SWAN LAKE

'Swan Lake' (, ''Lebedinoye Ozero'', ''Swan Lake'') 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). 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

The ballet: synopsis and score

History

Original Reisinger/Tchaikovsky production

Libretto, score, and choreography

Premiere and reception

The Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux

Subsequent productions (1879-1894)

1895 Petipa/Ivanov/Drigo revival

Preparation

Premiere

Productions and dance adaptations after 1895

Adaptations in other media

Film

Music in Film/TV

Literature

Other

References

External links

The ballet: synopsis and score

The score used in this comparison is Tchaikovsky's score,^[1] which may be different from Drigo's edition of the score, which is commonly performed today. 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.

	Synopsis	Score
'Act I'	''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 sets off in pursuit.	★ 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. 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'	Sigfried 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.	★ 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'	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.	★ 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 Mme. 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 Mlle. 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'	In the fourth act, versions of the ballet diverge. In the original version, Odette and Siegfried, realizing that the spell can never be broken, drown themselves by leaping into the lake. This causes von Rothbart to lose his power over them, and he dies as a result. But 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 which has an ending very close to the original danced by American Ballet Theatre in 2005, 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.	★ 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

History

Original Reisinger/Tchaikovsky production

Main articles: Reisinger/Tchaikovsky production of Swan Lake

Libretto, score, and choreography

The origins of the ballet ''Swan Lake'' are rather obscured, since very few records concerning the first production of the work have survived. The most authoritative, though speculative, theory suggests that the libretto was written by Vladimir Petrovich Begichev, director of the Moscow Imperial Theatres during the time that the ballet was originally produced.


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.
''Swan Lake'' was the first ballet set to the score of a symphonic composer. At this time, 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. Tchaikovsky studied the music of these "specialists" before setting to work on ''Swan Lake''.
Tchaikovsky drew on previous compositions in for his ''Swan Lake'' score. He made use of material from ''The Voyevoda'', an opera that he had abandoned in 1868, in ''Swan Lake's ''Grand Adagio'' (aka the ''Love Duet''), ''Waltz of the Prospective Fiancées'', and the ''Entr'acte'' of the fourth scene. According to Tchaikovsky's nephew, Tchaikovsky originally created the famous ''Swan's Theme'' for a little ballet called ''The Lake of the Swans'' he had written at his home for the amusement of his relatives.
It is not known what sort of collaborative processes were involved between Tchaikovsky and Reisinger. Tchaikovsky likely had some form of instruction in composing ''Swan Lake'', as he had to know what sort of dances would be required. 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.
By April of 1876 the score was complete, and rehearsals began. Soon Reisinger began setting certain numbers aside that he dubbed "unsuitable for ballet." Reisinger even began choreographing dances to other composers' music, but Tchaikovsky protested, and his pieces were reinstated.

Premiere and reception

''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. Karpakova likely also danced the part Odile, although it is not known for certain.
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 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."''

The Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux

In spite of the poor reaction to the premiere, the ballet nevertheless continued being performed. On April 26 1877 the prima ballerina of the Moscow Imperial Bolshoi Theatre Anna Sobeshchanskaya made her début as Odette/Odile in ''Swan Lake'', and from the start she was completely dissatisfied with the production of the ballet, but most of all with Reisinger's choreography and Tchaikovsky's music. Sobeshchanskaya traveled to St. Petersburg to have a new ''Pas de Deux'' choreographed to replace the ''Grand Pas de Six'', which functioned as the ballet's ''Grand Pas''. (This was standard practice in 19th century ballet.) In response, Petipa fashioned a ''Pas de Deux'' to the specially composed music of Léon Minkus.
Word of this change soon found its way to Tchaikovsky, who became very angry. Eventually, Tchaikovsky agreed to compose a ''Pas'' that would correspond precisely to Minkus' music, fitting the new choreography. (In doing so, Tchaikovsky merely re-scored most of Minkus' music, with slight melodic and harmonic modifications.)
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. 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.

