1 Photo courtesy of Royal Ballet
Of all the ballets, Swan Lake is my favourite. The music was written by Tchaikovsky, and was first produced in Moscow in 1877. In his lifetime, Tchaikovsky composed three ballets, Swan Lake being the first. In 1890 followed his second ballet The Sleeping Beauty, and his final; The Nutcracker, premiered 2 years later in 1892.
When Swan Lake was commissioned, Tchaikovsky had already composed his Piano Concerto #1, and the Romeo and Juliet. fantasy overture. When the score for the ballet was completed, while some of the pieces had previously been rehearsed on a solo violin, it was nearly a year before it was ready for the opening. The ballet premiered at the Bolshoy on March 4 1877 as a benifit for the ballerina Pelageya Karpakova, who danced Odette. It is unknown as to whether or not she also danced Odile, as no name was listed on the theatre poster. When Marius Petipa choreographed a production of the ballet in 1895, the roles of Odette and Odile became a dual role for the ballerina. It was the dual role of Odette/Odile which eventually gave the ballet it's classical status, and of all the Tchaikovsky ballets, it is the most technically demanding. (Sleeping Beauty was considered to be his best score, though I prefer Swan Lake.)The high point of the piece is of course considered to be the 32 fouettes displayed by the ballerina in the role of the Black Swan during the second act, as well as being a display of the ballerina's talent.
Swan Lake is the tragic love story of the Prince Siegfried and Odette the Swan Queen. Odette has been turned into a Swan by an evil sorcerer (there are many variations on the story)and is a human by night and a swan by day. The Spell will only end when she has won the love of a man, and until then she will remain a swan. The Prince falls in love with her, and on the eve that he is to choose a bride, he plans to announce odette as his choice. The Sorcerer foils the plan by creating an evil counterpart of Odette- The Black Swan Odile, who is to trick the prince into betraying Odette by masquerading as the Swan Queen. The trick works, and too late the Prince realizes his error. His betrayal has condemned Odette to being a swan forever. He rushes to beg her forgiveness, but he is bombarded by the sorcerer and his Swans and is killed, leaving Odette alone and destined for unhappiness. (Again, there are variations on the ending.)
Information provided by Arthur Jacobs on the EMI classics 1994 recording of Swan Lake.
There are many other wonderful classic ballets, and Adam's Giselle,
Delibes' Coppelia and Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet are my top picks.
(aside from Swan Lake)It's only a shame that more original ballet music isn't composed today.
Unofficial National Ballet of Canada Pages
Ballet Photo Gallery
home
Get your own Free Home Page