the Lake of the swans (in Russian ЛебединоеОзеро - Lebedinoe ozero ) is a Ballet in four acts, created with the Théâtre Bolchoï of Moscow the March 4th 1877 (February 20th old style) under the direction of Semen Riabov and choreography by Julius Reisinger. The music is of Tchaïkovski (opus 20) and the booklet, of Vladimir Begichev starting from an old German legend. Unfortunately, at the time, the public, little accustomed to a “symphonic” music so for the ballets, did not include/understand the richness of the partition. This problem, addition with choreography and the direction more than poor of Julius Reisigner, made that the first representations were failures. As had asked it the Théâtre Mariinsky of Saint-Pétersbourg, Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov modified the choreography of the ballet and Riccardo Drigo, leader of the Mariinsky Theater, modified the partition of it on certain points, and this setting in scene was presented for the first time the January 15th 1895. Finally the lake of the swans accepted deserved success. Although there are several versions, this one is played by the companies of ballet.
Currently, the Lake of the swans is one of the most famous ballets. He is played regularly in the whole world. He gave place to many versions published in DVD.
Orchestration
The intrigue
The young prince Siegfried festival his majority. His/her mother announces to him that the next day, during a great ball for its birthday, it will have to choose a wife. Upset to be able to choose this one by love, it goes during the night in the forest. At this point in time he sees passing a cloud of swans. Once the parvenu swans close to a lake, it shoulders its crossbow, being on the point of drawing, but it stops at once; in front of him a beautiful woman vêtue is held of white feathers of swan. Enamourés, they dance and Siegfried learns that the young woman is in fact the Odette princess. A terrible wizard, Von Rothbart, captured it and a fate threw to him; the day, it would be transformed into swan and the night, it would become again woman. Other young women and young girls appear and join Odette, close to the Lake to the Swans, lake formed by the tears of his/her parents when it was removed by Von Rothbart. Having learned its history, prince Siegfried, extremely in love with it, then feels much pity for it. It starts to declare its love to him - what makes the fate increasingly impotent. Von Rothbart appears. Siegfried threatens to kill it but Odette intervenes; if Von Rothbart dies before the fate is not broken, the fate will be irreversible. The only means of breaking the fate is that the prince marries Odette.
The following day, with the ball, following the promised in marriage candidates, occurs the Rothbart wizard, with his Odile daughter, vêtue of black (the black swan), which is the double of Odette. Misused by the resemblance, Siegfried dances with it, its love declares to him and announces at the court that it hopes to marry it. At the time when will be celebrated the weddings, the true Odette appears. Horrified and conscious of its mistake, Siegfried runs towards the lake of the swans. The way in which Odette appears differs according to the various versions of the ballet; Odette arrives at the castle or Von Rothbart shows in Siegfried a vision of Odette.
There exist various ends:
- the true love of Odette and Siegfried overcomes Von Rothbart, the prince cuts a wing to him and he dies;
- Siegfried having declared its love with Odile, it condemns, without the knowledge, Odette to remain a swan for always. Realizing that they are its last moments as human, it commits suicide while being thrown in water of the lake. The prince also throws him in the lake. This act of love and sacrifice destroys Von Rothbart and its capacities and the lovers rise with the paradise in an apotheosis;
- Siegfried runs to the lake and begs Odette to forgive him. It takes it in its arms but she dies. Water of the lake goes up and noyent them;
- Siegfried having declared its love with Odile, it condemns, without the knowledge, Odette to remain a swan for always. Odette flies away in the shape of a swan and Siegfried is abandoned in sorrow and the pain when the curtain falls.
Birth of the Lake of the Swans
According to the account of the nephew, Yuri Lvovich Davydov, and of the niece, Anna Meck-Davydov, of Tchaïkovsky, we know that this one had already created before a small ballet called the Lac of the Swans on their premises in 1871. Tchaïkovsky was accustomed to joining together small works of which it created the music and the scenario in a representation. According to its nephew, the Song of the Swans , the famous topic of the Lake of the Swans , had been made up for this purpose. At that time, Tchaïkovsky and Vladimir Begichev belonged to an artistic group of Moscow called the Salon of Shihovskaya and it would seem that the idea of the Lac of the Swans is appeared at a meeting of the members of the group. The scenario of the Lac of the Swans is a typical stereotype of the ballet of the XIXe century.
First representation
Tchaïkovski composed the music of the ballet between August 1875 and April 1876. The Russian Danse of act III was added in February 1877 and the Pas both of act III in April 1877. In 1875, Begichev required the partition of the Lac of the swans of Tchaïkovski for a rather modest price of 800 Rouble S, and soon Begichev started to choose the artists who would take part in the creation of the ballet. The choreographer was Czechoslovakian the Julius Reisinger (1827-1892) which was then engaged as a ballet master to the Théâtre Bolchoï since 1873. The majority of preceding works of Julius Reisinger, inter alia Kashchei (1873) and Stella (1875), had been very criticized and judged of a poor quality. Its only true success was a ballet on Cendrillon called the Slipper of glass , which it had composed on its arrival with the Bolchoï Theater.
