Northern Ballet revives The Great Gatsby
23rd April 2019
This May, The Northern Ballet will tour their revival of David Nixon’s The Great Gatsby, a sumptuous ballet based on the music of Richard Rodney Bennett. Stopping first in Salford’s The Lowry from May 8-11, it moves to the Mayflower in Southampton from May 15-18.
Book tickets
The evening-long ballet displays the vast range of Bennett’s style, bringing together his jazz musicianship and his classical works. A playlist including Partita, the prelude to Reflections on a Sixteenth Century Tune, plus movements from Memento, Symphony No 3 and the Percussion Concerto has been woven together by Anthony Meredith to evoke the sweeping, tragic romance of F Scott Fitzgerald’s iconic classic.
Set amid the glamorous decadence of 1920s New York, mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby has a penchant for lavish parties and beautiful women. As the sparkling façade of his world begins to slip, it is the loneliness, obsession and tragedy that lies beneath which is revealed here, in one of Northern Ballet’s most treasured productions.
Discover more Bennett on Chandos
Volume three of John Wilson and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra’s comprehensive recording project on Chandos is now available to purchase and stream. As they approach the midway point of this mission to record all of Richard Rodney Bennett’s orchestral works, this five-star (classicalsource.com) album presents Symphony No 1 (1965), A History of The Dansant (2001), Reflections on a Sixteenth Century Tune (1999) and Zodiac (1975-6). Purchase CD.
