A tragic flaw is one thing — every hero should have one — but Mayerling’s Rudolf, a syphilitic drug addict with a mother fixation and a death wish, is a very hard man to love.
Kenneth MacMillan’s 1978 ballet, currently being revived at Covent Garden, tells the complex tale of the Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary and his 1889 suicide pact with his teenage mistress. The narrative unfolds in flashback with cinematic sweep to a cunning patchwork of 30 Franz Liszt compositions invisibly mended by John Lanchbery. The grandeur of the Viennese court is deftly sketched by designer Nicholas Georgiadis. Vast interiors are evoked with a swath of fabric and the women’s gowns suggest the bulk of bustles without cramping MacMillan’s style.
Edward Watson, who danced the lead at last Friday’s opening, was never a natural prince — none of the three Tchaikovsky ballets is in his repertoire — and Rudolf’s adagios have always stretched his technique to the limit, but any rough edges only add to our sense of a personality in meltdown.
Watson’s partnering style is expertly tailored to each of the six women in the Prince’s life, culminating in the searing encounters with Mary Vetsera. Natalia Osipova goads him into a death spiral of despair, raising her leg in a deliciously slow développé of arousal (you can practically hear the fly buttons hitting the ceiling). The Russian star hurled herself into the acrobatic clinches and her greedy snatch at the fatal revolver was enough to chill the blood.
Federico Bonelli has spent most of his 14-year Royal Ballet career in elegant danseur noble roles. His funny, sexy Escamillo in Carlos Acosta’s otherwise dismal 2015 Carmen gave a hint of his dramatic range but Saturday’s Mayerling debut was a real surprise.
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