The original partition of Tchaïkovski
- Introduction: Moderato assai, Allegro not troppo
Act I
-
1. Scene: Allegro guisto
- 2. Waltz: Tempo di waltz
- 3. Scene: Allegro moderato
- 4. Not three
- 5. Not both (This step of two became the Pas both of the Black Swan following the modification of the ballet)
- 6. No the action: Andantino quasi moderato, allegro
- 7. Subject (Introduction of the Dance of the Cuts)
- 8. Dance of the Cuts: Tempo di polacca
- 9. Finale: Subject, andante
Act II
- 10. Scene: Moderato
- 11. Scene: Allegro moderato, moderato, mllegro vivo
- 12. Scene: Allegro, moderato assai quasi andante
- 13. Dances of the Swans
- 14. Scene: Moderato
Act III
- 15. Scene: Go, allegro giusto
- 16. Ballabile, Dance of the Corps de ballet and the Dwarves: Moderato assai, allegro vivo
- 17. Entry of the Guests and waltz: Allegro, tempo di waltz
- 18. Scene: Allegro, allegro giusto
- 19. Great Step of six
- Appendix I. Not of two for Miss. Anna Sobeshchanskaya starting from the original piece of Leon Minkus
- 20. Dance Hungarian: Czardas, moderato assai, allegro moderato, long-lived
- Appendix II. Dance Russian for Mrs. Pelagia Karpakova: Moderato, andante simplice, allegro vivo, presto
- 21. Spanish dance: Allegro not troppo, tempo di bolero
- 22. Neapolitan/Venetian dance: Allegro moderato, andantino quasi moderato, presto
- 23. Mazurka: Tempo di mazurka
- 24. Scene: Allegro, tempo di waltz, allegro vivo
Act IV
- 25. Interval: Moderato
- 26. Scene: Allegro not troppo
- 27. Dance of the Small Swans: Moderato
- 28. Scene: Allegro agitato, molto meno mosso, long-lived allegro
- 29. Final scene: Andante, allegro, went breve, moderato E maestoso, moderato
The edition of 1895 by Petipa, Ivanov and Drigo
After the death of Tchaïkovski (1893), a re-examined version of the ballet was worked out by the brother of the type-setter, Modest. Choreography was modified by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov and the partition, by very recognized Leader Riccardo Drigo of the Mariinsky Theater. Thus the ballet which had four acts in the beginning had nothing any more but three of them.Music
Modifications
It is the partition taken again by Drigo in 1895, compared to that of Tchaïkovski in 1877, which is most used for the representations of the ballet. But the majority of the companies of ballet prefer to establish their own version of the partition, or a happy medium between the partition of 1877 and that of 1895… but one is always based on that of Drigo.It is important to specify that the brother of Tchaïkovski, Modeste, preferred the partition of Drigo. Act I became act I, scene 1; act II became act I scene 2; act III became act II and act IV became act III.
The waltz of act I was called pastoral waltz or village waltz . The large one coded act II was lengthened. The ballabile of act III was used by the ballet master Konstantin Sergeyev in its version of 1951 for Mariinsky like dances of court. The Russian dance is used in the setting in scene was used of today and even by a company of ballet of Seattle like Arab dance.
The partition of Drigo
- Introduction
Act I, scene 1
(originally act I)-
1. Scene
- 4. Not Three
- 3 coded. Scene
- 2. Pastoral waltz
- 6. No the action
- 7. Introduction to the Dance with the rattling of glasses (Prone)
- 8. Dance with the rattling of glasses
- 9. Finale
Act I, scene 2
(originally act II)- 14. Introduction (14. used as introduction)
- 10. Scene, entry of Odette
- 11. Dancing scene
- 12. Entry of the Swans
- 13. Great step of the Swans
- 14. Finale
Act II
(originally act III)- 15. Go
-
16. Ballabile, dance of the Corps de ballet and Nains - 17. Waltz of Been engaged the
- 18. Scene, entry of Odile
-
19. Great No six -
Appendice I. Not of two for Miss. Anna Sobeshchanskaya (or the Not of two of Tchaïkovski ) -
Appendice II. Dance Russian for Mrs. Pelagia Karpakova - Large Divertissment
- 5. Great action No ( Not of two of the Black Swan , originally Not of two of act I)
-
24 Coded. Scene (begun again waltz 17)
Act III
(originally act IV)- 25. Interval
-
26. Scène -
27. Dance of Small Cygnes - Interpolation no.2 : Waltz of the Swans (or Waltz for the White and Black Swans , orchestrated by Drigo starting from the Opus 72 for Piano, 11. , Waltz Bluette of Tchaïkovski)
- 28. Scene, left 1 (continuous after the interpolation)
