Swan Lake

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Swan Lake (ru. Лебединое Озеро) is a ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky presented in either four Acts, four Scenes (primarily outside Russia and Eastern Europe) or three Acts, four Scenes (primarily in Russia and Eastern Europe), based on a libretto by Vladimir Begichev and (possibly) Vasily Geltser, fashioned from an ancient German legend, which tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. It was originally choreographed by Julius Reisinger to the music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (opus 20). First presented as The Lake of the Swans by the Ballet of the Moscow Imperial Bolshoi Theatre on February 20/March 4, 1877 (Julian/Gregorian calendar dates) in Moscow, Russia. Although the ballet is presented in many different versions, most ballet companies base their stagings both choreographically and musically on the revival by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, staged for the Imperial Ballet, first presented January 15, 1895 at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. For this revival, Tchaikovsky's score was revised by the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatre's kapellmeister Riccardo Drigo.

Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Birth of Swan Lake 2.1 First production 2.2 The Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux 2.3 Subsequent productions 3 Tchaikovsky's original score 4 The Petipa/Ivanov/Drigo edition of 1895 5 Drigo's revision of Tchaikovsky's score 5.1 Changes to the music 5.2 Drigo's edition of the score 6 Notation of Swan Lake and the 1895 premiere 6.1 Act I (or Act I-Scene 1) 6.2 Act II (or Act I-Scene 2) 6.3 Act III (or Act II) 6.4 Act IV (or Act III) 6.5 Versions derived from the 1895 edition 7 Adaptations 8 Trivia 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Synopsis

Swan Lake begins at a royal court. Prince Siegfried, heir to the kingdom, must declare a wife at his birthday ball. Upset that he cannot marry for love, Siegfried escapes into the forest at night. As he sees a flock of swans flying overhead, he aims his crossbow and readies himself for their landing by the lakeside. When one comes into view, however, he stops; before him is a beautiful creature dressed in white feathers, more woman than swan. Enamoured, the two dance and Siegfried learns that the swan maiden is the princess Odette. An evil sorcerer, Von Rothbart, captured her and used his magic to turn Odette into a swan by day and woman by night.

A retinue of other captured swan-maidens attend Odette in the environs of Swan Lake, which was formed by the tears of her parents when she was kidnapped by Von Rothbart. Once Siegfried knows her story, he takes great pity on her and falls in love. As he begins to swear his love to her - an act that will render the sorcerer's spell powerless - Von Rothbart appears. Siegfried threatens to kill him but Odette intercedes; if Von Rothbart dies before the spell is broken, it can never be undone.

The Prince returns to the castle to attend the ball. Von Rothbart arrives in disguise with his own daughter Odile, making her seem identical to Odette in all respects except that she wears black while Odette wears white. The prince mistakes her for Odette, dances with her, and proclaims to the court that he intends to make her his wife. Only a moment too late, Siegfried sees the real Odette and realizes his mistake. The method in which Odette appears varies: in some versions she arrives at the castle, while in other versions Von Rothbart shows Siegfried a magical vision of her.

At this point versions of the ballet diverge. Many different endings exist, ranging from romantic to tragic.

In a version danced by the Mariinsky Ballet in 2006, the true love between Siegfried and Odette defeats Von Rothbart, who dies after the prince breaks one of his wings. Odette is restored to human form to unite happily with the prince. This version has often been used by Russian and Chinese ballet companies. In a version danced by American Ballet Theatre in 2006, Siegfried's mistaken pledge of fidelity to Odile consigns Odette to eternal swanhood. Realizing that her last moment of humanity is at hand, Odette commits suicide by throwing herself into the lake. The Prince does so as well. This act of sacrifice and love breaks Von Rothbart's power, and he is destroyed. In the final tableau, the lovers are seen rising together to heaven in apotheosis. In a version danced by New York City Ballet in 2006 (with choreography by Peter Martins after Lev Ivanov, Marius Petipa, and George Balanchine), the Prince's declaration that he wishes to marry Odile constitutes a betrayal that condemns Odette to remain a swan forever. Odette is called away into swan form, and Siegfried is left alone in grief as the curtain falls.

[edit] Birth of Swan Lake

The origins of the ballet Swan Lake are rather obscured, and since there are very few records concerning the first production of the work to have survived, there can be only speculation about who was the author of the original libretto. The most authoritative theory appears to be that it was by Vladimir Petrovich Begichev, director of the Moscow Imperial Theatres during the time that the ballet was originally produced, and possibly Vasily Geltser, Danseur of the Moscow Imperial Bolshoi Theatre. However, Geltser was in all probability merely the first person to copy the scenario for publication, as a surviving copy bears his name. Since the first published libretto of the ballet and the actual music composed by Tchaikovsky do not correspond in many places, we may conjecture that the first actual published libretto was possibly crafted by a newspaper writer who had viewed the initial rehearsals, as new productions of operas and ballets were always reported in the newspapers of Imperial Russia, along with their respective scenarios.

From the accounts of two of Tchaikovsky's relatives - his nephew Yuri Lvovich Davydov and his niece Anna Meck-Davydov - we know that the composer had earlier created a little ballet called The Lake of the Swans at their home in 1871. Tchaikovsky was known to put together little performances for which his relatives would participate, and the composer would himself craft the music and scenario. According to his nephew's account, the Song of the Swans, the famous Swan's Theme, was originally created for this occasion. At this time both Tchaikovsky and the director Vladimir Begichev belonged to a Moscow artistic circle known as the Shihovskaya Salon, and it is very likely that the seeds of Swan Lake were planted during this group's meetings. The scenario of Swan Lake is indeed a typical 19th century ballet cliché - where the hero falls in love with the heroine, who is usually an enchanted woman or supernatural female creature, with the story usually ending in tragedy, resulting in death for the lovers, sometimes ending with an apotheosis where their spirits are reunited.

[edit] First production

Begichev commissioned the score of Swan Lake from Tchaikovsky in 1875 for a rather modest fee of 800 rubles, and soon Begichev began to choose artists that would participate in the creation of the ballet. The choreographer assigned to the production was the Czech Julius Reisinger (1827-1892), who had been engaged as Balletmaster to the Ballet of the Moscow Imperial Bolshoi Theatre (today known as the Bolshoi Ballet) since 1873. Most of Julius Reisinger's previous work for the company had been denounced by critics as being of mediocre quality, the only success to his credit being his very first production for the company - a ballet on the subject of Cinderella titled The Glass Slipper in 1871. His next two productions, Kashchei (1873), and Stella (1875) were unappreciated by the critics of the day.

