Robert Gottlieb (formerly of THE NEW YORKER) writes passionately about Suzanne Farrell’s revival of DON QUIXOTE in Washington in his latest column in the the New York Observer. Created for Ms. Farrell by Balanchine at the height of his discovery of her and her talents, its an ode to her genius as an artist.  Balanchine left it to Ms. Farrell in his will and this is its first revival.

“The important practical question raised by her production is whether such a large-scale, problematic work can become a permanent part of the Balanchine repertory. Certainly it will stay alive as long as Farrell has the opportunity to present it, and perhaps there are major companies—the Kirov, say—who might take it on. It’s even possible, I suppose, that Farrell and New York City Ballet might eventually accommodate each other. But is Don Quixote worth preserving? After all, other important Balanchine works have vanished—Cotillon, the full-length Le Baiser de la Fée, the early versions of Mozartiana, Balustrade, Bourrée Fantasque, The Seven Deadly Sins. ”

“None of these works, however, was as meaningful to him, or as revealing. The lesson we just learned in Washington is that although we didn’t know we’ve been missing it since it vanished almost 30 years ago, Don Quixote does still matter, both for its own sake and because of its unique place in the Balanchine canon. When you’re dealing with a supreme master—a Shakespeare, a Mozart—you need to be able to revisit his entire corpus of work. You need King Lear all the time, but every decade or so you also need Timon of Athens. Otherwise your understanding of a genius like Shakespeare––or Balanchine––is diminished, and so are you. “

As a lifelong fan of Balanchine and observer of Ms Farrell at the end of her dancing career, it continues to pain and puzzle as to why the current NYCB is without Ms. Farrell’s contributions.  Lucky Washington to have her.