- Interpolation no.3 : Dancing Scene (orchestrated by Drigo starting from the Opus 72 for Piano, 15. , A poco di Chopin of Tchaïkovski)
- 28. Scene, left 2 (the Musique of the Storm was removed)
- 29. Final scene
Choreography
In its Memories , Marius Petipa written: “ the Lake of the swans was assembled for the first time at Moscow without much repercussion. Hardly informed of the mécomptes of the ballet, I went in the director Mariinsky and say to him that it was impossible for me to admit that the music of Tchaïkovski was bad. To my direction, the problems of work could come only from the setting in scene and Chorégraphie. I asked him to authorize me to use with my way the subject of Tchaïkovski to assemble the ballet to Pétersbourg. Mr. Vsevolojski accepted of enthusiasm and we put ourselves in contact with the Compositeur. Naturally, the Lake of the swans made a triumph on the scene pétersbourgeoise. Tchaïkovski, charmed, repeated with which wanted to hear it that he would never write ballet for someone else but Petipa”.In 1893, the Italian ballerina Pierina Legnani, excellent dancer, obtained the role of Odette. At the time of a representation, during the “great step” of Act III, Legnani made, while improvising, thirty-two whipped while turning and was the first ballerina to have achieved such an exploit. The impressed public asked for a (a) , and she repeated what she had just done, but this time with twenty-eight whipped while turning. According to the press, the ballerina “did not move of an inch of the place where it had started” its whipped. Whipped while turning remained in choreography since then of the Lac of the Swans .
Program ballet
- Introduction: Moderato assai - Allegro not troppo - Tempo I
Act I
- 1. Scene: Allegro guisto
- 2. Waltz: Tempo di waltz
- 3. Scene: Allegro moderato
- 4. Not three
- 5. Not both
- 6. No the action: Andantino quasi moderato - Allegro
- 7. Subject
- 8. Dance of the cuts: Tempo di polacca
- 9. Finale: Subject: Andante
Act II
- 10. Scene: Moderato
- 11. Scene: Allegro moderato - Moderato - Allegro vivo
- 12. Scene: Allegro - Moderato assai quasi andante
- 13. Dances of the swans
- 14. Scene: Moderato
Act III
- 15. Allegro giusto
- 16. Dances of the corps de ballet and the dwarves: Moderato assai - Allegro vivo
- 17. Scene. Exit of the guests and waltz: Allegro - Tempo di waltz
- 18. Scene: Allegro - Allegro giusto
- 19. Not six. Intrada: Moderato assai
- 20. Dance Hungarian. Czardas: Moderato assai - Allegro moderato - Long-lived
- Appendix: Dance Russian: Moderato - Andante simplice - Allegro vivo - Presto
- 21. Spanish dance: Allegro not troppo (Tempo di bolero)
- 22. Neapolitan dance: Allegro moderato - Andantino quasi moderato - Presto
- 23. Mazurka: Tempo di mazurka
- 24. Scene: Allegro - Waltz - Allegro vivo
Act IV
- 25. Interval: Moderato
- 26. Scene: Allegro not troppo
- 27. Dances of the small swans: Moderato
- 28. Scene: Allegro agitato - Molto meno mosso - long-lived Allegro
- 29. Final scene: Andante - Allegro agitato - Went breve. Moderato E maestoso - Moderato
The continuation
Tchaïkovski wished to make a continuation of the Lac of the Swans (COp 20a), but it never compiled it and the Jurgenson editions published after its death the continuation including/understanding:- Scene (Act II - No 10)
- Waltz (Act I - No 2)
- Dance of the Small Swans (Act II - No 13)
- Scene (Act II - No 13)
- Hungarian Dance (Act III - No 20)
- Scene (Act IV - No.28-29)
Other versions
See also: the Lake of the swans (versions DVD)
- 1877 : Julius Reisinger (Saint-Pétersbourg)
- 1880: Joseph Hansen (Saint-Pétersbourg)
- 1910: Michel Fokine (London)
- 1911: Michel Fokine and the Russian Ballets (London)
- 1932: De Basil (Monte Carlo)
- 1932: Agrippina Vaganova (Saint-Pétersbourg)
- 1936: Serge Lifar (Paris)
- 1940: Anton Dolin (New York)
- 1951: George Balanchine (New York)
- 1963: John Cranko (Stuttgart)
- 1964: Rudolf Noureev (Vienna)
- 1965: Alicia Alonso (Havana)
- 1969: Kenneth MacMillan (Berlin)
- 1969: Iouri Grigorovitch (Moscow)
- 1976: John Neumeier (Hamburg)
- 1981: Mikhaïl Barychnikov (Washington)
- 1993: Peter Schaufuss (San Francisco)
- 1995: Matthew Bourne (London)
Note
| Random links: | Maskinongé (municipality) | Leuilly-under-Coucy | Boisset (Haute-Loire) | Rhopalocères | Stick Harbor |