All Balanchine I tackles the Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet "problem"

I have a book of ballet reviews by the recently-departed Arlene Croce. About Balanchine’s Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet, she wrote, “The movements that are musically the best (the second and fourth) come off best as dancing; the rest of the piece seems to be as weakly ingratiating as its music and fussily concerned with filling out space to the last full Brahmian measure.” Unusually harsh words for a critic whose attitude towards Balanchine was reverential to the point of worshipful.

Yet, after seeing the NYCB revival of Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet that opened the winter season, you can’t help but agree with the assessment. It’s a very uneven work and the decor and costumes quite frankly look musty and dated.

It wasn’t the dancers. The cast was as close to perfect as we could get. In the first movement, Alexa Maxwell and Miriam Miller were a wonderful contrast. Maxwell is petite and dark-haired, Miller is a tall, statuesque and blond. Maxwell has a light, mysterious quality to her movement that makes her one of the company’s most compelling dancers. In the second movement, Mira Nadon used her extremely flexible back to make those deep, swoony plummets very romantic. Gilbert Bolden III was an absolutely seamless partner for her. Megan Fairchild and Joseph Gordon were pert and sharp in the third movement. And finally, Sara Mearns gave her now-classic, high-energy performance in the Rondo.

But the ballet doesn’t gel as a whole. It goes on too long; the backdrops give the work a dated, constipated look; there’s too much pink tulle and unusually for Balanchine, some of the corps work is rather generic. The third movement simply loses one’s interest. It comes across as a work with fragments of greatness rather than a masterpiece. 

It was a real contrast to the other two works on the program. Concerto Barocco and Allegro Brillante are so timeless and perfect. They can tolerate subpar performances. On Tuesday night, overly fast tempi in Concerto Barocco didn’t allow the work to breathe. As a result, the dancing seemed rushed and slightly perfunctory. The two violins (Unity Phelan and Emilie Gerrity) were extraordinarily well-matched in height and look, but somehow they should have switched roles? Gerrity is more lyrical, Phelan better at sharp attack. But Gerrity danced the spiky second violin, while Phelan danced the first violin adagio. Andrew Veyette had a few issues with some of the trickier lifts of the adagio.

But the work practically teems with vitality. Every movement of the corps de ballet matches the music so perfectly that it is the embodiment of “see the music”. It can’t fail, even when the dancers are less than perfect.

Allegro Brillante is the same as Barocco – too great to kill. Tiler Peck and Roman Mejia have set the gold standard for these roles. With that being said, their performance last night was surprisingly subdued. It was beautifully danced, but without the spectacular panache and flair I am used to from them. Maybe I just take their excellence for granted? Because it was still a great performance. I never stop marveling at the way Peck is able to time lightning fast turns exactly to the counts of music, and to stop EXACTLY when the music stops.

But no matter the performance quality, Allegro sweeps the audience along, it is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser.

The company looks very good overall. There are some flagship corps members that look in line for a promotion. India Bradley (in Concerto Barocco) is one, Victor Abreu (who won the Janice Levin Award) is another. And some of the company’s most compelling dancers (Alexa Maxwell, Gilbert Bolden, Ashley Hod and Miriam Miller) are still soloists. Veterans are retiring (Ashley Bouder retires next month, Andrew Veyette and Megan LeCrone in the spring).

So a time of change but lots of promise all throughout the ranks. Looking forward to this winter season.