It is not known what sort of collaborative processes were involved between Tchaikovsky and Reisinger. It is a rather common misconception that Tchaikovsky simply composed the entire ballet with no instructions of any kind - ballet scores of that period were composed "to order" - with the balletmaster creating a detailed list of instructions for the composer, specifying the required tempi, number of bars, mood for this or that passage, and even suggesting orchestration (Tchaikovsky's later ballets, The Sleeping Beauty in 1890, and The Nutcracker in 1892 were both composed "to order" with instructions from the Balletmaster). Surely Tchaikovsky had some form of instruction in composing Swan Lake, as he had to know what sort of dances would be required - for example whether or not to score a Pas de Deux or a Pas de Trois, the tempi, number of bars, etc. But unlike the instructions that Tchaikovsky received for the scores of The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker, no such written instruction is known to have survived.

Because of its music, Swan Lake proved to be the first of its kind - a ballet set to the score of a symphonic composer. From around the time of the turn of the 19th century, on through the era of the romantic ballet and until the beginning of the 1890s, scores for ballets were almost always written by composers known as "specialists" - composers who were highly skilled at scoring the light, decorative, melodious, and rhythmically clear music that was at that time in vogue for ballet. Today, the most famous of these composers are the Italian Cesare Pugni and the Czechoslovakian Léon Minkus. Pugni was the most in demand composer of ballet music in his day, and is in fact the most prolific composer of the genre that has ever lived, having scored no less that 312 ballets by the end of his life. Tchaikovsky studied the music of these "specialists" before setting to work on Swan Lake in order to grasp the musical needs of ballet, and he had a rather negative opinion of their music until he studied it in detail. Tchaikovsky most admired the ballet music of such composers as Léo Delibes, Adolphe Adam, and later, Riccardo Drigo. He would later write to his protégé, the composer Sergei Taneyev - "I listened to the Delibes ballet 'Sylvia'...what charm, what elegance, what wealth of melody, rhythm, and harmony. I was ashamed, for if I had known of this music then, I would not have written 'Swan Lake'". Tchaikovsky most admired Adam's 1844 score for Giselle, which made use of the technique of leitmotif - associating certain themes with certain characters, a technique he would use in Swan Lake. He re-used material from an opera that he had abandoned in 1868 - The Voyevoda. The Grand Adagio (AKA the Love Duet) from the second scene of Swan Lake was fashioned from an aria from that opera, as was the Waltz of the Prospective Fiancées from the third scene. By April of 1876 the score was complete, and rehearsals began.

In a letter written by Tchaikovsky to his brother Modest the day after the first rehearsal for Swan Lake, the composer stated that "everyone in the theatre is delighted with my music". Unfortunately this was to be short lived, for soon Reisinger began setting certain numbers aside that he dubbed "unsuitable for ballet", and over the next eleven months he toiled on the production of a ballet that was set to a score he had difficulty comprehending. Reisinger even began choreographing dances to other composer's music which would replace the pieces he had set aside, but soon Tchaikovsky protested, and his pieces were reinstated. Other than this incident, the only contact known to have occurred during the inital rehearsals between the Balletmaster and the composer was Reisinger's request that Tchaikovsky compose a Russian Dance to be performed by Odile during the Third Act National Dances (appendix II in the original score). There is no record as to whether or not Tchaikovsky made any changes to the score at Reisinger's request, and no repétitéur or performance score from the 1877 production is known to be extant. The program and poster of the original production (which lists the dances of the ballet) in relation to Tchaikovsky's original score do not match in many places, and since it is known that Tchaikovsky would not have allowed another composer's music in his ballet, historians have come to the conclusion that Reisinger likely re-editied and re-positioned much of the music over the course of mounting the production.

Swan Lake (or The Lake of the Swans as it was called then) had its premiere on March 4, 1877. It was given as a benefit performance for the Ballerina Pelagia Karpakova, who created the role of Odette, with the Bolshoi Theatre's Premiere Danseur Victor Gillert as Prince Siegfried. It is not known for certain whether or not Karpakova danced the part Odile, which is today almost always danced by the same Ballerina who dances Odette. The poster of the original production credits the role of Odette to Karpakova, while the character of Odile is listed with three asterisks. It is highly unlikely that Karpakova did not dance Odile, as it is known that she participated in all of the dances associated with the character in the third act.

As is well-known, the premiere was not well-received, with near unanimous criticism concerning the dancers, orchestra, and décor. Unfortunately Tchaikovsky's masterful score was lost in the debacle of the poor production, and though there were a few critics who recognized its virtues, most considered it to be far too complicated for ballet. According to Modeste Tchaikovsky - "The poverty of the production, meaning the décor and costumes, the absence of outstanding performers, the Balletmaster's weakness of imagination, and, finally, the orchestra...all of this together permitted (Tchaikovsky) with good reason to cast the blame for the failure on others." In spite of the poor reaction to the premiere, the ballet nevertheless continued being performed.

[edit] The Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux

On April 26, 1877 the Prima Ballerina of the Bolshoi Theatre Anna Sobeshchanskaya (noted as the creator of the role of Kitri in Petipa's Don Quixote) made her début as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, and from the start she was completely dissatisfied with the production of the ballet, most of all with Reisinger's choreography and Tchaikovsky's music. In order to make her performance more effective, the Ballerina traveled to St. Petersburg to have Marius Petipa, Maître de Ballet of the Imperial Ballet, choreograph a new Pas de Deux for her performance in order to replace the Pas de Six, which functioned as the ballet's Grand Pas. For a Ballerina to request from a Balletmaster a supplemental Grand Pas or additional variation was standard practice in 19th century ballet, and often these "custom-made" dances quite literally became the legal property of the Ballerina they were created for. Petipa fashioned Sobeshchanskaya's Pas de Deux to the specially composed music of Léon Minkus - a standard Pas de Deux which consisted of a short Entrée, the Grand Adagio, a variation for the Danseur, a variation for the Ballerina, and a Coda.

Upon returning to Moscow Sobeshchanskaya informed the Bolshoi Theatre's conductor of her newly acquired Pas, and soon word of this interpolation found its way to Tchaikovsky, who became very angry, protesting that he alone bore the responsibility for the music of Swan Lake. He agreed to score a new Pas de Deux for the Ballerina, but she had no wish to change Petipa's choreography, nor did she want to travel to St. Petersburg again. So Tchaikovsky agreed to score music which would correspond with Minkus' composition, and so precisely that there would be no need to even rehearse. Sobeshchanskaya was so pleased with Tchaikovsky's new version of the Minkus music that she requested he compose for her an additional variation, which he did.

Historians/Musicologists who have studied and compared Minkus' original music for Sobeshchanskaya's Pas de Deux to Tchaikovsky's revision have found that the composer re-orchestrated most of Minkus' music, with slight modifications to the melody, and did not re-write it "bar for bar" or "note for note" as has been stated in many historical studies of Swan Lake (one similar example is John Lanchbery's revisions of various ballet scores in modern times). Regarding the first variation of this Pas de Deux (for the Danseur in 3/4 time), Tchaikovsky's made no revision to it, and it still presented as Minkus originally composed it. For the second variation (for the Ballerina in 4/4 time), Tchaikovsky simply re-orchestrated the music, with no other modifications. There seems to be no extant manuscript of the additional variation Tchaikovsky scored for Sobeshchanskaya. Until 1953 this Pas de Deux was thought to be lost, until an accidentally discovered repétitéur was found in the archives of the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre. In 1960 George Balanchine choreographed a Pas de Deux to this music for the Ballerina Violette Verdy, and the Danseur Conrad Ludlow under the title Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, as it is still known and performed today.

