Voices of Spring

Voices of Spring is a short pas de deux ballet by Sir Frederick Ashton, set to the music of the Frühlingsstimmen waltz by Johann Strauss II. It was originally written to be included as a divertissement in a 1977–78 production of Strauss's operetta Die Fledermaus by the Royal Opera, alongside an adaptation of the Explosions-Polka, and first performed as an independent piece by the Royal Ballet in late 1978. Background The Royal Opera performed Die Fledermaus for New Year's Eve 1977; this was the company premiere of the work, produced by Leopold Lindtberg and featuring, among others, Hermann Prey as Eisenstein and Kiri Te Kanawa as Rosalinde. The performance was broadcast live in Britain on BBC 2 and BBC Radio 3, and was relayed to the United States where it was repeated on television later in the day. The production contained two additional Strauss pieces, choreographed by Ashton as ballets: the Frühlingsstimmen waltz and the Explosions-Polka. These appeared in Act II of the operetta, part of a ball scene. The Explosions-Polka was performed by an ensemble cast, while the Frühlingsstimmen waltz, a pas de deux was performed by Merle Park and Wayne Eagling. In September 1978, the Frühlingsstimmen waltz dance was premiered as an independent piece, under its English name Voices of Spring, at the Ambassador Auditorium in Los Angeles.