L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato

L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato

View All Works
L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato

L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato

Premiere

Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie

Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie

View All Performance Listings

Media Gallery

  • images
  • videos
L Allegro David Leyes 1
LAllegro The Birding by ElaineMayson
L Allegro Elaine Mayson
L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato - Luminato Festival 2013
L Allegro David Leyes 4
L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato - Luminato Festival 2013
L Allegro David Leyes 2
L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato - London Coliseum 2010
L Allegro il Penseroso ed il Moderato Elaine Mayson 2
L Allegro il Penseroso ed il Moderato Elaine Mayson
L Allegro David Leyes 1

L Allegro David Leyes 1

LAllegro The Birding by ElaineMayson

LAllegro The Birding by ElaineMayson

L Allegro Elaine Mayson

L Allegro Elaine Mayson

L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato - Luminato Festival 2013

L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato - Luminato Festival 2013

L Allegro David Leyes 4

L Allegro David Leyes 4

L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato - Luminato Festival 2013

L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato - Luminato Festival 2013

L Allegro David Leyes 2

L Allegro David Leyes 2

L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato - London Coliseum 2010

L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato - London Coliseum 2010

L Allegro il Penseroso ed il Moderato Elaine Mayson 2

L Allegro il Penseroso ed il Moderato Elaine Mayson 2

L Allegro il Penseroso ed il Moderato Elaine Mayson

L Allegro il Penseroso ed il Moderato Elaine Mayson

Details List

Choreography Mark Morris
Music George Frideric Handel - L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato
Libretto
Scenic Design Adrianne Lobel
Costume Design Christine Van Loon
Lighting Design James F. Ingalls
Instrumentation orchestra and chorus; four vocal soloists
Number of Dancers 24
Runtime Part the First: 55 minutes, Part the Second: 45 minutes

Details

Mark Morris’ premiere work as Director of Dance at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, Belgium.

On L’Allegro‘s 25th Anniversary, MMDG launched the L’Allegro Stories blog to commemorate the milestone through a collection of stories from people around the globe who have been touched by this work. All are welcome to read and contribute to the blog.

On March 27, 2015, at 9pm L’Allegro made its broadcast debut on PBS’ Great Performances.

Press Quotes

  • "Masterpiece isn't a word to be thrown around lightly, but there's no denying that Mark Morris's "L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato" is thrillingly that. "
    New York Times
  • "The entire spectacle represents one of those rare theatrical occasions by which those present measure their lives."
    The Times Literary Supplement (London)
  • "Morris has concerned himself with every last feeling in the test, every felicity of Handel's score, and produced a work that boasts a clear-eyed, generous view of humanity."
    Financial Times
  • "L'Allegro is a brilliant fusion of music, choreography, dancing and theatrical whimsy that reaches from Handel's era to the present in a quite wonderful way...a joy in every respect, a masterpiece of the twentieth century."
    The Chicago Tribune
  • "L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato is heavenly, from start to finish."
    Daily Telegraph

Related Press and Media

Published in The Huffington Post

Mark Morris’ L’Allegro and Jerome Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering Rocket in to the Bay Area

Rather like El Niño’s oscillation between warm and cold in the Pacific, Morris’ monumental work cycles between two temperaments — the one irrepressibly gay (l’Allegro), the other pensive and introspective (il Penseroso). The poet Milton’s musings, richly ornamented by Handel, are brought to vivid life by Morris — though the cheeky choreographer doesn’t confine himself to any one method of word painting.
Read Full Article

Published in Ross Valley Reporter

Mark Morris’ dance work: ‘Most fantabulous — ever’

A couplet from the libretto of “L’Allegro” reads: “Come, and trip it as you go/On the light fantastic toe.” And truly fantastic it was. Two dozen barefooted members of the Mark Morris Dance Group — along with longtime Morris collaborators, the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale — just gave the most fantabulous modern dance performance I’ve seen. Ever.
Read Full Article

Published in San Francisco Chronicle

Dance culture thrives in busy month at UC Berkeley

I envy anyone experiencing Morris’ setting of Handel’s ode “L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato” for the first time. One of the most encyclopedic and humane dance masterworks of our age, the piece fulfills its fifth engagement at Zellerbach Auditorium, the first revival here since 2009... Despite the sensual pleasures the work affords, to eye and ear it repays close study of Morris’ profound talent for fusing note and step and making it all sublimely entertaining.
Read Full Article