[edit] Subsequent productions

Julius Reisinger left Moscow in 1879, and his successor as Balletmaster was Joseph Peter Hansen. Hansen, made considerable efforts throughout the late 1870s/early 1880s to salvage Swan Lake, and on January 13, 1880 he presented a new production of the ballet for his own benefit performance. The part of Odette/Odile was danced by Evdokia Kalmykova, a student of the Moscow Imperial Ballet School, with Alfred Bekefi as Prince Siegfried. This production was far more well-received than the original, though it was by no means a great success. Hansen presented another version of Swan Lake on October 28, 1882, again with Kalmykova as Odette/Odile. For this production Hansen interpolated a Grand Pas to the third scene titled La Cosmopolitana to music by an unknown composer. This version of Swan Lake was given only four times, the final performance being on January 2, 1883, and soon the ballet was dropped from the repertory altogether.

In all, Swan Lake was given a total of forty-one performances between its premiere and the final performance of 1883 - a rather lengthy run for a ballet that was so poorly received upon its premiere. Hansen would go on to become Balletmaster to the Alhambra Theatre in London, and on December 1, 1884 he presented a one-act ballet titled The Swans, which was inspired by the second scene of Swan Lake. The music was composed by the Alhambra Theatre's chef d'orchestre Georges Jacoby.

The second scene of Swan Lake was then presented on February 21, 1888 in Prague by the Ballet of the National Theatre in a version mounted by the Balletmaster August Berger. The ballet was given during two concerts which were conducted by Tchaikovsky. The composer noted in his diary that he experienced "a moment of absolute happiness" when the ballet was performed. Berger's production followed the 1877 libretto, though the names of Prince Siegfried and Benno were changed to Jaroslav and Zdenek, with the role of Benno danced by a female dancer en travestie. The role of Prince Siegfried was danced by Berger himself with the Ballerina Giulietta Paltriniera-Bergrova as Odette. Berger's production was only given eight performances, and was even planned for production at the Fantasia Garden in Moscow in 1893, but it never materialized.

[edit] Tchaikovsky's original score

Tchaikovsky's score for Swan Lake is orchestrated for a full complement of strings, piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four French horns, two cornets, two trumpets, three trombones, a tuba, a set of timpani drums, a triangle, a tambourine, castanets, a snare drum, cymbals, a bass drum, a gong, a glockenspiel, and a harp.

NOTE: Below is a listing of all of the dances and scenes of action from the complete score of Swan Lake as originally composed by Tchaikovsky. The titles for each number are taken from the original published score. Some of the numbers are titled simply as musical indications, those that are not are translated from their original French titles.

Act I

• Introduction: Moderato assai, Allegro non troppo
• No. 1 Scène: Allegro giusto
• No. 2 Waltz: Tempo di valse
• No. 3 Scène: Allegro moderato
• No. 4 Pas de trois

no.4-1 Intrada (or Entrée): Allegro

no.4-2 Andante sostenuto

no.4-3 Variation: Allegro simplice, Presto

no.4-4 Variation: Moderato

no.4-5 Variation: Allegro

no.4-6 Coda: Allegro vivace

• No. 5 Pas de deux for Two Merry-makers (this number was later fashioned into the Black Swan Pas de Deux)

no.5-1 (Entrée) Tempo di valse ma non troppo vivo, quasi moderato

no.5-2 Andante, Allegro

no.5-3 Variation: Tempo di valse

no.5-4 Coda: Allegro molto vivace

• No. 6 Pas d'action: Andantino quasi moderato – Allegro
• No. 7 Sujet (Introduction to the Dance with Goblets)
• No. 8 Dance with Goblets: Tempo di polacca
• No. 9 Finale: Sujet, Andante

Act II

• No. 10 Scène: Moderato
• No. 11 Scène: Allegro moderato, Moderato, Allegro vivo
• No. 12 Scène: Allegro, Moderato assai quasi andante
• No. 13 Dances of the Swans

no.13-1 Tempo di valse

no.13-2 Moderato assai

no.13-3 Tempo di valse

no.13-4 Allegro moderato (this number later became the famous Dance of the Little Swans)

no.13-5 Pas d'action: Andante, Andante non troppo, Allegro

no.13-6 Tempo di valse

no.13-7 Coda: Allegro vivo

• No. 14 Scène: Moderato

Act III

• No. 15 Scène: March – Allegro giusto
• No. 16 Ballabile: Dance of the Corps de Ballet and the Dwarves: Moderato assai, Allegro vivo
• No. 17 Entrance of the Guests and Waltz: Allegro, Tempo di valse
• No. 18 Scène: Allegro, Allegro giusto
• No. 19 Grand Pas de six.

no.19-1 Intrada (or Entrée): Moderato assai

no.19-2 Variation 1: Allegro

no.19-3 Variation 2: Andante con moto

no.19-4 Variation 3: Moderato

no.19-5 Variation 4: Allegro

no.19-6 Variation 5: Moderato, Allegro simplice

no.19-7 Grand Coda: Allegro molto

• Appendix I: Pas de deux for Mlle. Anna Sobeshchanskaya fashioned from the original music by Léon Minkus (AKA the Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux)
• No. 20 Hungarian Dance: Czardas – Moderato assai, Allegro moderato, Vivace
• Appendix II. Russian Dance for Mme. Pelagia Karpakova: Moderato, Andante simplice, Allegro vivo, Presto
• No. 21 Spanish Dance: Allegro non troppo (Tempo di bolero)
• No. 22 Neopolitan/Venetian Dance: Allegro moderato, Andantino quasi moderato, Presto
• No. 23 Mazurka: Tempo di mazurka
• No. 24 Scène: Allegro, Tempo di valse, Allegro vivo

Act IV

• No. 25 Entr'acte: Moderato
• No. 26 Scène: Allegro non troppo
• No. 27 Dance of the Little Swans: Moderato
• No. 28 Scène: Allegro agitato, Molto meno mosso, Allegro vivace
• No. 29 Scène finale: Andante, Allegro, Alla breve, Moderato e maestoso, Moderato

[edit] The Petipa/Ivanov/Drigo edition of 1895

In the 1880s Tchaikovsky was commissioned by Ivan Vsevolozhsky, director of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres, to score what would become two of his greatest works - the operas The Enchantress (1886), and The Queen of Spades (1890). In 1887 Vsevolozhsky commissioned Tchaikovsky to score music for Marius Petipa's The Sleeping Beauty, a ballet which would prove to be one of both Tchaikovsky and Petipa's greatest masterworks. The first performance on January 15, 1890 by the Imperial Ballet was a great success, and soon Vsevolozhsky commissioned a second score for a ballet and an opera from the composer - The Nutcracker and Iolanthe, which premiered together on a double bill on December 6, 1892.

