Libretto of the 1895 production, as translated by Prof. Roland John Wiley. The unhappy girl, having embraced Siegfried for the last time, runs to the cliff to throw herself from its height. She expresses her thanks to him and explains that she, Princess Odette, and the young girls subject to her are the unhappy victims of a wicked genie who bewitched them. The dawn’s light brightens. Maria Skorsiuk He himself will select the one that please him most. Night. Classical ballet is a mixture of the French style of Romantic ballet, the techniques developed in Italy in the late 19th century, and Russian teaching. 15 Valse des Fiancées Following his graduation from the Saint Petersburg Conservatoire in 1865, Tchaikovsky moved to Moscow where he was given his first employment as a teacher in Russia’s second conservatoire by Nikolai Rubenstein. Without consulting Tchaikovsky, she travelled to Saint Petersburg to ask Petipa to create a new pas de deux for her in the third act and Petipa agreed. Benno persuades him that a concern for the future does not make for a very agreeable present. Death out of love for Odette is his destruction. Tchaikovsky quickly composed the new pas de deux and when hearing the finished music, Sobeschanskaya was so pleased that she asked Tchaikovsky to compose a new variation for her, which he did. Of course, this was not the ballet which is given on stages now, but a children’s one-act short ballet, although the principal theme – ‘The Song of the Swans’ – was then the same as now. The original Variation of Prince Siegfried was choreographed to the Tempo di valse piece that Tchaikovsky originally composed for this pas de deux. A fan of ballet, Tchaikovsky was very excited by the commission and quickly began work on the composition. A few months after the première of Stella, he began work on Swan Lake. Prince Siegfried falls in love with Odette and swears to marry her, but is tricked into infidelity by the demon Von Rothbart, who is working with the evil stepmother, and his daughter Odile. To the question: who is the bride? Siegfried, struck by her beauty, forbids his comrades to shoot. No. Photo by Alexander Iziliaev. He began his dance training at age seven, studying with his father Jean Petipa, the French dancer and teacher. No. Tchaikovsky was delighted at the prospect of his first ballet being restaged by Petipa, of whom he held the greatest respect, proclaiming that “never with anyone but Petipa would I produce ballets.” However, just when plans to recreate Swan Lake were beginning to come into fruition, Tchaikovsky died on the 6th November [O.S. Alexander Gorsky notated the Variation of Prince Siegfried in 1899, though it is not known for sure if this is the same variation he danced in the 1895 première. The 1895 Petipa/Ivanov/Drigo edition of Swan Lake was notated in the method of Stepanov Choreographic Notation in or around 1901, and completed between April 1906 and April 1907, documenting a performance of the work with the Ballerina Vera Trefilova as Odette/Odile. Siegfried gives a sign for the resumption of the festivities. Waltz of the Prospective Fiancées (val’s nevest). He seems to have begun work on the orchestration between October and December and finally, the score was finished in April 1876. Siegfried still promises that no magic will take Odette away from him. Odette, at the sight of her beloved, forgets her sorrow and both give themselves to the joy of meeting. The composer had created two important ballet scores - The Sleeping Beauty (1890) and The Nutcracker (1892) – and plans to bring Swan Lake to the Mariinsky had existed for a while. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Vera Ivanova Originally, the Bolshoi Theatre’s Prima Ballerina Anna Sobeschanskaya was cast as Odette/Odile, but she was withdrawn from the première and was given the role in the ballet’s fourth performance instead, though the reason for this change in the casting is unclear. It is known that Reisinger requested a Russian Dance, but any other details he have asked for remain unknown. If she marries, her stepmother’s evil intentions will be thwarted. He is searching for Odette in order to fall at her feet and beg forgiveness for his unintended betrayal. Mlle. No. The name for the Prince in Tchaikovsky’s new ballet may have been taken from Wagner’s hero Siegfried in Der Ring, just like the name Benno was probably taken from Musäus’s fairy tale. 15th January] 1895 starring Pierina Legnani as Odette/Odile and Pavel Gerdt as Prince Siegfried. Tchaikovsky (p. 26). Her friends try in vain to console her. Costumes by Evgeni Ponomarev, World Première A story of devotion, infatuation, heartbreak, and forgiveness, SWAN LAKE features Marius Petipa’s original choreography and breathtaking corps de ballet sequences, set to Peter Tchaikovsky’s sweeping score. My sister participated; she was six. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Olga Preobrazhenskaya In a burst of despair the unhappy Prince flees. A moonlit night. It wasn’t until after Tchaikovsky’s death that French choreographer, Marius Petipa, revived the iconic ballet. Reaction to Hansen’s first revival of Swan Lake was better than that to Reisinger’s production, with one critic writing: New dances and very effective groups promise new success for this ballet, already produced on our stage. Movies. According to Alexander Shiryaev, Legnani performed “arabesque fouettés”, as he called them, meaning she performed them en dedans, rather than en dehors as they are performed today. One more farewell dance and it is time to disperse. A band of white swans swims around the lake. 3 Scène Having noticed the swans they prepare to fire at them, but the swans swim away. The Prince enters and is also taking aim, but at this moment the ruins are illuminated by a magic light and Odette appears, pleading for mercy. The unhappy girl answers that this is impossible because at that time she can only fly around the castle in the form of a swan. Nearly all major ballet companies dance Petipa's iconic ballets, which reflect his prolific creative output. 1 Scène première et entrée du Prince Siegfried, No. Subsequent performances and revivals Having left behind the drunken Wolfgang, Siegfried and the young men depart. It is unclear why Reisinger was chosen as choreographer for the new ballet; it is possible that perhaps Valts recommended him, but the true reason remains a mystery. Siegfried finds them all delightful, but does not see any to whom he could swear eternal love. His sister Anna, who would have been seven years old in 1871 and performed in the little ballet, wrote this account: He [Tchaikovsky] very much loved to produce all manner of house performances. At the right, on the shore, the ruin of a chapel. My Uncle Modeste Ilyich performed the role of the prince. According to Soviet historian Yuri Slonimsky, the ballet’s libretto was inspired by the fairy tale Der geraubte Schleier (The Stolen Veil) by German writer Johann Karl August Musäus, which tells of the hermit Benno and the Margrave Fridbert, who each fall in love with two princesses, Zoe and Callisto, both of whom turn into swans and live at a lake of swans on an island ruled by an evil ruler. Introduction Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press. Much less information is known about this second revival than the first, but one detail that is known is that in its last two performances, an interpolation of national dances entitled La Cosmopolitana, which was not set to Tchaikovsky’s music, was added to the third act. All is ended, the evil genie triumphed and there is no deliverance for the unfortunate Odette: she is condemned to be the slave of the evil spells forever. According to Karl Valts, it was due to a scandal involving Sobeschanskaya and a government official. Martine Kahane. Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa was born in Marseille, France on the 11th March 1818. After composer’s (Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky) death, Lev Ivanov and Marius Petipa staged a new version of this ballet in the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg in 1895. However, another theory says that Sobeschanskaya withdrew herself from the première because she found the new ballet very unsatisfactory and only wished to dance choreography by Petipa, but at the time, he was unavailable to provide anything for her. At this moment an owl flies in, and having transformed itself into the evil genie appears in the ruins; having listened to the conversation, it disappears. However, Tchaikovsky died on 6 November 1893, just when plans to revive Swan Lake were beginning to come to fruition. Dances of the peasants. 