PROLOGUE
Ancient park. Princess Odette is sad. Suddenly, a stranger appears, accompanied by a retinue. This is Rothbart the Evil Genius. He proposes marriage to the princess, but Odette rejects him. Rothbart turns her into white swan.
STEP ONE
Picture one
Garden in front of the castle of the sovereign princess. Prince Siegfried is having fun with his friends: funny dances of the jester are replaced by dances of girls and their gentlemen.
The sovereign princess is interested in which of the girls Siegfried fell in love with. But while the prince is fascinated by a life full of careless entertainment. He can't answer his mother. The sovereign princess retires.
The fun continues. But now it ceases to interest Siegfried. After the cup dance, the prince asks his friends to leave him alone. He is sad. His gaze is attracted by a flying flock of swans. Siegfried takes the crossbow and follows them.
Picture two
Lake Shore. The swans lead Siegfried into a dense forest thicket, where the ruins of an old castle rise around a dark lake. His attention is drawn to a beautiful white swan, which turns into a girl. This is Princess Odette. To Siegfried, she reveals the secret of the spell gravitating over her: evil wizard turned her into a swan, and only at night, near these rocks, she again becomes a girl. Siegfried is touched by Odette's mournful story and is ready to kill the sorcerer. But this does not dispel evil spells. Only the selfless love of a young man who has never sworn love to anyone can remove the evil spell from her. Siegfried, overcome by a feeling of love for Odette, gives her an oath of eternal fidelity.
The Evil Genius suddenly appears and separates Odette and Siegfried. But Siegfried is confident in the strength and immutability of his feelings: he will free Odette from the power of the sorcerer.
ACT TWO
Picture three
Solemn ball in a luxurious castle. Princesses gather for the feast different countries. Among them, Siegfried must choose his bride. However, he coldly turns away from them: the prince is full of memories of the beautiful Odette.
An unknown guest appears. This is Evil Genius. He came to the ball with his daughter Odile, who bears a striking resemblance to Odette. Odile charms the prince, and Siegfried announces to his mother his decision to marry her. The sorcerer triumphs. Now the oath is broken and Odette will die. So malicious laughter The Evil Genius points to a magical vision - the quivering image of Odette.
Siegfried realizes that he has been deceived and in desperation rushes to the swan lake.
Picture Four
Lake Shore. Gloomy disturbing night. Odette is shocked: now her hope of release is lost. Siegfried runs in. He did not break the oath: there, in the castle, in Odile, he saw his Odette - his love confession was addressed to her.
The evil genius, in a rage, summons the forces of nature against the lovers: a storm begins, lightning flashes. But now nothing can break the young pure love and separate Odette and Siegfried. Then the Evil Genius himself enters into combat with the prince - and dies. His spell is broken.
Odette turns into a girl and, together with Siegfried, joyfully meets the first rays of the rising sun.
Storyteller and explorer
The prototype of the Swan Lake interested me for a long time. It was based on a certain German legend, but it was not possible to find a single fairy tale that completely coincides with the libretto. The prototypes that inspired Tchaikovsky for ballet were called Russian folk tale"The White Duck" and "The Stolen Veil" in the retelling of Johann Museus.
"Swan Lake", a fairy tale narrated by Margot Fonteyn, with illustrations by Trine Shart-Heeman
But in these tales, as they say, everything was not so. In "Swan Lake" tragic story Odette, the swan queen, who was turned into a swan and is pursued by the evil sorcerer Rothbart, the owner of the swan lake. The Swan Queen meets Prince Siegfried, who swears to her eternal love and this should free Odette from evil spells. But before the wedding, it does not come. The prudent Rothbart comes to the prince’s ball with his daughter Odile, whom the prince either takes for Odette, or simply forgets about her when he sees a new beauty, but as a result, Siegfried almost calls the impostor his bride, and Odette, who has seen everything, runs to the lake in tears . Siegfried catches up to her and begs for forgiveness. And then there are several options. Siegfried decides own death to atone for guilt, thus to prove loyalty and remove the spell from Odette, but she cannot live without him, and both heroes are swallowed up by the lake. More differently rare variant Siegfried challenges and defeats Rothbart, and Odette is saved.
