★★★★
The Telegraph
★★★★
The Times
★★★★
The Stage
★★★★
Whatsonstage
★★★★
EVENING STANDARD
"...Sun Keting’s brassy, filmic orchestration..."
Financial Times
“…the sound that emerges from the orchestra is rich, strange and beguiling…”
"…composer Sun Keting leads an orchestra through astonishing renditions and reinterpretations of classic Sabbath tracks..."
Louder Sound
"…Act 2’s (Sun Keting) powerful orchestral arrangement of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973). The story is told clearly, underpinned by sombre and melancholic orchestral music that successfully adds a sense of nostalgia."
The Conversation
…with Sun Keting’s delicate orchestration of some lesser-known Black Sabbath tracks…and whilst the Birmingham voices fill the theatre, dancers fill the stage, in pairs, in ensembles, animating the music, floating on clouds of dry ice, offering a physical counterpoint to the band’s story that takes the breath away..
The Reviewshub
Black Sabbath – The Ballet
Carlos Acosta is turning up the volume on Birmingham’s musical legacy. Original Heavy Metal heroes, Black Sabbath, provide the soundtrack for Black Sabbath - The Ballet.
Credits
Original Music
Black Sabbath
Lead Composer, Project Music Supervisor, Conductor
Composer / Sound Designer
Composer
Lead Choreographer
Choreographer
Choreographer
Designer
Lighting Designer
Dramaturg
Metal Curator
Black Sabbath forged their unique sound in Birmingham Royal Ballet’s home city. In Black Sabbath – The Balletexpect a spectacular theatrical evening featuring thrilling dance alongside full orchestrations of legendary Black Sabbath tracks such as Paranoid and Iron Man, as well as new orchestral works inspired by their music - all performed live by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia.
In the second of three Birmingham-focussed commissions, Carlos Acosta was drawn to both the band’s work and its musical legacy as the originators of Heavy Metal. This full-evening ballet promises to be a unique undertaking with three composers and three choreographers, led by renowned Choreographer Pontus Lidberg (whose work has been performed by the Swedish Royal Ballet and the Paris Opera Ballet) and Composer Chris Austin (whose work includes orchestrating the White Stripes music for Wayne McGregor’s Chroma) working alongside award-winning writer Richard Thomas (Jerry Springer, The Opera) to create an extraordinary metal symphony over three acts. Black Sabbath themselves have been closely involved in developing this unique collaboration.
Sparks will undoubtedly fly in this intriguing new response to Black Sabbath’s music and legacy – the first true heavy metal ballet experience.