Musical Walkies
The Volksoper has gone to the dogs. We invited author Peter te Nuyl, composer and conductor Keren Kagarlitsky, and director and choreographer Florian Hurler for a three-way interview about the premiere of Nurejews Hund (Nureyev’s Dog).
Florian, the idea for Nureyev’s Dog originated with you. How did that come about?
Florian: Some time ago, I was given Elke Heidenreich’s book of the same name, knowing that I had actually met Nureyev’s dog. The book is very poetic, and I’m quite fond of it. Eventually, I mentioned it in a meeting, and the Volksoper loved the idea of using it as the basis for a production.
Tell us briefly how you met the dog.
Florian: I was about twelve years old, a student at a private ballet school in Augsburg. Once a year, we traveled to the official exams at the Ballet Academy in Monte Carlo, held in a vast auditorium under the casino. There, opposite me, sat the legendary ballet master and teacher Marika Besobrasova, who also appears in our piece. And alongside her was Nureyev’s dog—a massive Rottweiler who was always present. Both were truly striking figures!
Peter, you’ve written a piece for the Volksoper based on the book and other stories. What is Nureyev’s Dog about?
Peter: That’s an impossible task to ask of an author: to sum up his piece in a few words. If I could do it in one or two sentences, why write 10,000 words?
Consider it a challenge: I’ll give you just 100 words.
Peter: (laughs) Theatre shows us the world from countless perspectives—of queens and kings, heroes and heroines, or beggars. This time, we see the chaos of human life through the eyes of a dog—a dog who happens to belong to the world’s most famous ballet dancer, Rudolf Nureyev. This dog wants to understand why humans dance and, along the way, discovers what friendship means and the power of imagination and longing. He meets a woman he can’t stand and a little girl who is everywhere and nowhere at once.
Keren, how does the world sound from a dog’s perspective?
Keren: Very diverse! As Peter mentioned, the story revolves around Nureyev, but it’s told from the perspective of his dog. So the Music that I chose for this production is not necessarily the music that connected with Nureyev, but actually with his dog! For instance, we play parts of Gershwin’s An American in Paris because our dog is precisely that: an American in Paris. And, of course, Gershwin’s Walking the Dog—for obvious reasons. Music by Russian composers ties into Nureyev’s childhood, and naturally, we include ballet music, such as Offenbach’s Le Papillon or La Bayadère. The dog is named after the male lead in La Bayadère: Solor.
You’ve also composed original music for the production.
Keren: "For my own original composition, I tried to combine the world of ballet and dance with the world of singing. A dream aria blends Tatar melodies with a waltz, while a fiery duet, which is also a tango, incorporates quotes from various ballet pieces. My original music constantly reminds us that we are in a world of dance, with rhythm and movement always present.
Florian, how do you bring all of this to the stage as a director?
Florian: With plenty of humor and poetry, and a mix of music, acting, and dance. I love the book’s subtitle: “What Longing Can Achieve.” That’s my guiding principle in this work. Why shouldn’t a dog dance if he longs to?
Peter, who should come to see Nureyev’s Dog?
Peter: Everyone! We recommend this play for ages 8 and up. I’d say: Come if you love dogs or even if you can’t stand them. Come if you adore ballet—or if you can’t bear it. Or just come because it’s time for a happy ending.