"Swan Lake", illustration by Trina Shart-Heeman
In "White Duck" - closest to the libretto - we are talking about the princess turned into a duck by an evil sorceress while the prince is away. The sorceress replaces the lawful spouse with herself and lives happily ever after, until the duck brings out the kids and, when the sorceress tries to kill them, the lawful father finds out the truth and saves everyone. The plot where the husband lives with a witch pretending to be his wife is quite common. And main topic in such tales - disobedience, because the princess runs into a transformation, because she violates her husband's prohibition, for example, not to leave the tower in his absence. However, in "Swan Lake" this theme goes away, and the condemnation of adultery and the inability to keep one's word comes to the fore.
white duck- illustration by Ivan Bilibin.
In The Stolen Veil by Museus, the story is reversed. Main character in it is a man - a soldier of the Swabian army Friedbert (the name is consonant with Siegfried). The heroine is a princess, a descendant of Leda, who can turn into a swan by own will. Enticed by her beauty, Friedbert takes possession of her magic veil, and without confessing to the girl in this, pretends that he wants to help her in every possible way. His calculation is simple. He was going to achieve a situation, as Lyudmila said in "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears": "He loves me, he cannot imagine life without a child, and he will also ask for forgiveness." The case really goes to the wedding, but just before the wedding, the hero’s ingenuous mother accidentally gives Callista her coverlet and the girl realizes that she has been cruelly deceived all this time. She throws on a veil and flies away, and the unlucky swan catcher has no choice but to go looking for her. For unfulfilled passion and guilt are terrible driving force. Of course, Friedbert finds his sweetheart, moreover, dying of love. For decency, she tried to drive away the deceiver, but he knew what to say and, of course, justified his trickery with love for her. What follows is a happy reunion of a not particularly noble and, frankly, not particularly noble hero with a princess who generously showers him with all the blessings.
The stolen veil, woodcuts - R. Jordan
I don't like this story. It was written in the 18th century in too sweet courtly language, in a gallant spirit, and therefore adultery, condemned in Swan Lake, blooms and smells here in full, just like the idea of "love will write everything off." And she does write off gigantic amounts of deceit. The characters are simply amazing. That the enterprising Friedbert, that the imaginary monk Beno, that the Beautiful Zoya is the sensual mother of Callista. The main character, of course, is the first gallant, but if we discard this, then the bottom line will be - a deceiver, a deserter, an imaginary hermit and just a resourceful guy who sells his rags and the staff of another hermit under the guise of holy relics, and also attributed to himself a noble pedigree to marry Callista. I would say that he is an exemplary businessman. The knight is like the moon to him, and Siegfried, seduced by Odile, is just an angel in front of him. Love here justifies the imaginary monasticism that Beno accepts, dreaming of only one thing - to see Zoya the swan again and take away her wings. Friedbert justifies all his actions with love. Beautiful Zoe justifies her craving for a visiting knight with love, and Callisto, of course, turns out to be Beno's daughter, and not her legal daddy. I do not recommend reading to children, and adults will be bored.
I want to say that in Russian fairy tales the plot of stolen wings is also found. I would even have decided that he served as the basis for the Museus fairy tale, but our Ivan Tsarevichs acted more honestly, in any case, the sea princess fell in love, knowing who he was and what he was capable of. So the transformation into a ballet benefited the plot. In the form of "Swan Lake" he became simpler, but more romantic and started talking about eternal values fidelity, sacrifice and love, which gives strength and saves from wiles. That, apparently, is worth it.
A halo of secrets is shrouded in the history of the creation of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ballet "Swan Lake". Storyline has long become familiar to viewers, although its literary source is still unclear. However, few people remember that the original libretto was completely different. But it was from him that Tchaikovsky repelled when writing music.
Forgotten fairy tale
... On the shore of a mysterious lake, the good fairy Odette lives. During the day, she soars above the earth in the form of a snow-white swan and enjoys freedom. At night, having taken on a human form, she dances merrily with her friends among the ruins of an old castle. However, Odette was disliked by her evil stepmother, who turned out to be a witch. She seeks to destroy her stepdaughter and pursues her, turning into an owl. But Odette is protected by a magical crown.
The girl told her story to the young prince Siegfried, who happened to be in the wilderness. He fell in love with the beautiful fairy at first sight. She reciprocated and opened main secret: liberation from the persecution of the owl-stepmother is possible if some young man falls in love with Odette for life. When he calls the girl his wife, the evil witch will become powerless. Siegfried is not afraid of any trials and volunteers to be the deliverer of his beloved.