Prior to commissioning Tchaikovsky to score The Sleeping Beauty, Vsevolozhsky had considered reviving one act of Swan Lake for the 1886-1887 season, and had even written a letter requesting the music from Tchaikovsky's publisher Jurgenson, who recommended that the fourth scene be staged. However, Tchaikovsky suggested that the second scene be staged instead, which he considered to be "the best in all respects". Though this production never materialized, Vsevolozhsky continued showing interest in Swan Lake, and even as The Nutcracker was being readied for production in 1892 he was designing costumes for a possible revival of the work that would be produced by Petipa (Vsevolozhsky was a talented costume designer, having designed the costumes for the first productions of both The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker, as well as Raymonda, among many other ballets).

Tchaikovsky was delighted at the prospect of Swan Lake being revived by Petipa, of whom he had the greatest respect, proclaiming that "never with anyone but Petipa would I produce ballets". According to the composer/conductor Riccardo Drigo - "While (Tchaikovsky) was still alive I knew of his dissastisfaction with the instrumentation of ('Swan Lake'), and that he intended to take up the matter, but he never managed to do this". Tchaikovsky died on November 6, 1893, just when plans to revive Swan Lake were beginning to come to fruition.

Even with this statement from Drigo (which is from his memoirs written some thirty years after Tchaikovsky's death), it is not known for certain if Tchaikovsky was even going to revise the music for the prospected revival of Swan Lake. At some point before his death Tchaikovsky approved of three numbers orchestrated by Drigo from his Opus. 72 for Piano for interpolation into the production (i.e. - the Variation of Odile from the third scene, and, for the fourth scene, the so-called Waltz for White and Black Swans and the Scène Dansante/Pas d'action). According to Tchaikovsky's brother Modeste, "...he (Tchaikovsky) was so delighted with Maestro Drigo's score for Petipa's 'The Talisman' that he was not opposed to the idea of having him perfom some of the necessary revisions (to Swan Lake)...". Whatever the case, as a result of Tchaikovsky's death, Drigo was forced to revise the score himself, but not before receiving approval from Modeste.

Vsevolozhsky then planned a memorial concert to be given by the Imperial Ballet and Opera at the Mariinsky Theatre in honor of the composer, with the bill consisting of the first act of Tchaikovsky's opera The Maid of Orleans, his overture from Romeo and Juliet, his Coronation Cantana, and the second scene of Swan Lake. The concert was given twice on February 17 and 22, 1894 with the Swan Lake excerpt being presented in a staging by Lev Ivanov, Second Balletmaster to the Imperial Ballet. Ivanov's choreography for the memorial concert was unanimously hailed as wonderful, and though the concert itself was not a success (due to high ticket prices the turnout was poor), Ivanov nevertheless won laurels for his work. The critic Bezobrazov complemented Ivanov - "The staging of the dances in 'Swan Lake' is the work of the Balletmaster Lev Ivanov and does him great honor. Mr. Ivanov revealed a great deal of the finest, most elegant taste. To all the dances the Balletmaster imparted a noble stamp and consistent style."

The Ballerina who danced Odette was the Italian virtuosa Pierina Legnani, considered by the critics, public, and her fellow dancers alike to be among the greatest, if not the greatest Ballerina to ever grace the Imperial stage. She had made her début with the Imperial Ballet in Cinderella (choreographed by Petipa, Ivanov, and Enrico Cecchetti to the music of Baron Boris Fitinhof-Schell) in December of 1893, and when she took to the stage she immediately swept all before her. In the Grand Pas d'action of the ballet's second act she demonstrated her phenomenal technique - next to her flawless placement and perfection of port de bras she performed pique turns with quadruple and quintuple pirouettes en pointe, accented with double turns no less than four times in a row - a feat even modern-day Ballerinas have difficulty achieving. But in the Grand Pas of the last act Legnani completely out-did herself - in her variation she completed no less than thirtytwo fouettés en tournant, the first Ballerina ever to perform such a feat. The dazzled public roared with demands for an encore, and the Ballerina repeated her variation, this time performing twentyeight fouettés en tournant. According to press accounts of the production the Ballerina "did not move at all from the place she started".

Soon after Legnani was named Prima Ballerina Assoluta of the Imperial Ballet, and it was because of her great talent that the prospected revival of Swan Lake was planned for her benefit performance in the 1894-1895 season. However, the death of Tsar Alexander III on November 1, 1894 and the period of official mourning which followed it brought all ballet performances and rehearsals to a close for some time, and as a result all efforts were able to be concentrated on the pre-production of the revival of Swan Lake. Ivanov and Petipa chose to collaborate on the production, with Ivanov retaining his dances for the second scene while choreographing the fourth, and with Petipa staging the first and third scenes. Ivanov was also entrusted with staging the Neopolitan Dance and the Hungarian Dance in the Grand Divertessment of the third scene.

Tchaikovsky's brother Modeste was called upon to make the required changes to the ballet's libretto, the most prominent being his revision of the ballet's finale - instead of the lovers simply drowning at the hand of the wicked Von Rothbart as in the original 1877 scenario, Odette commits suicide by drowning herself, with Prince Siegfried choosing to die as well, rather than live without her, and soon the lovers' spirits are reunited in an apotheosis. Aside from the revision of the libretto the ballet was changed from four acts to three - with Act II becoming Act I-Scene 2, Act III becoming Act II, and Act IV becoming Act III.

All was ready by the beginning of 1895, and the ballet had its premiere on January 15. Pierina Legnani danced Odette/Odile, with Pavel Gerdt as Prince Siegfried, Alexei Bulgakov as Von Rothbart, and Alexander Oblakov as Benno.

[edit] Drigo's revision of Tchaikovsky's score

[edit] Changes to the music

There are major differences in the score of Swan Lake when one compares a recording or manuscript of the original, un-altered composition of 1877, with the score as performed in live performance. Although he rarely, if ever, gets credit for it, it is Riccardo Drigo's revision of Tchaikovsky's score as done for Petipa and Ivanov's 1895 revival, and not Tchaikovsky's original score of 1877, that almost every ballet company utilizes to one degree or another when performing Swan Lake. Most ballet companies opt to fashion their own repsective version of Tchaikovsky's score. Nevertheless Drigo's revision of the score is often used as a foundation. It is significant to note that Tchaikovsky's brother Modest approved of Drigo revising the music, and Tchaikovsky himself approved of Drigo's additions.

Below is a list of the most striking changes made by Drigo to the score of Swan Lake, many of which have remained the standard of ballet companies today:

NOTE Some numbering of the Acts and Scenes were changed for the 1895 revival - Act II became Act I-scene 2, thus changing Act III to Act II, and Act IV to Act III.

