In his rendering of the dreamiest, most sumptuous of ballets, perhaps the ballet par excellence, Nureyev maintained the incredible purity of Petipa's original choreography, just as he had learned it at the Kirov, but infused it with a fresh sense of theatrical drama and inner strength through remarkable variations and an articulated choreographic composition that reveals all of the characters' psychological nuances. Indeed, it was to La Scala in 1966 that Nureyev entrusted the debut of "his" Sleeping Beauty, and now, twelve years after its last performance, his masterpiece returns to the stage with the magnificent sets created by Oscar winner Franca Squarciapino at La Scala in 1993, and Felix Korobov conducting the extraordinary score by Tchaikovsky.