However, he did not calculate his strength. A ball began in the palace, at which the prince had to choose a bride. The mysterious knight Rothbart appeared at the celebration with his daughter Odile. At first, she seemed to Siegfried like Odette, but then the image of the lake fairy faded in his soul. The charming guest completely captured the attention of the windy young man. Blinded by sudden passion, he calls Odile his bride.
The peals of thunder, the flash of lightning terrify Siegfried - he remembers Odette and hurries to the shore of the lake, hoping to beg her forgiveness. But now they must part. Wanting to keep the fairy next to him at all costs, Siegfried rips off the magic crown from her head. With this, he finally destroys the girl - now nothing will protect her from wicked stepmother. Odette falls dead in Siegfried's arms. A storm begins, and the oncoming waves absorb the unfortunate lovers.
lake of secrets
This was the plot in the first production. It took place in 1877 on the stage Bolshoi Theater. The name of the author of the libretto was not on the poster. Presumably he was Vladimir Begichev - the manager of the Imperial Moscow theaters. What was the name of his possible co-author? famous artist Vasily Geltser. But there is a possibility that the libretto was written by the composer himself. Vaclav Reisinger, the author of the choreography of the first production, could also participate in the work on the script.
The premiere was a moderate success. The deep music of Tchaikovsky did not immediately meet with understanding and found a worthy embodiment in dance. Choreographer Reisinger was not so much a creative artist as a conscientious worker. Nevertheless, in his production, the performance withstood several dozen performances. Then the ballet was forgotten for years.
The new birth of "Swan Lake" came in 1895 - on stage Mariinsky Theater. The first and third paintings were staged by Marius Petipa, the second and fourth by Lev Ivanov. Pyotr Ilyich was no longer alive at that time. The libretto was revised with the participation of his brother, Modest Tchaikovsky. The changes also affected the score - the order of some numbers has changed. In addition, several piano pieces composer - for the ballet they were orchestrated by Riccardo Drigo.
The game of opposites
In the plot, a number of key points have changed dramatically. Odette from good fairy turned into an enchanted girl - one of many. If in the first edition she voluntarily took the form of a swan, then according to the new libretto, this was the result of an evil spell. The image of the owl-stepmother has completely disappeared. The cause of all the troubles was the evil wizard Rothbart, who in the previous version was only an episodic character.
In the first libretto, the resemblance between Odile and Odette did not play a decisive role in the fact that Siegfried broke his word, given to the beloved. He was blinded by a brilliant stranger at a ball and forgot about the fairy from the lake. In the new version, the hero saw Odette in Odile, which somewhat mitigated his guilt. However, the oath of allegiance was nevertheless violated - Siegfried succumbed to an external impression, but did not listen to the voice of his soul.
In both versions, the ending is tragic - the heroes die in the stormy waves of the lake. But in the original libretto, the stepmother-owl, having killed Odette, triumphed. In the new version, the heroes defeat evil at the cost of their lives. Siegfried's self-sacrifice in the name of love for Odette leads Rothbart to death. Enchanted girls are released from the spell. Siegfried and Odette are reunited in the other world.
Endless search
The second version of the libretto looks more harmonious and logical. But the paradox is that the music was created based on the original plot. It was changed after the death of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The score was also revised without the consent of the composer. Nevertheless, successful attempts have been made to recreate the author's musical edition. In particular, it is based choreographic version Vladimir Pavlovich Burmeister.
There are a lot of productions of Swan Lake. Depending on the reading, some nuances are sometimes introduced into the libretto. It has a mystery that dancers and choreographers are trying to unravel. Everyone sees their own meaning. But the theme of beautiful, sublime love remains unchanged. And of course, moral choice- it always has to be done in a difficult struggle between good and evil, light and darkness.
The idea of staging the ballet "Swan Lake" belonged to the director of the Moscow Imperial troupe Vladimir Petrovich Begichev. He invited Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as a composer.