Act I (or Act I-Scene 1)

• the Andante sostenuto (No. 4-2 in the original score) of the Pas de Trois (No. 4) was deleted.
• the first variation of the Pas de Trois (No. 4-3 in the original score) was changed from Allegro simplice to Allegro moderato. The eight bars of music preceding the final eight bars of the variation were deleted. Two bars of music before the final two bars were deleted as well. Percussion (including fortissimo cymbals, snare drum and triangle) was removed from the final bars.
• the second variation of the Pas de Trois (No. 4-4) was shortened (repeated passages removed). As well, the final eight bars of music were changed from poco meno to meno.
• the third variation of the Pas de Trois (No. 4-5) was also shortened (repeated passages removed), and changed from Allegro to Allegretto.
• the Waltz (No. 2) and the Pas de Trois (No. 4) were reversed. The Waltz was retitled Valse Champêtre (meaning Pastoral Waltz). It is also known as the Valse Villageoise). Various repeated passages were removed from te waltz.
• the Pas de Deux for Two Merry Makers (No. 5) was transferred to Act III (known today as the Black Swan Pas de deux) and extensively revised.

Act II (or Act I-Scene 2)

• the dances of the Grand Pas des Cygnes (a.k.a. the Dances of the Swans) were put into a new order, with Tchaikovsky's reprise of the Waltz of the Swans (Tempo di valse-No. 13-3) being deleted. The new order was - the Waltz of the Swans (Tempo di valse-No. 13-1), the Grand Adagio AKA the Love Duet (Pas d'action-No. 13-5), the Dance of the Little Swans (Allegro moderato-No. 13-4), the General Dance (Tempo di valse-No. 13-6), Variation of Odette (Moderato assai-Molto più mosso No. 13-2), and the Grand Coda (Coda-Allegro vivo No. 13-7). This order of the dances is retained by almost every ballet company today.

• the ending of the Grand Adagio or Love Duet (Pas d'action-No. 13-5) was modified by Drigo. Originally this number ended with an Allegro movement in Eb major. This ending was omitted and in its place Drigo added an epilogue at bar 95 which was composed by himself. The new edning corresponded with the motive of the rest of the number, while also reverting back to the opening key. This is the version that is used by nearly every ballet company today.

• the Coda (No. 13-7) (retitled Coda Générale) was lengthened by having the number repeat before the finale.

Act III (or Act II)

• the Ballabile: Dances for the Corps de ballet and the Dwarfs (No. 16) was deleted (this music was later used by the Balletmaster Konstantin Sergeyev in his 1951 version for the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet as a dance for a Court Jester).

• the Waltz of the Prospective Fiancées (Scène No. 17) was edited so that, instead of a separate entrance for each prospective bride, one single entrance would suffice.

• the Grand Pas de Six (no.19) was deleted (many choreographers have re-worked this number in various stagings, most notably Sir Kenneth McMillian for his production for the Royal Ballet).

• the Russian Dance Tchaikovsky composed for Pelagia Karpakova (catalogued as appendix no. 2 in the original score) was deleted (this number is often used in various modern stagings of the ballet, and has even been used as an Arabian Dance, as in the Pacific Northwest Ballet's production staged by Kent Stowell).

• the Pas de Deux that was composed by Léon Minkus for the Ballerina Anna Sobeshchanskaya, which was partially re-orchestrated/adapted by Tchaikovsky (catalogued as appendix no. 1 in the original score), was deleted (today this Pas is known as the Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux in George Balanchine's celebrated version).

• the Grand Pas de Deux (AKA The Black Swan Pas de Deux) was fashioned from the music of the Pas de Deux for Two Merry Makers (No. 5 in the original score). The Adagio (Andante, No. 5-2) was modified by Drigo - this number originally ended with an Allegro movement in A major for solo violin, which was cut (in modern times this passage of music is used in a re-scored version as a variation for Prince Siegfried). As he had done with the Grand Adagio of the second scene, Drigo composed a new ending for the Adagio, inserted at bar 75 (this version of the Adagio of The Black Swan Pas de Deux is still used by nearly every ballet company today). It is not known for certain whether or not the Tempo di valse (No. 5-3) was danced in the 1895 revival.

• the now familiar Variation of Odile of The Black Swan Pas de Deux was orchestrated by Drigo from Tchaikovsky's Opus 72 for Piano - No. 12 L'Espiègle, which is still danced today by nearly every Ballerina as Odile.

Act IV (or Act III)

• The Entr'acte (No. 25) was modified so that the music could move to a new key and lead into the following number.

• The Scène (No. 26) and the Dance of the Little Swans (No. 27) were deleted. Here the second addition was inserted - another piece from Tchaikovsky's Opus 72 for Piano - No. 11 Valse Bluette , which was used as a Waltz for White and Black Swans (this number is not performed by many companies, but is still retained by the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet and the Royal Ballet).

• At bar 26 of No. 28 the third addition from Tchaikovsky's Opus 72 for Piano was inserted - No. 15 Un poco di Chopin, orchestrated by Drigo as a Pas d'action for Prince Siegfried and Odette in which the lovers reconcile. After this number the music continued at bar 27 of No. 28. The so-called "storm music" was deleted, and the music resumed. The final passage of music which contained tremendous dynamics from the brass section was softened.

[edit] Drigo's edition of the score

NOTE - the numbers of each of the dances/scenes correspond with Tchaikovsky's original score. The titles of each of the dances/scenes come from the published libretto and the program of the premiere of the 1895 revival, most being different than the titles of the original score. Although this list indicates the most prominent changes to each individual dance/scene, it does not list such changes as deletions of bars of music, etc.

Act I (scene 1) (originally Act I)

• Introduction
• No. 1 Scène première
• No. 4 Pas de trois

no.4-1 Entrée

no.4-2 Andante sostenuto - DELETED

no.4-3 Variation 1 (changed from Allegro Simplice to Allegero Moderato)

no.4-4 Variation 2

no.4-5 Variation 3

no.4-6 Coda

• No. 3 Scène du Siegfried et la Princesse Souveraine
• No. 2 Valse champêtre
• No. 6 Scène d'action
• No. 7 (pt.1) Introduction to the Danse au cliquetis de verres (Sujet)
• No. 8 (pt.2) Danse au cliquetis de verres
• No. 9 Départ des chasseurs

Act I (scene 2) (originally Act II)

• No. 14 Introduction (No. 14 used as an introduction)
• No. 10 Scène et entrée d'Odette
• No. 11 Scène dansante
• No. 12 Entrée de cygnes
• No. 13 Grand pas des cygnes

no.13-1 Valse des Cygnes

no.13-5 Grand Adagio (a.k.a. the Love Duet or the White Adagio) (new ending composed by Drigo, inserted at bar 94)

no.13-4 Danse des petits Cygnes (the famous Dance of the Little Swans)

no.13-6 Danse Générale (a.k.a. Dance of the Big Swans) (changed from Ab major to A major)

no.13-2 Variation d'Odette

no.13-7 Coda Générale

no.13-3 Tempo di valse - DELETED

• No. 14 Scène et final

Act II (originally Act III)

