Classical Ballet Peter Tchaikovsky "Swan Lake" (Ballet in 3 Acts) Mikhailovsky Classical Ballet and Opera Theatre (established 1833)
Running time: 2 hours 50 minutes
Schedule for Peter Tchaikovsky "Swan Lake" (Ballet in 3 Acts) 2022
Composer: Peter Tchaikovsky Set Designer: Vyacheslav Okunev Choreography: Marius Petipa Choreography: Lev Ivanov Costume Designer: Irina Press
Orchestra: Mikhailovsky Symphony Orchestra
World premiere: 27 February 1877, Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, Russia
Premiere of this production: 14 June 1987
Choreography: Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov (1895)
Libretto - Vladimir Begichev, Vasily Geltzer
“Swan Lake”
It is difficult to understand
these days how it could have happened that the first show of the “Lake” in 1877,
in Moscow’s Bolshoi, was a flop, and that it took many years for the ballet to
achieve its worldwide cult status. The composer, Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky, never
lived to see the ultimate success of his creation.
The story begins in 1875, when Bolshoi commissions a ballet score
from the young but already famous composer. It was not yet customary practice
–despite Tchaikovsky fame and previous successes, which included four
symphonies, the now famous Piano Concerto and “Eugene Onegin” opera, the
Imperial Theatres of the time would normally employ the composers on Imperial
payroll, such as Cesare Pugni, Ludwig Minkus, and Riccardo Drigo. Keeping that
in mind, Tchaikovsky did not embark on the course of a revolution in the Russian
ballet, and studied the classic ballet scores assiduously, planning to produce a
score that would be in tune with the established tradition but at the same time
would sound new and interesting. The task of composition occupied him from May
1875 to April 1876. The story was a knightly fairy tale, and historians still
debate the literary origins –some opt for Heine, some for Musaeus, a German
fairy-tale writer, some for Russian folklore fairy tales, some even for Pushkin.
The first show took place on February 20, 1877, and was a flop.
The critics reviled the chief choreographer, Wentsel Reisinger, and were short
on praise for Polina (Pelageya) Karpakova, the first interpreter of the main
female part. The failure of the first show was detrimental for the immediate
reputation of the ballet itself, and for quite some time nobody dared to stage
it again.
The situation changed after Tchaikovsky’s death. In 1893, Mariinka
decided to revive the “Swan Lake”. A new version of the libretto and the music
was to be produced by Modest Tchaikovsky, the composer’s brother, Ivan
Vsevolzhsky, the director of the Imperial Theatres himself, and by Riccardo
Drigo. The latter used the original music as a source material for a completely
new score. The choreography was supervised by Marius Petipa and his pupil Lev
Ivanov. The tradition claims that while Petipa was the father of the unique
choreography of the new ballet, its truly Russian singing character is there
thanks to Ivanov. The lake and swan scenes, famous for their perfection, are
undoubtedly his alone. It was Ivanov who came up with the idea of enchanted
ladies with their criss-crossed arms and heads tilted to one side, which every
spectator immediately recognized for birds that sit with their wings folded. The
very magical world of the swan lake was created by Ivanov. Petipa’s are the
scenes of courtly dances and festivities and their intricate lace of waltzes and
various dances – Spanish, Hungarian, Polish. Petipa also created an antipode for
Ivanov’s White Queen of Swans –its black twin Odile, and its beautiful black
pas-de-deux of the second act.
It was this particular stage version that came to be admired as
the pinnacle of Russian ballet. This production, as none other, was the perfect
setting for many famous dancers to showcase their art. The Swan Lake is a unique
and perfect creation, and despite the changing musical and dancing fashions, the
performance of Odette and Odile parts is still considered a touchstone for the
mettle of any serious dancer. The White Swan is truly a symbol of Russian
Ballet, of its beauty and magnificence.
Synopsis
At his castle, Prince Siegfried is celebrating his twenty-first birthday with his friends. His mother arrives and reminds him that he must choose a bride from among the ladies invited to the ball the following day. When Siegfried’s mother leaves the party continues, but Siegfried stands apart overcome by a vague melancholy. He sees some white swans fly overhead and decides to leave his friends and go hunt them.
At the banks of a moonlit lake near the castle, a group of swan-maidens appears. The prince has already aimed his bow when the Swan Queen presents herself and tells Siegfried that she is the Princess Odette changed into a swan, like her companions, by the sorcerer Rothbart, a spell from which she can only be freed by one who will swear eternal love to her. Now deeply in love, Siegfried swears he loves Odette and invites her to the ball, then dawn breaks and the swan-maidens are all turned back into swans.
At the ball the prince dances with six young ladies who are presented to him. Then a stranger arrives, Baron Rothbart and his daughter Odile, the evil double of Odette. After looking at her for a while Siegfried decides that she is Odette, his beloved, dances with her, and publicly declares her his bride. Rothbart and his daughter leave in triumph. Then Siegfried sees the white spirit of Odette momentarily at the window and rushes to the lake.
At the lake, the swans dance sadly as they wait for Odette. When she arrives in tears she falls to the ground among her companions. Siegfried finds her and lifts her tenderly; she is dying. He takes her tiara and throws it into the lake, which rises to submerge both him and Odette. Their spirits fly upwards towards the sky above the lake, which is calm once again.
Photos
© Text 2010 Art and Culture Magazine "St Peterburg"
Schedule for Peter Tchaikovsky "Swan Lake" (Ballet in 3 Acts) 2022
Peter Tchaikovsky "Swan Lake" |
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