Cathy Marston’s The Cellist with Ballett Zürich

Opera House, Zürich
April 30, 2023

Next season, British choreographer, Cathy Marston, takes over the directorship of Ballett Zürich, when the company’s present director of ten years, Christian Spuck, leaves for Staatsballett Berlin. The transition runs very amicably. For Marston to familiarise herself with the dancers and vice-versa, and to present her to the audience, Spuck invited her to stage the last premiere of the season.

Marston is famed for her story ballets. Her list of pieces reads like a trip through the history of literature from Shakespeare to today. But sometimes she also ventures into the realm of biography.

For her first work with Ballett Zürich, she chose The Cellist, which she created for the Royal Ballet in 2020. It delves into the life of the legendary cellist, Jacqueline du Pré. She was a child prodigy and won international recognition when, aged just 17, she played Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto in London’s Royal Festival Hall, which later became her signature piece. She had already toured the world when she married the renowned pianist and conductor, Daniel Barenboim, in 1967. Together they were termed the ’golden couple,’ but du Pré’s career came to an abrupt end when she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. She gave her last concert in 1973 and died in 1987, only 42 years-old.

Marston does not recount her stories in a traditional way. Instead, she opts for different angles, new perspectives. In The Cellist, she turns the Cello into one of the protagonists because she wanted to explore how the instrument felt about being played by this charismatic musician. The other two main characters are just called the Cellist and the Conductor. In this way Marston manages to turn the ballet into more than a story about an individual. It is as much about dedication, passion and the symbiosis between art and artist.

Guilia Tonelli, who danced the Cellist, featured in a movie, Becoming Guilia, released last year, which shows her struggle getting back on stage after giving birth to her son. Perhaps this experience fuelled her mesmerising interpretation. From her first tentative strokes with her imaginary bow across the Cello’s torso – Wei Chen as the Instrument, dressed in cello-coloured shirt and pants sitting in front of her on one knee, the other leg stretched out, left arm raised like the neck of the cello – and her hand working the artery on his wrist as if it were a cello string, the two become inseparable. They seem to soar from the raised podium they are sitting on when playing for the first time with the Conductor, Esteban Berlanga, and the corps in groups behind them, dancing the tunes of the different instruments.

Their meeting leads to a hectic touring life, indicated by them disappearing and reappearing behind revolving walls, the Cello always close by, followed by an entourage. During the couple’s marriage ceremony and more intimate moments, the instrument waits patiently on a wooden ledge on one of the revolving walls. It is a ménage à trois without jealousy. The set by Hildegard Bechtler was inspired by photos from the inside of a cello.

At her final concert, the Cellist is facing an expectant audience in red plush theatre seats. Her back is to the auditorium. She raises her arm to the side for the first bow stroke, but instead of coming down, it fixates in a tremble in the air. It is an extremely moving moment.

With the progress of her illness, she at first is taken care of by her loving and caring family. They carry her, her knees bent, her feet flexed in the air, unable to support her body. The Conductor is shoved away leaving her alone with the Cello. Although she sometimes violently pushes it away, it keeps coming back, at one point gently nudging her with its head, like a dog in want of attention. It is a gesture of encouragement from her last companion.

The music is by one of Marston’s long-term collaborators, Philip Feeney, who has created a very evocative score. He mixes some of the pieces du Pré played by Elgar, Beethoven, Fauré, Mendelsohn Bartholdi, Piatti, Rachmaninov and Schubert with his own compositions, and makes it sound as one piece carrying us through her troubled life. The costumes by Bregje van Balen are suggestive of du Pre’s era.

The ballet is a journey through heartbreaking emotions. My companion cried at the end. Wei Chen managed the difficult task of personifying the Cello without turning human. Berlanga’s Conductor bubbled with enthusiasm for the music. As the Cellist, Tonelli embodied the indescribable pain of losing everything. But also, the rest of the company seemed to tune into Marston’s style. In every scene they appeared in close-knit unity, whether as a family or instruments. With a roaring ovation, the Zürich audience welcomed Marston warmly.

Coming soon: Jeannette Andersen talks to Cathy Marston about The Cellist and her directorship in Zürich.