A very fine Swan indeed

TO be honest, there have been some pretty awful productions of this most reworked of ballets.

It’s hardly surprising, for there have been an awful lot of productions. This is the third Swan Lake into the Lowry already this year — if you count the recent wacky Chinese acrobatic one, that is.

But few have had quite the reception of this one, devised by the Australian Ballet’s choreographer Graeme Murphy in 2002, and a world hit for the company ever since.

Perhaps it’s the open-air life, the barbies or the sunshine, but this Aussie Swan Lake is fresh and modern, devoid of many of the annoying formalities of its Russian forebears, not to mention lacking most of its fairytale story too, in favour of a sound emotional basis and reasonably realistic plot.

This time there is no Odile, the swans are a fraught dream and Rothbart isn’t the vicious uncle but Odette’s beautiful rival for Siegfried’s affections.

What is special about this production is the way everything has been wound back to the start.

The original score is revived and the ballet worked around it, rather than the other way round. This lends an air of completeness to music that often seems truncated.

And Murphy doesn’t do much to the second act swan revelries either, keeping most of the choreography intact, but unobtrusively updating its look and execution.

All of this would be mere interesting experimentation if it weren’t for the Australian company’s overall approach.

With the BBC Philharmonic in the pit (and sounding glorious in its first time as a ballet orchestra) this company looks like it is inventing the ballet fresh every night.

The opening night pair, Madeleine Eastoe and Robert Curran, were perfectly matched, him strong and noble, her fragile when necessary, incredibly lithe and sensual in the great pas de deux.

The supporting cast — notably the equally beautiful Danielle Rowe as Rothbart — is exciting and energy-packed.

The production is big but not too spectacular, but the achievement certainly is.

PG