• No. 15 Grand Marche
• No. 16 Ballabile: Dance of the Corps de Ballet and the Dwarves - DELETED
• No. 17 Valse des Fiancées (edited to conform with the new libretto)
• No. 18 Entrée d'Odile
• No. 19 Grand Pas de six - DELETED
• Appendix I: Pas de deux for Mlle. Anna Sobeshchanskaya (a.k.a. Tchaikovsky Pas de deux) - DELETED
• Appendix II: Russian Dance for Mme. Pelagia Karpakova - DELETED
• Grand Divertissement -

No. 21 Pas Espagnol (Spanish Dance)

No. 22 Danse Vénitienne (Neopolitan/Venetian Dance)

No. 20 Pas Hongrois (Hungarian Dance)

No. 23 Mazurka

• No. 5 Grand Pas d'action (a.k.a. The Black Swan Pas de Deux, fashioned from the Pas de deux for Two Merry-makers)

no.5-1 Entrée

no.5-2 Grand Andante (new ending composed by Drigo, inserted at bar 75)

no.5-3 Variation: Tempo di valse - DELETED?

--Variation (fashioned from the omitted allegro ending of no.5-2 as a Variation for Prince Siegfried. Historically, this variation is said to have been first danced by the Kirov Ballet première danseur Vakhtang Chabukiani, circa 1935)

--Interpolation no.1 - Variation for Mme. Pierina Legnani (variaton for Odile, orch. by Drigo from Tchaikovsky's Op.72 for Piano -No.12 -L'Espiègle)

no.5-4 Coda

• No. 24 Scène (reprise of the Waltz from No. 17 deleted)

Act III (originally Act IV)

• No. 25 Entr'acte
• No. 26 Scène - DELETED
• No. 27 Dance of the Little Swans - DELETED
• Interpolation no.2 - Valse des Cygnes (a.k.a. Waltz for White and Black Swans, orch. by Drigo from Tchaikovsky's Op.72 for Piano - No.11 Valse Bluette)
• No. 28-Pt.1 Scène (ends at bar 26. Continues after the next number)
• Interpolation no.3 - Scène Dansante (inserted after bar 26 of No.28, orch. by Drigo from Tchaikovsky's Op.72 for Piano -No.15 Un poco di Chopin)
• No. 28-Pt.2 Scène (continues at bar 27. The so-called "storm music" was deleted)
• No. 29 Scène et final. Apothéose

[edit] Notation of Swan Lake and the 1895 premiere

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. This choreographic notation is today housed in the Harvard University Library Theatre Collection and is part of a whole cache of notation known as the Sergeyev Collection, which documents the works of Marius Petipa that comprised the repertory of the Imperial Ballet at the turn of the 20th century. Here are descriptions of the some of the scenes and dances of his and Ivanov's 1895 edition of Swan Lake -

[edit] Act I (or Act I-Scene 1)

Petipa's famous Pas de Trois from the first scene is still danced today by most companies nearly unchanged with, as Petipa usually did when staging a Pas de Trois Classique, having the Ballerina who dances the first variation leaving the stage before the end of the Entrée (as in Petipa's Grand Pas de Trois des Odalisques from Le Corsaire, or his Pas de Trois from Paquita). The first dancers to perform the Pas de Trois in the 1895 revival were Olga Preobrajenskaya, Georgy Kyaksht (famous for creating the role of Harlequin in Petipa's original 1900 Harlequinade), and Vavara Rykhlyakova. According to a press account - "...a captivating Pas de Trois, which is technically difficult, is performed en pointe for the most part with multiple turns, and was excellently performed by the Danseuses and their partner."

The Waltz of the first scene, or the Valse Champêtre (AKA the Valse Villageoise) is danced in many different versions by ballet companies today. Perhaps the only company to dance this Waltz today in Petipa's original version is the Royal Ballet. The notation documents Petipa's original choreography - one of his signature lavish dances for a massive Corps de Ballet. According to the notation the choreography called for forty dancers (20 men and 20 woman), with sixteen of them using footstools painted both red and green to form geometric patterns and make various poses, with the Corps de Ballet at all times remaining inside the space made by the footstools. A Maypole was brought out toward the finale of the Waltz. One critic who saw the first performance described it - "At the end of the Waltz a (Maypole) is introduced, the high point of which ribbons are dropped in sequential order: red ribbons, blue, and yellow. The dancers pick up the ends of the ribbons, forming therby a kind of umbrella; it turned out to be quite an effective picture."

[edit] Act II (or Act I-Scene 2)

Perhaps only the Royal Ballet's 1987 revival (staged by Anthony Dowell and Roland John Wiley) of Swan Lake retains Ivanov's original scheme for the second scene, while most other productions present a version which has been handed down primarily by way of Soviet-era revisions. In the 1895 production Prince Siegfried made his way to the enchanted lake with a group of hunters, not by his self as in many modern versions. When Prince Siegfried first encounters Odette, there was (as is preserved in the notation) an extensive mime sequence between the two characters, a passage which is rarely performed in modern times (American Ballet Theatre director Kevin McKenzie created a mime sequence in the same manner as the original for his recent production of Swan Lake; while the Royal Ballet still performs a rendition of Ivanov's original mime).

Perhaps the most interesting feature of Ivanov's original choreography for the second scene was the use of children, a feature that was only recently restored in the Royal Ballet's 1987 production - there is perhaps no other production in the world which uses children in this scene. In Ivanov's original choreography, when Odette makes her second entrance to beg Benno and the hunting party not to hurt her fellow Swan Maidens, she is followed onstage by eight girl students as Swans. These students also participate in the Waltz of the Swans, which was far more elaborate in Ivanov's original than the traditional version danced today by most companies.

The Grand Adagio of the second scene (the Pas de Deux of Odette and Prince Siegfried sometimes referred to as the Love Duet) was choreographed by Ivanov as a Pas de deux à Trois - Pierina Legnani (who danced Odette/Odile in the 1895 revival) was partnered by both Pavel Gerdt (who danced Prince Siegfried) and Alexander Oblakov (who danced Benno). It was not until the Danseur Nikolai Legat replaced Gerdt in the role of Prince Siegfried in the late 1890s that the Pas became a Pas de deux, as it is danced today. Following Legat's example, many of the Danseurs of the Imperial Ballet who performed Prince Siegfried after him chose to partner Odette alone. Inspite of this the notation for Swan Lake, made between April 1906 and April 1907, documents Ivanov's original 1895 scheme. The first production outside of Russia of the full-length Petipa/Ivanov production of Swan Lake was staged by Nicholas Sergeyev for the Vic-Wells Ballet (today the Royal Ballet) in 1934, a production which retained Ivanov's original version of the Grand Adagio as a Pas de deux à Trois, but over time the company chose to dance it as a Pas de Deux, which is today the tradition. One critic who viewed the 1895 premiere wrote of this Pas - "Legnani was as if transformed, preening and admiring her snow white down, it was as if Legnani were actually experiencing these moments, filled with poetic melancholy. Langour showed in each of her graceful movements. There Legnani was at the height of understanding her art."

