Japan Ballet Association's Anna Karenina

Ballett Zürich's Anna Karenina travels to Hong Kong (sadly, sans orchestra.) Nevertheless, the dramatic staging, score, and outstanding performances, among them mezzo soprano Lin Shi, prove dazzling.

Just as rereading a favourite novel can give the reader new literary impulses to explore, so, too, can the revival of a popular ballet offer a fresh interpretation.

The Zurich Ballet's production of Anna Karenina is an opulent feast. The great tragedy of love, loyalty and betrayal was set against a seamless score of music by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Witold Lutoslawski.

It was a pleasant surprise. Could the text of Leo Tolstoy’s rich tome about pre-revolutionary Russian aristocratic life, with all its multi-coloured characters, be reduced to just three performers and a corps de ballet? The answer is a resounding ‘yes’.The Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg, on its second visit to London, offered a visual feast in its production of Anna Karenina.

For all their classical roots and tradition, the Mariinsky Ballet opened their week at the Metropolitan Opera House with an innovative performance of Anna Karenina. Artistic director Maestro Valery Gergiev blended a number of unique elements to bring Leo Tolstoy’s epic to life, including his own conducting of Rodion Shchedrin’s modern score.First, consider the Mariinsky Ballet’s long history.

Daniele Rustioni pairs orchestral music of Verdi and Wagner in his concert with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, prior to taking up the post of Guest Principal Conductor in April.