10 Scène dansante et entrée d’Odette Prince Siegfried enters, accompanied by Wolfgang. Von Rothbart enters with his daughter Odile. When Prince Siegfried discovers the lake, he falls in love with Odette and there is at last hope that the spell will be broken. Marius Petipa, Writer: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. Vsevolozhsky’s reforms on the Imperial Theatres were a blessing for the Saint Petersburg theatres, especially for Petipa, but for those in Moscow, the reforms were much more drastic. Interpolation – Valse des cygnes blanche et noir (orch. Swan Lake (Blair) Swan Lake (McKenzie) Venetian Carnival ; Biography. Ballet choreographer Marius Petipa created the versions of Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake that we know today.In his informative documentary, Denis Sneguirev (The Bolshoi Theatre, A Renaissance) traces Petipa's path from dancer to choreographer. A year later, on the 30th November 1911, Sergei Diaghilev staged a two-act production of Swan Lake for the Ballets Russes at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, with Matilda Kschessinskaya as Odette/Odile and Vaslav Nijinsky as Prince Siegfried. In 1947, Sergeyev and Inglesby staged the full length ballet with the former’s notation scores for International Ballet and the production premièred in March 1947 at the Adelphi Theatre, London. Ultimately, the first production of Swan Lake was deemed a failure, which left Tchaikovsky distraught. Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake [Blu-ray] Boris Gruzin (Actor), Marius Petipa (Actor), Ross MacGibbon (Director) Swan Lake by Nureyev after Petipa, music by Tchaikovsky Amandine Albisson, Mathieu Ganio, François Alu – Corps de Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris About Swan Lake returns to the stage of the Opéra national de Paris with Prima Ballerina Amandine Albisson in the role of Odette/Odile. He breaks his bow and throws it away in indignation. Lohengrin uses the image of a swan as a symbol of purity and innocence and also uses an evil sorceress, Ortrud, who plots to use the heroine Elsa to be the undoing of the hero Lohengrin, a possible parallel to Odette’s evil stepmother. The ballet company did not match the high level status of its Saint Petersburg counterpart, partly due to a lack of financial assistance, but overall because it lacked artistic directorship and had been without a resident Ballet Master for some years. Peter Ilich in his later, large composition used the theme of the children’s ballet of 1871 – Memoirs about P.I. Ivanov’s original Pas de deux à trois scheme was used in early to mid 20th century productions, with one example being several of Dame Ninette De Valois’s productions for the Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet. It became the ballet’s Grand Pas de deux when Petipa transferred it to Act 2 and Drigo extensively revised the music, adding a new ending to the Grand Adagio and an interpolation from Tchaikovsky’s Opus 72 for Piano as the Variation of Odile. Benno enters with several friends from the Prince’s retinue. But tomorrow is the day when a whole throng of beautiful girls will come to his mother’s court, and he will be obliged to choose one of them for his bride. First Tableau. Swans in the form of girls anxiously await Odette’s return. Tchaikovsky joined this club and it paved the way for some of his biggest successes, for it was within this club that he met Alexander Ostrovsky, with whom he collaborated on his opera The Voyevoda and the play The Snow Maiden. A rocky, wild place. Music by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky The dances begin anew. Siegfried says that he will be married only when she, Odette, appears at the ball. The very first performance of the SWAN LAKE in Julius Reisinger’s choreography took place in Moscow in 1877 and it was not a great success. Many Saint Petersburg dancers continued a long practice of guest appearing in Moscow. Wolfgang, completely drunk, makes everybody laugh at his participation in the dances. The dances are stopped, servants hurry to remove the tables and to conceal the traces of festivity. A deserted place near the swan lake. 4th March [O.S. The Grand Pas de deux was originally composed by Tchaikovsky as a Pas de deux for Two Merry Makers in Act 1. A memorial concert in St. Petersburg the next year included a revival of Swan Lake Act II, the first lakeside scene, with new choreography by Lev Ivanov, ballet master Marius Petipa’s assistant. Swan Lake (Martins) Music Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky. Having decided to let the interrupted party continue, the Princess departs. Dolgorukov made a complaint against the ballerina, claiming he had presented her with gifts from