The famous Dance of the Little Swans is perhaps the only number of the original 1895 Swan Lake to be danced in modern times exactly as Ivanov choreographed. The remainder of the second scene is notated, but the finale is not.

[edit] Act III (or Act II)

The National dances are rarely, if ever, performed as Petipa and Ivanov first staged them (Petipa staged the Spanish Dance and the Mazurka, Ivanov staged the Neopolitan Dance and the Hungarian Dance). During the premiere of the 1895 revival the Spanish Dance and the Neopolitan Dance left a rather neutral impression, but the Hungarian Dance and Mazurka were both encored. The Hungarian Dance was performed the Danseur Alfred Bekefi and Petipa's daughter Marie Petipa (famous for creating the role of the Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty), who wore 12,000 roubles worth of diamonds for the performance. Perhaps the biggest sensation was the Mazurka, danced by a group of dancers with Felix Kschessinsky as soloist, Kschessinsky was hailed in his day at the Mariinsky Theatre as "King of the Mazurka" (he is most famous as being the father of the Ballerina Mathilde Kschessinskaya). The national dances are all preserved in Petipa and Ivanov's original choreography with the exception of the Spanish Dance, which is only preserved in Alexander Gorsky's 1913 version.

The character of Odile was not a "Black Swan" at all in either the original production of 1877 nor in the revival of 1895, and she was not performed as such for many years - she was simply Von Rothbart's evil daughter until sometime in the late 1930s or early 1940s. As Odile, Pierina Legnani appeared in a glittering multi-colored costume with no feathers to be found - obviously to appear more as an enchantress than as a "Black Swan". Later Performances at the Mariinsky Theatre of Swan Lake used similar costume designs for Odile throughout the late 19th century and early 20th century. It is unknown when the tradition of having Odile performed as a "Black Swan" began, but most historians point to a 1941 staging of the third scene (AKA the "Ballroom Scene") performed by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. This production was staged by Alexandra Fedorova-Fokine under the title The Magic Swan. Odile was danced by the great Ballerina Tamara Toumanova. At the time the only part of Swan Lake that was known in the west was the famous second scene (or the "White Act" as it is sometimes called). In an effort to have the audience distinguish Odile from the more well-known Odette, Fedorova-Fokine had Toumanova perform in a black costume, and almost by accident Odile began to be referred to as "The Black Swan". Though Toumanova was not the first Ballerina to wear such a costume when dancing Odile, her 1941 performance set the tradition in motion, and soon Odile became "The Black Swan", a tradition that quickly spread everywhere, including Russia.

What became known in modern times as The Black Swan Pas de Deux, which ends with glittering virtuosity from the Ballerina as well as the Danseur, was originally staged by Petipa as a Grand Pas de Deux à Quatre demi d'action - Prince Seigfried (Pavel Gerdt) and an additional suitor (danced by Alexander Gorsky) partnered Odile (Pierina Legnani), while Von Rothbart (danced by Alexei Bulgakov) did most of the acting/mime. In order to share in the "labour" of partnering, it was tradition in the late 19th century Imperial Theatres to have an additional suitor, along with the lead cavalier, partner the Prima Ballerina in a ballet's Grand Adagio. This was mostly due to the fact that the aging Pavel Gerdt (who was fifty years old in 1895) was performing nearly all of the lead male roles in the repertory.

After the Grand Adagio Prince Siegfried (Pavel Gerdt) did not dance a variation, but the additional cavalier, danced by Alexander Gorsky, did - though a rather short one axccording to contemporary accounts. Just as it was tradition in the Imperial Ballet that an additional suitor partner the Ballerina, it was also tradition that this additional suitor dance the lead male character's variation, being that the aging Pavel Gerdt could not. It is not known for certain what music was used for Gorsky's variation, though it is thought to have been either a version of what later became the traditional Variation of Prince Siegfried, or an interpolation from another work, though this is highly unlikely. Gorsky would later expand on this solo for his own staging of the Petipa/Ivanov Swan Lake at the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre in 1901, for which he danced the lead. Prince Siegfried's famous variation has been historically credited to the great Danseur of the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet Vakhtang Chabukiani, who it has been said was the first to dance the solo in the 1930s at the Kirov, though most likely he had learned the variation from Gorsky. Today the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet's score for Swan Lake has this variation titled with a rubric that says Variation of Chabukiani, and this same solo is used by nearly every company when they perform The Black Swan Pas de Deux, though there are often differences in the music regarding orchestration from production to production (for example, the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet's version of this music is orchestrated for solo oboe at the start, where as in the west it is usually the full violin section that plays throughout).

Pierina Legnani's variation as Odile was crafted by Petipa for her virtuoso technique, and is for the most part still performed as originally choreographed by him, still challenging Ballerinas to the present day. The Coda which followed Odile's variation was, as is well known, one the sensations of the 1895 premiere, with Legnani performing her famous thirtytwo fouettés en tournant, a feat she would later repeat in Petipa's 1899 revival of Le Corsaire, for which Petipa added the famous Le Corsaire Pas de Deux especially for her. As with the coda of The Black Swan Pas de Deux, it is now required of every Ballerina who dances the Le Corsaire Pas de Deux to perform the famous 32 fouettés en tournant. This tradition has spilled over into other famous 19th century Grand Pas, among them, the Don Quxiote Grand Pas de Deux, and the Paquita Grand Pas Classique, among others.

[edit] Act IV (or Act III)

At the beginning of the fourth scene, after a brief interlude, the second of the additions to the ballet was danced - another Waltz of the Swans to Drigo's orchestration of a piece from Tchaikovsky's Opus 72 for Piano - No. 11 Valse Bluette. This Waltz is still retained by many companies, particularly the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet and the Royal Ballet. Ivanov choreographed this Waltz, based on Petipa's sketches, for both white and black Swans. After the Waltz is over Odette made her frantic entrance and, (as preserved in the notation), a brief mime interlude followed between her a few of her fellow Swan maidens.

After Prince Siegfried made his entrance the third of the additions to the ballet was danced - a Pas d'action for the reconciliation of Odette and Prince Siegfried. This number was also orchestrated by Drigo from Tchaikovsky's Opus 72 for Piano - No. 15 Un poco di Chopin, a piece which is not danced by very many companies today, except for the Royal Ballet and the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet. After Von Rothbart makes his entrance a brief interlude ensues, but soon the choreographic notation comes to an end.

The premiere of the Petipa/Ivanov/Drigo was quite a success, with Legnani enchanting the audience with her versatile potrayal of the Swan Queen Odette and the evil enchantress Odile. But still the 1895 edition of was not the colossal triumph that has been accepted as fact in modern times. Most of the reviews in the St. Petersburg newspapers were positive. One critic wrote - "The Tableau of 'Swan Lake' in the second scene was planned with great talent and permeated with true poetry, gloomy and expressive. Among the craggy rocks in the far distance a mysterious and deathly quiet lake is seen. The entire stage is filled with soft, quivering moonlight." The critic continued - "To melodious sounds, lightly and beautifully, like the music, a flock of swans, floats out....the 'Waltz of the Swans' is simple and beautiful. The Adagio is the Ballerina's masterpiece, in the performance of which Miss Legnani revealed brilliant technique, lightness of movement, and plasticity of pose."

