An historical scandal takes to the stage at HMT
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The year is 1889 and, in the woods outside Vienna, the royal family must hide a terrible secret.
At the royal Mayerling hunting lodge, Crown Prince Rudolf is found shot dead alongside his teenage mistress.
We rewind the clock to watch this desperate young man, the heir to the throne, plunge into his own paranoia.
Trapped by the stifling opulence of the Habsburg court, Rudolf’s mental turmoil envelops all those around him.
The Imperial Court celebrates the marriage of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria-Hungary and Princess Stephanie of Belgium.
Rudolf flirts shamelessly with Stephanie's sister, Princess Louise, offending both his new bride and his parents, Emperor Franz Josef and Empress Elisabeth.
Rudolf meets Countess Larisch, his former mistress, and Baroness Vetsera who introduces her daughter Mary Vetsera with whom he will in time as he feels increasingly abandoned by the crown and unable to see a clear way forward through his deteriorating mental state, propose a suicide pact with.
In a series of increasingly intense duets with his mother, his wife, and his mistress, Rudolf descends deeper into his obsession with death, and hurtles towards tragedy.
Rudolf’s morbid fascination, sexual appetite and ultimate violence make this real-life anti-hero as compelling as Hamlet, while Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s breathtaking choreography takes us on a physical and emotional rollercoaster.
The sweeping intensity of The Scandal at Mayerling ballet is matched by the sumptuous music of Franz Liszt, performed live by the Scottish Ballet Orchestra.
Reimagined and redesigned by Scottish Ballet, this dramatic world premiere will be the first time MacMillan’s iconic ballet is produced in the UK outside of London.
Recommended for audiences 12+ the performance lasts approximately two hours including one 20 minute interval.
Scottish Ballet comes to His Majesty's Aberdeen on Thursday, May 5 - Saturday, May 7 at 7.30pm with tickets available from the Aberdeen Box Office and via www.aberdeenperformingarts.com.
