Passions of a violent prince

The true story of the tragic suicide pact between Crown Prince Rudolf, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his 17-year-old mistress, Mary Vetsera, has been the inspiration for several films and television dramas. Hollywood romanticised what was really rather a sordid tale but, at the Royal Opera House, Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s dark narrative ballet Mayerling probably comes a lot nearer to the truth. In it, the events of 1889 are brought to thrilling life as we watch the demise of the gun-fixated, drug-taking prince, who was riddled with syphilis, assaulted his wife on their wedding night and had an unhealthy obsession with death.

Strong stuff, you might think and, indeed, advance publicity for the Royal Ballet’s production warns that it is not suitable for children under 12. But then, MacMillan (who passed away backstage 25 years ago during a performance of Mayerling) was always at his finest creating erotic, convoluted pas de deux, and these are the highlight of this ballet. He specialised in probing the darkest corners of the psyche and, in Prince Rudolf, he created what has to be the juiciest role for a man in the entire ballet repertoire. It not only requires a sure technique but also the ability to portray convincingly a psychologically tormented soul hurtling towards self-destruction. Unusually for ballet, the man carries the entire piece, and is rarely off the stage in what is a compelling, marathon dance-drama.

The audience can tell from the start that it is not going to end well: in a prologue, a body is secretly buried in the dead of night. By the end we know that this is Mary Vetsera, fully dressed and with a broom handle rammed down the back of her dress to keep her corpse upright in a bizarre attempt to cover up the scandal.

At the performance I saw, Crown Prince Rudolf was danced with ferocious intensity by Steven McRae, whose portrayal of the Prince’s degeneration was heart-rending. As Mary Vetsera, Sarah Lamb was all youth and lightness in the early scenes, subtly hinting at a luscious sexuality simmering just below the surface. It came to the fore in her pas de deux with McRae — surely the most sexually charged dancing seen on the Covent Garden stage for a long time.

Praise, too, for Kristen McNally as Rudolf’s mother, the ice-cool Empress Elisabeth, and to Hikaru Kobayashi as the manipulative Countess Larisch, who plays a key role in the tragedy.