The Story Orchestra: Swan Lake: Press the note to hear Tchaikovsky's music (4)

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From around the time of the turn of the 19th century until the beginning of the 1890s, scores for ballets were almost always written by composers known as "specialists" 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 "specialists" such as the Italian Cesare Pugni and the Austrian Ludwig Minkus, before setting to work on Swan Lake. Princess Odette (the Swan Queen, the White Swan, the Swan Princess), a beautiful princess, who has been transformed into a white swan Riccardo Drigo was the conductor of the Mariinsky orchestra. He dropped some numbers from the ballet. He orchestrated three piano numbers from Tchaikovsky's Op. 72. He then put them in the ballet. These three numbers were "L'Espiègle", "Valse Bluette", and "Un poco di Chopin". He then put a number into Act 3 which he may have written himself. [22] In one of the Madagascar: A Little Wild episodes called “Hippo Lake.” It has a bunch of Swan Lake references from this episode. Swan Lake Reloaded" (in German). Archived from the original on 16 February 2020 . Retrieved 11 August 2013.

In a version danced by New York City Ballet in 2006 (with choreography by Peter Martins after Lev Ivanov, Marius Petipa, and George Balanchine), Siegfried's declaration he wishes to marry Odile constitutes a betrayal that condemns Odette to remain a swan forever. She is called away into swan form, and Siegfried is left alone in grief as the curtain falls. During the late 1880s and early 1890s, Petipa and Vsevolozhsky discussed with Tchaikovsky the possibility of reviving Swan Lake. [18] However, Tchaikovsky died on 6 November 1893, [19] just when plans to revive Swan Lake were beginning to come to fruition. It remains uncertain whether Tchaikovsky was prepared to revise the music for this revival. Whatever the case, as a result of Tchaikovsky's death, Riccardo Drigo revised the score, after receiving approval from Tchaikovsky's younger brother, Modest. There are major differences between Drigo's and Tchaikovsky's scores. Today, it is Drigo's revision, and not Tchaikovsky's original score of 1877, that most ballet companies use. In the film T-34, music from Swan Lake could be heard while the main characters test-drive a captured T-34 for the Germans and pulling off ballet-style moves with the tank. We do know, though, that it was Begichev who commissioned the score in May 1875 for a fee of 800 roubles. We also know that before setting to work, Tchaikovsky studied the music of ‘specialist’ ballet composers like Cesare Pugni (1802-70) and Ludwig Minkus (1826-1917) whose light, rhythmic, melodious but vapid works were in great demand. The two composers whose ballet music he most admired were French: Adolphe Adam and Leo Delibes. Adam’s 1844 Giselle, still one of the most celebrated in the repertoire, was Tchaikovsky’s favourite ballet. Adam uses leitmotifs – the technique that associates certain musical themes with particular characters and emotions, a device that Tchaikovsky adopted for Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty. As for Delibes, Tchaikovsky later wrote to his protégé the composer Sergei Taneyev that he “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.”In all, Swan Lake was performed 41 times between its première and the final performance of 1883 – a rather lengthy run for a ballet that was so poorly received upon its première. Hansen became Balletmaster to the Alhambra Theatre in London and on 1 December 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. Tapp, Tom (3 March 2022). "TV Rain, Russia's Last Independent TV Channel, Airs Symbolic Protest On Final Broadcast". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. The première was not well received. Though there were a few critics who recognised the virtues of the score, most considered it to be far too complicated for ballet. It was labelled "too noisy, too ' Wagnerian' and too symphonic." [15] The critics also thought Reisinger's choreography was "unimaginative and altogether unmemorable." [15] The German origins of the story were "treated with suspicion while the tale itself was regarded as 'stupid' with unpronounceable surnames for its characters." [15] Karpakova was a secondary soloist and "not particularly convincing." [15]

In the second season of the anime Kaleido Star, a circus adaptation of Swan Lake becomes one of the Kaleido Stage's most important and successful shows. Main character Sora Naegino plays Princess Odette, with characters Leon Oswald as Prince Siegfried and May Wong as Odile. Set to Tchaikovsky’s poignant score, Swan Lake presents ballet's most famous scenes, including the resplendent Act II pas de deux for Siegfried and Odette. This Swan Lake reinterprets the time-honoured masterpiece as never witnessed before, a work that will redefine ballet history for generations to come. The première on 4 March 1877 was given as a benefit performance for the ballerina Pelageya Karpakova (also known as Polina Karpakova), who performed the role of Odette, with première danseur Victor Gillert as Prince Siegfried. Karpakova may also have danced the part Odile, although it is believed the ballet originally called for two different dancers. It is now common practice for the same ballerina to dance both Odette and Odile.Petipa created the pas de deux to music by Ludwig Minkus, ballet composer to the St Petersburg Imperial Theatres. The piece was a standard pas de deux classique consisting of a short entrée, the grand adage, a variation for each dancer individually, and a coda. Tchaikovsky was angered by this change, stating that whether the ballet was good or bad, he alone should be held responsible for its music. He agreed to compose a new pas de deux, but soon a problem arose: Sobeshchanskaya wanted to retain Petipa's choreography. Tchaikovsky agreed to compose a pas de deux that would match to such a degree, the ballerina would not even be required to rehearse. Sobeshchanskaya was so pleased with Tchaikovsky's new music, she requested he compose an additional variation, which he did. In Brain Donors (1992), the three main characters try and succeed in sabotaging a fictional production of the ballet. Swan Lake (Russian: Лебеди́ное о́зеро, tr. Lebedínoje ózero, IPA: [lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə] listen ⓘ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failure, it is now one of the most popular ballets of all time. [1] Pudelek, Janina (1990–1991). " Swan Lake in Warsaw, 1900". Dance Chronicle. 13 (3): 359–367. doi: 10.1080/01472529008569046. JSTOR 1567690.