help clarify the confusing storyline.
In both its intricacy and bravura, Manfred showcases the vast scope of Nureyev’s choreographic influences, from Marius Petipa to Martha Graham, and particularly reflects the exacting classical technique he learnt at the Kirov and refined in his work with Erik Bruhn. The ballet is striking for its use of male pas de deux as a representation of the dialogue between Byron and Shelley, and for the equally demanding and athletic choreography for both men and women.
The roles reflect the high importance he gave to the full exploration of a character’s psychology. His choice to foreground the ghosts of Byron’s past gave the ballet an immediacy that would not have been possible had he simply presented a line-for-line choreographic translation of the poem.
The original production, at the Palais des Sports in Paris, was designed by Nicholas Georgiadis. A reworked version, without décor and using the Georgiadis costumes, was performed in 1986 in Zurich and later at the Palais Garnier in Paris. In this revival, costumes were designed by Miruna Boruzescu and sets by Radu Boruzescu.
Although the ballet is no longer in repertoire today, it was a compelling production that boldly explored the often-tragic complications of human relationships through the lens of Manfred’s fractured psyche.