Unlike the premiere of The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake did not dominate the repertory of the Mariinsky Theatre in its first season. It was given only given sixteen performances between the premiere and the 1895-1896 season, and was not performed at all in 1897. Even more surprising, the ballet was only given four times in 1898 and 1899. The ballet belonged solely to Legnani until she left St. Petersburg for her native Italy in 1901. After her departure, the ballet was taken over by Mathilde Kschessinskaya, who was as much celebrated in the role as was her Italian predecessor.

[edit] Versions derived from the 1895 edition

Throughout the long and complex performance history of Swan Lake the 1895 edition of Petipa, Ivanov, and Drigo has served as the definitive version from which nearly every staging has been based, having been mounted by many noted Balletmasters and choreographers from the late 19th century until the present day, most importantly - Alexander Gorsky for the Ballet of the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow (1901); Anna Pavlova, London (1910); Mikhail Fokine for the Ballets Russes, London (1911); Agrippina Vaganova with Vladimir Dmitriev and Boris Asafiev for the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet (the former Imperial Ballet), Leningrad (1933); Nicholas Sergeyev for the Sadler's Wells Ballet (known today as the Royal Ballet), London (1934); Anton Dolin for Ballet Theatre (know today as American Ballet Theatre), New York (1940); William Christensen for the San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco (1940); Fedor Lopukhov for the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet, Leningrad (1945); Konstantin Sergeyev for the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet, Leningrad (1950); George Balanchine for the New York City Ballet (Lev Ivanov's second scene only), New York (1951); Vladimir Bourmeister for the Stanislavsky Ballet, Moscow (1953); Dimitri Bouchène for the Paris Opera Ballet, Paris (1963); Robert Helpman with Sir Frederick Ashton for the Royal Ballet, London (1963); Rudolf Nureyev for the Vienna State Opera Ballet, Vienna (1964); David Blair for American Ballet Theatre, Chicago (1967); Yuri Grigorovich for the Bolshoi Ballet, Moscow (1976); Rudolf Nureyev for the Paris Opera Ballet, Paris (1986); and Anthony Dowell with Roland John Wiley for the Royal Ballet, London (1987), Natalia Kasatkina and Vladimir Vasilyov for the Moscow Classical Ballet, Moscow (1988). Nearly every Balletmaster/choreographer who has re-staged Swan Lake has sought to make modifications to the ballet's scenario, while still maintaining to a considerable extent the traditional choreography for the dances, which is regarded as virtually sacrosanct. Likewise, over time the role of Siegfried has become far more prominent, due largely to the evolution of ballet technique.

[edit] Adaptations

Dance

• Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake: First danced in London in 1995, this version departed from the traditional ballet by replacing the female corps de ballet with male dancers. A recording of the ballet for TV was aired in the UK in 1996. It was also released on home video. [1]
• Graeme Murphy's Swan Lake: An adaptation first performed in 2002 that combines the roles of Von Rothbart and Odile into that of a Baroness. The focus of the story is a love triangle: Siegfried and Odette are married, but the heroine soon learns that the Prince has had an affair with the Baroness. Odette has a mental breakdown and is institutionalized.[2]

• The Imperial Ice Stars have staged an ice dancing production which uses Tchaikovsky's score called Swan Lake on Ice. It is in two acts and the roles of Odette and Odile are played by two different skaters who skate together with Sigfried in the second act, in this version after Odile returns the ring Sigfried has given her Rothbart offers to break Odette's curse if Sigfried can kill him in a duel. It began touring in 2006 and is set to end it's tour in 2008.

Film

• Swan Lake (1978): An anime directed by Kimio Yabuki which uses Tchaikovsky's score and remains relatively faithful to the story. [3]
• The Swan Princess (1994) and its two sequels: Animated features by Rich Animation in the Disney style which use the original story (albeit heavily edited) as a starting point. Features none of Tchaikovsky's music.
• Barbie of Swan Lake (2003): A direct-to-video children's movie featuring motion capture from the New York City Ballet. Some character's names do not correspond with those in the ballet.
• Princess Tutu (2003) an anime, where "Duck" (Odette) does not confess her love to the prince but "Rue" (Odile) does, so the prince takes "Rue" as his "Princess" and together the prince and Odile defeat "the Raven"(Von Rothbart) and "Duck" remains a duckling.

Literature

• The Black Swan (1999): A fantasy novel written by Mercedes Lackey that re-imagines the original story and focuses heavily on Odile. Von Rothbart's daughter is a sorceress in her own right who comes to sympathize with Odette.
• Swan Lake (1989): A children's novel written by Mark Helprin and illustrated by Chris van Allsburg, which re-creates the original story as a tale about political strife in an unnamed-Eastern European country. In it, Odette becomes a princess hidden from birth by the puppetmaster (and eventually usurper) behind the throne, with the story being retold to her child.

Computer and video games

• The graphic adventure game LOOM, published in 1990 by Lucasfilm Games, borrowed story elements from the ballet, and also featured excerpts from Tchaikovsky's score in its soundtrack.

[edit] Trivia

• The music in the Moderato Scene is reminiscent of one of the themes in the first movement of Schubert's 8th Symphony.^{[citation needed]}
• The melancholic music at the beginning of the fouth act was actually composed by Tchaikovsky for his first opera, The Voyevoda, which was performed only once in 1869 and then destroyed by the composer.
• The Russian ballerina Anna Sobeschenskaya - for whom the original (1877) role of Odette was intended - was pulled from the premiere performance when a governing official in Moscow complained about her, stating that she had accepted several pieces of expensive jewelry from him, only to then marry a fellow danseur and sell the pieces for cash. Sobeschenskaya was replaced by Polina Karpakova who danced the role of the Swan Queen until the former was reinstated by Petipa.
• The 1931 film Dracula uses part of Swan Lake's score (No. 10 Scène) for the opening credits music.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Background

• Swan Lake: From Planning to Performance at the Royal Opera House, about the Royal Ballet's production of 'Swan Lake'

Images (JPEGs):

• Bolshoi Ballet performing Swan Lake
• Galina Ulanova as Odette, in the Kirov Opera and Ballet Theatre's production of Swan Lake, 1930s.
• Wendy Whelan as Odile, in the New York City Ballet's production of Swan Lake, 2003.

Video recordings of the ballet:

• Swan Lake (2005) Murphy and Corella (ABT)
• Lebedinoe ozero (Swan Lake) at the Internet Movie Database (1957)
• Schwanensee at the Internet Movie Database (1967)
• Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake at the Internet Movie Database (1996)