his family jewel chest. Contrary to popular belief, the decision by Ivanov to include Benno in the pas d’action had nothing to do with Pavel Gerdt’s age (he was 50 years old at the time), for even at 50, Gerdt was still a strong and popular partner, who could easily partner the women without assistance from younger dancers. Three years after Swan Lake was withdrawn from the Moscow repertoire, Vsevolozhsky expressed interest in reviving one act of the ballet for the 1886-87 season in Saint Petersburg. Trumpets announce the arrival of new guests. The entrance of the Princess and Siegfried in the vanguard of the court. – Tchaikovsky in a letter to his brother, Modeste, dated 5th October 1870. Although Plisetskaya performed fouettés in other ballets, she rarely performed the 32 fouettés in Swan Lake. Odette consoles the young Prince. The destroyer of the evil genie will come only at that moment when some infatuated man sacrifices himself out of love for Odette. A third possible source is linked to Tchaikovsky himself – the libretto of Swan Lake could be an amalgamation of several of his earlier works. 8 Départ du Prince Siegfried et des chasseurs, No. The principal roles of Prince Siegfried and Odette/Odile were given to the Bolshoi Theatre’s Premier Danseur Victor Gillert and the ballerina Polina (Pelagaya) Karpakova, the ballet’s first performance was held as a benefit for Karpakova. A younger contemporary and colleague of Marius Petipa, he choreographed The Nutcracker and much of Swan Lake.. Ivanov was born in Moscow and began training at an early age. It was not clear when the so-called “Black Swan tradition” started, but it is believed to have started around the 1930s, early 1940s, with many historians pointing to a 1941 staging of the second act performed by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. Siegfried vows to die with her. Tchaikovsky was commissioned to compose Swan Lake in 1875 by a ranking theatre official and former artistic manager of the Bolshoi Theatre Vladimir Begichev, who determined the repertoire of the company. The Petipa/Ivanov recreation of Swan Lake was premièred on the 27th January [O.S. Another early work that could have served as inspiration for Swan Lake was an impromptu house ballet called The Lake of Swans that he composed in 1871, especially for the children of his sister Alexandra. Swan Lake in the 20th Century The young men are not yet asleep. The main antagonist is Odette’s evil stepmother, a sorceress who is trying to kill her, but she is protected by a magical crown she wears that was given to her by her maternal grandfather. At the time, the only part of Swan Lake that was known in the West was the famous second scene and in an effort to have the audience distinguish Odile from the well-known Odette, Fedorova-Fokine had Toumanova dance Odile in a black costume and almost by accident, Odile began to be referred to as “the Black Swan”. The only solution to this issue, therefore, was to compose new music for the existing choreography and Tchaikovsky took it upon himself to resolve the problem in this manner. This was not the first time Petipa had granted such a request for Sobeschanskaya, for she had turned to him for new choreography before two years earlier when she had danced in Reisinger’s ballet Ariadne. The heroine Odette is the daughter of a good fairy and a knight. Siegfried is astonished by her likeness to Odette and greets her enthusiastically. Eventually, however, this pas de deux disappeared from the Moscow repertoire and was not published with the full Swan Lake score. Von Rothbart triumphantly takes the hand of his daughter and gives it to the young man, who in the presence of everyone pronounces a vow of eternal love. During a tour of the United States with the Bolshoi Ballet, she was slighted by the press when they suggested that she could not do them, so in her next performance of Swan Lake, Plisetskaya took revenge and executed a faultless 32 fouetté sequence. 72 for Piano – No. Sergei Litavkin, Act 3 His parents were Jean Antoine Petipa (1787-1855), a renowned Ballet Master and teacher, and Victorine Grasseau-Maurel (1794-1860), a tragic actress and drama teacher, both of whom were employed in Marseille at the time. From 1861 to 1864, the great Italian Ballet Master Carlo Blasis served as Ballet Master at the Imperial Bolshoi Theatre, where he produced three ballets, several separate pas and wrote a book. 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