NYCB Vol. 11 No. 7 - Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet

Balanchine's Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet recieved lukewarm reviews when it premiered: "Naturally enough, there are moments--and already I patronize, moments indeed!--where the genius of Mr. Balanchine's choreography sends his dancers bouncing across the stage with a kinetic beauty that can only be achieved by a great choreographer listening to the music and uttering his divine incantations. Yet equally, a hell of a lot (if the muses will forgive such coarseness) has all the air of elegant padding.

The first movement, a blandly paced allegro, had Melissa Hayden and André Prokovsky, all properly, well-mannered brilliance, and Gloria Govrin, intense and flashing. This was fine, yet in a sense inconclusive. It was an in-conclusion never resolved. The dancers were magnificent--but this is one of the world's major companies; did anyone expect them not to be? In the last movement Allegra Kent and Edward Villella (who can now pause in midair with all the ease of a man asking for a light for his cigarette) and, just as brilliant and considerably more boisterous, the brash, forceful and right Jacques d'Amboise and the here elegantly punchy Suzanne Farrell all seemed rather better than their choreographic material. For all the while one was hoping, looking, praying for a definite statement about the music, and all one received was a kind of generalized choreographic flow, smooth enough in itself yet missing the sharp cut of art."--Clive Barnes, New York Times, 1966

Joseph Duell & Suzanne Farrrell. Photo by Martha Swope, 1985

The ballet's ardent defender:

Suzanne Farrell: "Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet garned the usual bag of mixed reviews. When I was in a ballet, I was in no position to judge but [...] I was angry at the lukewarm receptions and told George one day, 'You know if I don't do anything else in my life, I'm going to prove to these people that this is a wonderful ballet.' Surprised by my anger, he replied calmly, 'Oh, dear, that's very sweet of you, but don't you worry about it. You can't be a one-woman army, and you can't charge the world in a day. We are on another cloud.' Despite the wise words, Brahms remained a real focal point in my life, another beautiful ballet added to my Balanchine crusade. I was determined to dance it so well that it would receive its due."

—Holding on to the Air by Suzanne Farrell