The plot was based on an old German legend about the beautiful princess Odette, who was turned into a white swan by the evil sorcerer Rothbart. In the ballet, the young Prince Siegfried falls in love with the beautiful swan girl Odette and vows to be faithful to her. However, at the ball arranged by the Queen Mother for Siegfried to choose his bride, the treacherous Rothbart appears with his daughter Odile. The black swan Odile is a double and, at the same time, the antipode of Odette. Siegfried unwittingly falls under Odile's spell and proposes to her. Realizing his mistake, the prince runs to the shore of the lake to ask for forgiveness from the beautiful Odette... In the original version of the libretto, the fairy tale turns into a tragedy: Siegfried and Odette perish in the waves.
At first, Odette and Odile were completely different characters. But, while working on the music of the ballet, Tchaikovsky decided that the girls should be a kind of doubles, which leads Siegfried to tragic mistake. Then it was decided that the parts of Odette and Odile should be performed by the same ballerina.
First failures
Work on the score continued from the spring of 1875 to April 10, 1876 (this date is indicated in the score by the composer himself). However, rehearsals on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater began even before the end of composing the music, on March 23, 1876. The first director of Swan Lake was the Czech ballet master Julius Wenzel Reisinger. However, the performance, which premiered on February 20, 1877, was not successful and, after 27 performances, left the stage.In 1880 or 1882 the Belgian choreographer Josef Gansen decided to revive the production. Despite the fact that Gansen changed the dance scenes a little, in fact, a new version"Swan Lake" differed little from the previous one. As a result, the ballet was shown only 11 times and, it would seem, forever disappeared into oblivion and oblivion.
Birth of a legend
On October 6, 1893, without waiting for the triumph of his creation, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky died in St. Petersburg. In memory of him, the St. Petersburg Imperial Troupe decided to give grand concert, consisting of fragments various works composer, including the second act of the unsuccessful ballet Swan Lake. However, the theater's chief choreographer, Marius Petipa, did not undertake to stage scenes from the deliberately failed ballet. Then this work was entrusted to his assistant Lev Ivanov.Ivanov brilliantly coped with the task assigned to him. It was he who managed to turn "Swan Lake" into a legend. Ivanov gave the second act of the ballet a romantic sound. In addition, the choreographer decided on a step that was revolutionary for that time: he removed artificial wings from the costumes of swans and gave the movements of their hands a resemblance to the flapping of wings. At the same time, the famous "Dance of the Little Swans" appeared.
The work of Lev Ivanov made a strong impression on Marius Petipa, and he suggested that the choreographer together stage full version ballet. For new edition"Swan Lake" it was decided to rework the libretto. This work was entrusted to Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky. However, the changes in the content of the ballet were not significant, and the finale remained tragic.
On January 15, 1895, the premiere of a new version of the ballet Swan Lake took place on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. This time, the production was a triumphant success. It was the Petipa-Ivanov version that began to be considered classical and, to this day, underlies all productions of Swan Lake.
Today "Swan Lake" is considered a symbol classical ballet and does not leave the stage of the leading theaters of Russia and the world. It should also be noted that most modern ballet productions - happy ending. And this is not surprising: "Swan Lake" is beautiful fairy tale And fairy tales must end well.
P. I. Tchaikovsky ballet "Swan Lake"
The ballet "Swan Lake" has been captivating the hearts of classical music fans for more than a century. It is considered to be the standard high art, and many world-famous dancers were proud that they had such good luck - to perform a part in this performance. "Swan Lake" without a share of exaggeration can be called the pearl of Russian classics, and P.I. Tchaikovsky - a great composer. The ballet was based on a fairy tale of the knightly era. This is a quivering and beautiful love story filled with many obstacles and trials that lie in wait for young lovers.
|
Characters |
Description |
| Odette | princess turned into a white swan |
| Siegfried | young prince |
| Odile | Rothbart's daughter, the black swan |
| Sovereign Princess | Siegfried's mother |
| Rothbart | evil wizard |
| Benno | friend of Prince Siegfried |
| wolfgang | Siegfried's mentor |
- Maya Plisetskaya performed the role of Odette-Odile at the Bolshoi Theater for 30 years.
- In 1968 a new variety of white rose was named "Swan Lake"
- In his version of the famous ballet, Matthew Bourne for the first time replaced all acting ballerinas with male dancers, which also brought great success and public interest. This version received a standing ovation on the stages of the USA, Greece, Israel, Turkey, Russia, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Korea, Japan, France, Germany and Ireland, and was also awarded more than 30 international awards.
- The ballet "Swan Lake" first appeared to the American public at the San Francisco Ballet Theatre.
- Graham Murphy's 2002 British production of Swan Lake was based on the controversial breakup between Prince Charles and Princess Diana.
- The release of Ivanov and Petipa's production in 1894 was postponed for long time due to the death of the emperor Alexander III and subsequent official mourning.
- Literally four years before Tchaikovsky received this order, he had already composed a small ballet "The Lake of Swans" for children, which was performed under the strict guidance of the composer in 1871, at the Kamenka estate.
- The work on the performance lasted about a year, and with short breaks due to the fact that the composer also composed the Third Symphony during this period.
- Many admirers of Tchaikovsky's work wonder what could inspire him to write such a heartfelt and beautiful music? It is believed that this is the merit of the lake in the Cherkasy region, where swans live. The composer rested there just for several days, admiring the local nature. But in Germany they are sure that the ballet tells about Swan Lake, which is located near the city of Vossen.
- Initially, prima Anna Sobeshchanskaya was chosen for the premiere in 1876, but she quarreled strongly with the composer, so this role was offered to Polina Karpakova. As it turned out, the reason for the conflict was that I was not satisfied with the absence of at least one solo in the 3rd act. dance number. There is evidence that Sobeshchanskaya even went specially to M. Petipa and asked to insert a solo to his music in this action. If the choreographer complied with her request, the composer flatly refused to insert a piece of music that was not his own. Soon Tchaikovsky offered to settle the conflict and nevertheless wrote her a solo, a little later variations were added to it.
- The estimate for the premiere screening of "Swan Lake" was very small and amounted to about 6,800 rubles.
- The well-known critic Herman Laroche noted after the premiere the music of the ballet, but he called everything related to the dance side “boring and poor”.
- In the press, only the work of artist Karl Waltz received praise from journalists, who specially developed technology that provides the illusion of fog using steam.
- The researchers suggest that the basis of the literary source may be: the fairy tale "Swan Pond", "The Stolen Veil" by Mazues, as well as an old German legend.
- Lev Ivanov, while working on the production of the ballet, rethought the costumes of the dancers, removed the swan wings to free their hands, giving them the opportunity to move. He also owns the already legendary "Dance of the Little Swans" from the second act.
- Laurel the best performer parts of Odette belong to Pierina Legnani, who performed all dance moves especially elegant, even 32 fouettes. For the first time in this role, she performed on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater.
- Many residents former USSR remembered this ballet with very disturbing events in the life of the country, because during the August coup that took place in 1991, it was this performance that was broadcast on all television channels.
- In everyone's favorite cartoon "Well, you wait!" (Issue 15) shows a parody of the Dance of the Little Swans. Generally, classical music can often be heard in cartoons . More details can be found in a special section.
Productions
The long-awaited premiere of "Swan Lake" in February 1977 was greeted by the public rather cool, despite the tremendous work done by the entire troupe. Connoisseurs of that time even recognized this work as unsuccessful and soon it was removed from the stage. The main culprits for such an unsuccessful production were mainly choreographer Wenzel Reisinger and Polina Karpakova, who performed the part of Odette.
Almost twenty years later, the directorate of the imperial theaters again turned their attention to Tchaikovsky's work in order to stage it in the new season of 1893-1894. So already new scenario The performance was designed by the famous Marius Petipa and literally immediately began work on it, together with Tchaikovsky. But sudden death composer interrupted this work, and the choreographer himself was deeply shocked by this. A student and assistant of Petipa, a year later he staged one picture from the ballet, which was very enthusiastically received by the public. After such success and the highest critical acclaim, the choreographer assigned Ivanov to work on other scenes, and Petipa himself was soon able to return to work on Swan Lake. Undoubtedly, thanks to the efforts of the two directors, the plot of the performance was incredibly enriched. Ivanov decided to introduce the White Queen of Swans, and Petipa offered to oppose Odile to her. Thus arose the "black" pas de deux from the second act.
The new premiere took place in January 1895 in St. Petersburg. It was from this moment that the ballet received well-deserved recognition both among the public and among music critics, and this version was recognized as the best.
The performance on stage caused incredible delight among the audience. Vienna Opera held in 1964. The performers of the part of Odette - Margot Fonteyn and Siegfried - Rudolf Nureyev were called for an encore eighty-nine times! It is curious that the director of the performance was Nureyev himself. In his version, all the action was focused on the prince.