Subsequent productions (1879-1894)

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 arranged a ''Grand Pas'' for the ballroom scene which he titled ''La Cosmopolitana''. This was taken from the European section of the ''Grand Pas d'action'' known as ''The Allegory of the Continents'' from Marius Petipa's 1875 ballet ''The Bandits'' to the music of Ludwig Minkus. Hansen's 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.

1895 Petipa/Ivanov/Drigo revival

Main articles: Petipa/Ivanov/Drigo revival of Swan Lake

Preparation

During the late 1880s and early 1890s, Pepita and Vsevolozhsky considered reviving Swan Lake and were in talks with Tchaikovsky about doing so. However, Tchaikovsky died on November 6 1893, just when plans to revive ''Swan Lake'' were beginning to come to fruition. It remains uncertain whether Tchaikovsky was even going to revise the music for the prospected revival of ''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. There are major differences between Drigo's Swan Lake score and Tchaikovsky's score. (Today, 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 uses when performing ''Swan Lake''.)
In February 1894, two memorial concerts planned by Vsevolozhsky were given in honor of Tchaikovsky. The production included the second scene of ''Swan Lake'', choreographed Lev Ivanov, Second Balletmaster to the Imperial Ballet. Ivanov's choreography for the memorial concert was unanimously hailed as wonderful.
The Ballerina who danced Odette was the Italian virtuosa Pierina Legnani, 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. Her performance demonstrated her phenomenal technique, climaxing in no less than thirty two ''fouettés en tournant'' (the most ever performed) during the ''grand pas''. The dazzled public roared with demands for an encore, and the Ballerina repeated her variation, this time performing twenty eight fouettés en tournant.

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.
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.

Premiere

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.
The premiere of the Petipa/Ivanov/Drigo was quite a success, though not as much of one as it has been in modern times. Most of the reviews in the St. Petersburg newspapers were positive.
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 sixteen performances between the premiere and the 1895-1896 season, and was not performed at all in 1897. Even more surprising, the ballet was performed only 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.

Productions and dance adaptations after 1895

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. 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.
Several notable productions have diverged from the original and its 1895 revival. Matthew Bourne's ''Swan Lake'', for instance, departed from the traditional ballet by replacing the female corps de ballet with male dancers. Since its inception in 1995, Matthew Bourne's production has never been off the stage, somewhere in the world, for more than a few months. It has toured the United Kingdom and returned to London several times. It has been performed on extended tours in Greece, Israel, Turkey, Australia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Russia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States, in addition to the United Kingdom.
Graeme Murphy's ''Swan Lake'', first performed in 2002, combined roles of Von Rothbart and Odile into that of a Baroness, and the focus of the story is a love triangle.^[2]

Adaptations in other media

Film

★ ''Swan Lake'' (1978): An anime directed by Kimio Yabuki which uses Tchaikovsky's score and remains relatively faithful to the story. The English version aired on The Disney Channel in the early 1990s.^[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.

★ ''Billy Elliot'' (2000) The ballet that Billy performs in in the final scene is Matthew Bourne's version of "Swan Lake" where all the Swans are played by men. Billy plays the part of the Swan

Music in Film/TV

★ ''Dracula'' (1931) This classic Bela Lugosi film features the Swan Lake score. The mummy(1932) with Boris Karloff also features the swan lake score.

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.

Other

★ 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.

★ The Imperial Ice Stars have staged an ice dancing production which uses Tchaikovsky's score called ''Swan Lake on Ice''. It began touring in 2006 and is set to end its tour in 2008.^[4]

References

1. The correspondence is drawn from http://www.rohedswanlake.org.uk/pgs/main/news_story.asp?id=2, which describes a four-act play. Drigo's version of the ballet is in three acts.
2. http://www.ballet.co.uk/magazines/yr_05/jul05/interview_mcallister_murphy.htm
3. http://www.radish-spirit.com/cbl/swanprincess/misc1/anime.htm
4. http://www.imperialicestars.com/productions/sloi/movies.shtm

External links

Background

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

★ Rudolf Nureyev's choreography of Swan Lake
Video recordings of the ballet:

★ ''Swan Lake'' (2005) Murphy and Corella (ABT)

★ (1957)

★ (1967)

★ (1996)
Music scores:

★