TODAY 10 YEARS AGO, Christian Spuck's Das Fräulein von S. premiered. With this last story ballet as resident choreographer of the Stuttgart Ballet, Spuck dedicated himself to E.T.A. Hoffmann's novella Das Fräulein von Scuderi. To music by Robert Schumann, Philip Glass, Michael Torke and Martin Donner, the choreographer tells the story of the eponymous poetess and a series of unsolved murders and mysterious jewel robberies in Louis XIV's Paris. These bring young Olivier behind bars. His protestations of innocence are heard by the poetess de Scuderi, who intercedes on his behalf with Louis XIV, so that Olivier is released and allowed to marry his beloved. Six years after his ballet Der Sandmann, Spuck took on a literary theme by the German Romantic writer E.T.A. Hoffmann for the second time and created a “murder-mystery ballet” with a special cast. Not only did the former ballerina and director of the Stuttgart Ballet Marcia Haydée embody the Fräulein von Scuderi at the premiere, but Mireille Mossé, a great French actress, was also on stage as narrator. With Das Fräulein von S., Spuck bid farewell to the Stuttgart Ballet after a total of 17 years. He then went on to take over the direction of Ballett Zürich. From the 2023/24 season, he will direct the Staatsballett Berlin.

Photo: Christian Spuck with Mireille Mossé during rehearsals of Das Fräulein von S. in 2012, © Stuttgart Ballet