Published in Country Life

See the best new dance on screen

The Mark Morris Dance Group hasn’t visited Britain for some time, but his lyrical masterpice L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato has finally been recorded on DVD, bringing his genius into our homes. Along with The Hard Nut, his sardonic retelling of The Nutcracker, L’Allegro shows him at the height of his interpretive powers.
Read Full Article

Published in San Jose Mercury News

Dance forecast 2016: Honoring the legendary Chitresh Das

The company returns to Cal Performances with Morris' masterwork, "L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato," set to Handel's oratorio of the same name performed live by the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra.
Read Full Article

Published in The New York Times

Still Tingling Spines, After 25 Years

Alastair Macaulay for The New York Times

Mark Morris’s ‘L’Allegro’ Returns to New York: Mr. Morris’s masterwork, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this month, returns to New York as part of the White Light Festival at Lincoln Center.

Read Full Article

Published in The New York Times

Mark Morris’s Transcendent “L’Allegro,” Captured on Film for PBS

Since its premiere in 1988, Mark Morris’s full-length dance staging of Handel’s oratorio “L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato” has provoked two widespread reactions. One: How blessed we are to live in an age in which such miraculous beauty is made! Two: When will this be filmed and made available to a wider public?
Read Full Article

Published in MassLive

PBS broadcasting Mark Morris Dance Group on March 27

Morris has a magical ability to transform the everyday into the sublime. He can make the mere act of walking or running into something poetic and profound. He's also a keen listener and observer who frequently unearths hidden meanings in the music and poetry he loves, then clearly communicates his insights through beautiful, sensual movements.
Read Full Article

Published in The New York Times

On TV, That Thing with Feathers

Masterpiece isn’t a word to be thrown around lightly, but there’s no denying that Mark Morris’s “L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato” is thrillingly that. Choreographed in 1988, when Mr. Morris was the director of dance at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, this production, at long last, has been preserved on film by “Great Performances” and can be seen on PBS on Friday night. (Check local listings.)
Read Full Article

Published in The New York Times

Kaleidoscope of Introspection, Joy and Pastoral Tranquility

Gia Kourlas for The New York Times

The brazen beauty of the ensemble sections is another kind of irresistible, especially during the walking dance, which knits simple steps into kaleidoscopic patterns, and during the work’s enchanting finale, in which dancers run toward the edge of the stage and splinter off before forming three circles. In the center are three women, a flashback to an early scene featuring the Three Graces; as the stage pulsates with swirling bodies, it is this center where “the hidden soul of harmony” lies. “L’Allegro” is Mr. Morris unfiltered.

Read Full Article

Published in Bachtrack

Joy and serenity flow from Mark Morris Dance Group in Toronto’s Sony Centre at Luminato

Stanley Fefferman for Bachtrack

As Handel made music of John Milton’s poems L’Allegro and il Penseroso , Mark Morris made Handel’s music dance.

Read Full Article

Published in The Globe and Mail

Luminato Notebook: What happens when titans of opera and dance collide?

Michael Posner for The Globe and Mail

A too-sparse crowd – less than 100 people – drifts into Cinema 3 at TIFF to hear a conversation between American choreographer Mark Morris (here with one of his landmark works, L’Allegro, Il Penseroso ed il Moderato) and Gerard Mortier (director of the Madrid opera, Teatro Real.)

Read Full Article

Published in NOW Magazine

Handel with care

Kathleen Smith for NOW Magazine

Mark Morris's classic finally makes its Canadian premiere

Read Full Article

Published in The New York Times

Mark Morris Interprets Handel

Anna Kisselgoff for The New York Times
''L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato,'' a glorious outpouring of dance invention and humanistic imagery to the Handel score of the same title, is the best thing Mark Morris has done in a relatively short career as a choreographer.
Read Full Article

The mission of the Mark Morris Dance Group is to develop, promote, and sustain dance, music, and opera productions by Mark Morris and to serve as a cultural resource to engage and enrich the community. Propelled by Core Values of community, access, excellence, and creativity, MMDG is committed to ongoing work on inclusion, equity, and diversity to ensure its programs are welcoming and accessible to all. See our Commitment to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access.

Dance Group

Dance Center

More

MMDG is a member of Dance/USA and the Downtown Brooklyn Arts Alliance.

© 2024 Mark Morris Dance Group - All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy