Swan party in Swan Lake. Swan Lake. Russian Classic Grand Ballet. Ballet "Swan Lake"

04.11.2019

And Lev Ivanov

« Swan Lake» - ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in four acts. Libretto by Vladimir Begichev and, possibly, Vasily Geltser with additions by the composer himself.

Plot

The plot is based on many folklore motifs, partially used before in various literary works, as well as opera and ballet librettos.

The spell of the evil genius works during the day, but when the moon comes, the white swan turns into the beautiful Odette. She is not alone; she is surrounded by enchanted swan girls on the lake, who call Odette the swan queen. According to legend, a mother’s tears for her daughter, who was kidnapped by a villain, formed a magical “swan lake.” The spell can only be broken by true love young man, but if the vow of eternal love is broken, she will forever remain a swan. The four scenes of the ballet alternate real and fantastic scenes. Celebrating his coming of age in the palace park, Prince Siegfried is having fun among his friends, but a flock of swans flying over the park beckons him along. In the forest, on the shore of the lake, among the swan girls, the prince finds Odette, the swan queen with a crown on her head. Captivated by her beauty and shocked by her story of persecution by the evil owner of the lake, Rothbart, Siegfried swears eternal love to Odette. At the ball in the castle, at the behest of Siegfried's mother, he must choose a bride for himself. The very first beauties dance in front of him. Alternation occurs national dances: Spanish, Neapolitan, Hungarian, Polish (mazurka) - however, the prince is indifferent until Odile appears, in whom Siegfried sees Odette, and he gives preference to her. Realizing that he has made a fatal mistake, Siegfried runs to the lake and begs Odette for forgiveness, but does not receive it. Tearing off the crown from Odette's head (the crown saved Odette from persecution), Siegfried challenges Rothbart, the owner of the lake, who personifies the image of fate in the ballet. The prince hopes that the swan girl will go with him to the human world. In the fairy tale, the stormy waves of the elements raging on the lake swallow Odette and Siegfried.

Production history

The stage history of the play was difficult. The premiere took place on February 20 (March 4) on the stage of the Moscow Bolshoi Theater, performed by artists of the imperial troupe. The original choreography was by choreographer Wenzel Reisinger. The ballet was divided into four acts - one scene in each. The first performer of the roles of Odette and Odile was Polina Karpakova. At the fourth performance, the main role was performed for the first time by Anna Sobeshchanskaya.

Reisinger's production was not successful and was considered a failure. In 1882, choreographer Joseph Hansen resumed and partially edited the old performance. On February 17, 1894, at a concert dedicated to the memory of P. I. Tchaikovsky, the “swan” scene of Act II of the ballet was staged for the first time by Lev Ivanov (the main roles were performed by Pierina Legnani and Pavel Gerdt).

The premiere of the entire performance took place on January 15 (27) at the Mariinsky Theater. Choreographer Petipa, together with M. I. Tchaikovsky, revised the libretto and, together with composer Ricardo Drigo, the score. Petipa owned the choreography of Act I, Act III (with the exception of the Venetian and Hungarian dances) and apotheosis; Lev Ivanov - Act II, Venetian and Hungarian dances of Act III and Act IV.

Petipa-Ivanov's version has become a classic. It forms the basis for most subsequent productions of Swan Lake, with the exception of the modernist ones. Most often, the canonical choreography of the second, “swan” act of Ivanov and the “black” act is used pas d'action(often converted to pas de deux Prince Siegfried and Odile) Petipa. However, the influence of the St. Petersburg production on the entire subsequent fate of the ballet is much broader than the mechanical reproduction of its individual elements. In fact, it contained the main traditions that determined the approach of new choreographers to the original text of P. I. Tchaikovsky. A free revision of the libretto and an equally free re-arrangement of the score, supplemented with fragments of non-ballet music by P. I. Tchaikovsky, became firmly established in theatrical practice.

Today, of all the existing editions of the ballet, there are hardly even two that have completely identical theatrical scores. The most radical versions in this regard are considered to be the Viennese production by Rudolf Nureyev and the version by Vladimir Burmeister, and the most common replacements are to return in Act III the variations of the main characters, written by Tchaikovsky for pas de six And pas de deux Sobeschanskaya and the inclusion in the 4th picture of a duet to the music of the second variation from pas de six. The “Swan” painting by Lev Ivanov was most accurately restored in the original performance by John Neumeier “Illusions - like Swan Lake” ().

Productions

19th century

Bolshoi Theater

February 20 (March 4) - ballet in four acts, choreographer Wenzel Reisinger, stage director Stepan Ryabov (Odette and Odile - Polina Karpakova, then - Anna Sobeshenskaya)
January 13 (25) - resumption of the ballet in a new edition, choreographer Joseph Hansen based on Reisinger's performance, with partial changes to the choreography.
October 28 (November 9) - resumption of the ballet, choreographer Hansen (Odette - Lydia Gaten)

Prague Theater

February 9, 1888 - Act II, choreographer - Augustin Berger (Odette - Juliet Paltrinieri)

Mariinsky Theater

February 17, 1894 - Act II (in concert program“In Memory of P. I. Tchaikovsky”) choreographer Lev Ivanov (Odetta - Pierina Legnani, Prince Siegfried - Pavel Gerdt)
January 15 (27) - a complete production of the ballet in a new dramatic and musical version in three acts, four scenes; libretto by M. I. Tchaikovsky, musical composition by R. E. Drigo and M. I. Petipa, choreographers Petipa (1st scene of the 1st act, 2nd act, he also carried out the preliminary development of dances and mise-en-scenes of the 3rd act ) and Ivanov (2nd scene of Act 1 in the 1894 version, Venetian and Hungarian dances in Act 2, Act 3 according to Petipa’s plans); male variation in the pas d'action of the 2nd act - A. A. Gorsky, since 1914, in his own production the Spanish dance was performed in the 2nd act.

XX century - our time

In Russia

Bolshoi Theater

1901 - transfer of the St. Petersburg performance by Petipa and Ivanov with a partial revision of the choreography, choreographer A. A. Gorsky, artists Alexander Golovin and Konstantin Korovin (Odette and Odile - Adelina Giuri, Siegfried - Mikhail Mordkin)
1920 - new production, choreographer Alexander Gorsky, director V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, artist Konstantin Korovin (second act), conductor Andrei Arends (Odette - Elena Ilyushchenko, Odile - Maria Reisen)
1937 - resumption of Gorsky's production with a new fourth scene, choreographers Evgenia Dolinskaya (restoration of the 1st-3rd scenes) and Asaf Messerer (new production of the 4th scene), conductor Yuri Fayer (Odette and Odile - Marina Semyonova, Siegfried - Mikhail Gabovich, Rothbart - Pyotr Gusev)
1969 - Bolshoi Theater, choreographer Yuri Grigorovich, artist Simon Virsaladze, conductor Algis Zhiuraitis (Odette and Odile - Natalya Bessmertnova, Siegfried - Nikolai Fadeechev)

Theater named after Kirov / Mariinsky Theater

1933 - ballet in three acts and four scenes, a new production preserving the main fragments of the choreography of Petipa and Ivanov; libretto by V. V. Dmitriev, musical composition by B. V. Asafiev, choreographer A. Ya. Vaganova, director S. E. Radlov, conductor Evgeny Mravinsky. The role of the heroine is for the first time divided into two ballerinas (Odette - Galina Ulanova, Odile - Olga Jordan, Siegfried - Konstantin Sergeev)
1945 - resumption of the production of Petipa and Ivanov in a new choreographic and directorial version, choreographer F.V. Lopukhov (scenery - B.I. Volkova, costumes by Tatiana Bruni (Odette and Odile - Natalya Dudinskaya, Siegfried - Konstantin Sergeev, Rothbart - Robert Gerbeck)
March 8, 1950 - a new version of the play by Petipa and Ivanov, choreographer K. M. Sergeev - the play remains in the repertoire Mariinsky Theater to date

Maly Opera and Ballet Theater / Mikhailovsky Theater

1958 - resumption of the production by Petipa and Ivanov in the original version of 1895, choreographers Lopukhov and K.F. Boyarsky (Odette - Vera Stankevich, Odile - Tatyana Borovikova)

In subsequent years, the performance was repeatedly remade and resumed in separate parts

2009 - revival of the Moscow production by A. M. Messerer of 1937 (with design in 1956), choreography by Petipa, Ivanov, Gorsky, Messerer, production and new choreographic version by M. G. Messerer - the performance remains in the repertoire of the Mikhailovsky Theater according to present time

Moscow Musical Theater

1953 - Moscow Musical Theater named after. Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko, choreographers Vladimir Burmeister and Pyotr Gusev (production of the 2nd act after Lev Ivanov, Odette and Odile - Violetta Bovt) - the performance remains in the theater’s repertoire to the present day

Abroad

Postage stamp of Kazakhstan, 2009, 180 tenge

1911 - New York, choreographer Mikhail Mordkin (also the performer of the role of Siegfried), Odette and Odile - Ekaterina Geltser
1925 - Belgrade, choreographer A. Fortunato
1928 - Tbilisi, choreographer R. Balanotti
1934 - London, choreographer

P.I. Tchaikovsky ballet "Swan Lake"

The ballet “Swan Lake” has captivated the hearts of classical music fans for more than a century. It is rightfully considered the standard high art, and many world-famous dancers were proud that they had such luck - to perform a part in this performance. “Swan Lake” without a grain of exaggeration can be called a pearl of Russian classics, and P.I. Tchaikovsky - a great composer. The ballet is based on a fairy tale from the knightly era. This is a moving and beautiful love story, filled with many obstacles and trials that await young lovers.

Read a summary of Tchaikovsky's ballet "" and many interesting facts about this work on our page.

Characters	Description
Odette	princess turned into a white swan
Siegfried	young prince
Odile	Rothbart's daughter, black swan
Sovereign Princess	Siegfried's mother
Rothbart	evil wizard
Benno	friend of Prince Siegfried
Wolfgang	Siegfried's mentor

Summary of “Swan Lake”

The ballet begins in ancient castle, during the celebration of the coming of age of the heir to the throne, Siegfried. The plot is imbued with the spirit of the era, this is largely facilitated by the rite of knighting, which means that the heir enters adulthood. But he longs for love, and of course there are a sufficient number of beauties among the guests, each of whom would be happy to be next to him. The prince dreams of a bright feeling and, like a real romantic, cherishes the image of an ideal beloved in his soul.

Young Siegfried, thanks to the intervention of Fate itself, is transported to the shore of a magical lake and meets a charming girl, whose image has haunted him for so long in dreams and in reality. She turns out to be the Beautiful Swan Odette and the ardent young man immediately confesses his feelings to her and promises to remain faithful.

But in vain does the heir to the throne rejoice at such luck; Fate prepares real obstacles for him, preventing them mutual love and tests the beautiful couple with jealousy and betrayal. Turning into a mysterious knight and appearing in the prince’s castle with Odette’s double, she forces the young man in love, blinded by emotions, to break all his vows to his chosen one. But even after going through all the obstacles, the lovers are not destined to be together; no one is able to disrupt the plans of Fate, which hides his beloved from Siegfried, leaving him alone on the shore of a beautiful magical lake.

Photo:

Interesting facts

This fabulous ballet, incredibly popular these days, literally failed at its first premiere. The deeply upset author said that he would be appreciated, but later and the time for this work was still ahead. This “later” came 18 years later with the brilliant productions of Lev Ivanov and Marius Petipa .
By the way, have you heard the saying about “the ninth swan in the fifth row”? It denotes an artist who has not achieved success in his career, who is forced to constantly be content with minor roles and extras.
The roles of Odette and Odile are performed by one ballerina.
Maya Plisetskaya performed the role of Odette-Odile on the stage of 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 the acting ballerinas with male dancers, which also brought huge success and public interest. This version received standing ovations on stages in 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 was first presented to the American public at the San Francisco Ballet Theater.
The 2002 British production of Graham Murphy's Swan Lake was based on the scandalous split between Prince Charles and Princess Diana.
The release of Ivanov and Petipa's production in 1894 was delayed for a long time due to the death of Emperor Alexander III and subsequent official mourning.
Literally four years before Tchaikovsky received this order, he had already composed a short ballet “Lake of Swans” for children, which was performed under the strict guidance of the composer in 1871, on the Kamenka estate.

Work on the performance lasted about a year, with short breaks due to the fact that the composer was also composing the Third Symphony during this period.
Many admirers of Tchaikovsky's work wonder what could have inspired him to write such a heartfelt and beautiful music? There is an opinion that this is the merit of the lake in the Cherkasy region, where swans live. The composer rested there for several days, admiring the local nature. But in Germany they are sure that the ballet tells specifically about Swan Lake, which is located near the city of Vossen.
Initially, prima Anna Sobeshchanskaya was chosen for the premiere in 1876, but she had a strong quarrel with the composer, so this role was offered to Polina Karpakova. As it turned out, the reason for the conflict that arose was that I was not satisfied with the absence of at least one solo in Act 3 dance number. There is information that Sobeshchanskaya even went specifically to M. Petipa and asked to insert a solo to his music into this action. If the choreographer complied with her request, the composer flatly refused to insert a fragment of music that was not his own. Soon Tchaikovsky offered to resolve the conflict and wrote a solo for her, 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 famous critic Hermann Laroche noted the music of the ballet after the premiere, but he called everything related to the dance side “boring and poor.”
Only the work of the artist Carl Waltz, who specially developed a technology that provides the illusion of fog using steam, received praise from journalists.
Researchers suggest that the literary source may be based on: the fairy tale “Swan Pond”, “The Stolen Veil” by Mazues, as well as an ancient German legend.
Lev Ivanov, while working on the ballet, rethought the costumes of the dancers, removing the swan wings to free up their hands, giving them the opportunity to move. He also owns the already legendary “” from the second act.

The laurels of the best performer of the role of Odette belong to Pierina Legnani, who performed all the dance movements with particular grace, even the 32 fouettés. For the first time in this role she performed on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater.
Many residents former USSR we remembered this ballet with very disturbing events in the life of the country, because during the August coup that occurred in 1991, this particular performance was broadcast by all television channels.
In everyone’s favorite cartoon “Well, wait a minute!” (15th issue) shows a parody of the Dance of the Little Swans. At all, classical music can be heard quite often in cartoons . You can find out more about this in a special section.

Popular numbers from the ballet “Swan Lake”

Dance of the little swans - listen

Spanish dance - listen

Odette's theme - listen

Neapolitan dance - listen

Great Waltz - listen

The history of the creation of “Swan Lake”

In 1875 P.I. Tchaikovsky received a very unexpected order from the directorate of the imperial theaters. They invited him to take on “Lake of Swans”, but, as a rule, opera composers at that time almost did not work in the ballet genre, not counting Adan. However, Pyotr Ilyich did not refuse this order and decided to try his hand. The composer was offered a script by V. Begichev and V. Geltser for work. It is noteworthy that it was mainly based on various tales and legends in which there are girls turned into swans. By the way, several decades ago the imperial troupe already paid attention to this very plot and even created a custom-made “Lake of Sorceresses.”

Tchaikovsky plunged into his work headlong and approached every step very responsibly. The composer had to study the entire dances, their order, as well as what kind of music should be written for them. He even had to study several ballets in detail in order to clearly understand the composition and structure. Only after all this was he able to start writing music. As for the score, the ballet “Swan Lake” reveals two figurative worlds - fantastic and real, however, sometimes the boundaries between them are erased. A red thread runs through the entire work most tender topic Odette.

Literally within a year, the ballet score was ready and he began orchestration. Thus, by the autumn of 1876, work had already begun on staging the play, which was entrusted to V. Reisinger. By that time, he had already worked for several years as a choreographer at the Bolshoi Theater. But many of his works, starting in 1873, were a fiasco.

Productions

The long-awaited premiere of Swan Lake in February 1877 was received rather coolly by the public, despite the enormous work done by the entire troupe. Connoisseurs of the time considered this work to be a complete failure and it was soon removed from the stage. The main culprits for such an unsuccessful production were mainly recognized as the choreographer Wenzel Reisinger and Polina Karpakova, who performed the part of Odette.

Almost twenty years later, the management of the imperial theaters again turned their attention to Tchaikovsky’s work in order to stage it in the new season of 1893-1894. Thus already new script The performance was developed by the famous Marius Petipa, and work on it began literally immediately, together with Tchaikovsky. But the sudden death of the composer interrupted this work, and the choreographer himself was deeply shocked by this. A year later, Petipa’s student and assistant 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 play was incredibly enriched. Ivanov decided to introduce the White Swan Queen, and Petipa suggested contrasting Odile with her. Thus, the “black” pas de deux from the second act arose.

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 considered the best.

The production on the stage of the Vienna Opera, which took place in 1964, caused incredible delight among the public. 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 play was Nuriev himself. In his version, all the action was focused specifically on the prince.

It is worth noting that basically all academic productions of the ballet took the version of L. Ivanov and M. Petipa as a basis. Among subsequent works, it is worth noting the production by V.P. Burmeister in 1953. He introduced new characters and changed a little storyline. The choreographer also decided to change tragic ending and make it light. But contrary to expectations, the public did not immediately like this innovation. It was believed that it is the tragic ending that gives depth to the interpretation of the entire work.

Among the unusual interpretations, it is worth noting the work of John Normayer, for a production at the Hamburg Ballet. This is already an Illusion, like Swan Lake, where the main character turns into Ludwig II. There is nothing that reminds us of the original source - lakes, swans. Everything that happens around is nothing more than a fantasy of the protagonist’s sick mind.

Also, the work of British choreographer Matthew Bourne, staged in November 1995, is considered to be a rather bold and original version. If initially the idea of replacing all the ballerinas with men caused disapproval of the public, over time, this version became a huge success. As Matthew Bourne himself admits, at first the men left the hall when the dance of the Swan and the Prince began, but soon the audience realized what it was modern choreography and how it differs from classical ballet. It's surprising that this particular version ended up in school curriculum UK.

Directed by Australian choreographer Graham Murphy, Odette is a psychiatric patient and the swans are a figment of her imagination.

The work of Chinese director Zhao Ming is amazing. In his “Swan Lake,” dance takes on a different meaning. This is already closer to acrobatics, and some moves seem simply unrealistic, beyond human capabilities. Another interesting production was performed during the opening of the G20 summit of world leaders in China. There, ballerinas danced on the surface of Lake Xihu, and all movements were immediately reproduced by their holographic copies. The spectacle turned out to be breathtaking.

Among the film adaptations of the play, it is worth noting Herbert Rappoport’s film “Masters of Russian Ballet,” which includes fragments from the production at the Mariinsky Theater. It is curious that in the film “Waterloo Bridge” some of the performance numbers were used to show main character- ballerina Myra Lester. This legendary work also inspired Darren Aronofsky, who directed the psychological thriller Black Swan. It shows all the intrigues that occur in the theater around the distribution of roles.

Despite the initial harsh criticism and resounding success afterwards, numerous changes in plots and scenes, one thing remains unchanged in this ballet - the beautiful, eternal music of P.I., enchanting from the first sounds. Tchaikovsky. It is no coincidence that “Swan Lake” is recognized as the most famous ballet in the world and is a kind of standard. We invite you to enjoy this masterpiece right now and watch “Swan Lake” by P.I. Tchaikovsky.

Video: watch the ballet “Swan Lake”

Anniversary and year of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, 240 years since the founding of the Bolshoi Theater, and the most famous ballet the great composer can boast of a round date...

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was fascinated by the view of Neuschweinstein Castle. Its name can be translated from German as “new swan stone (cliff).” In its vicinity there is Lake Schwansee, which is called the “swan lake”.

An old German legend tells of a beautiful girl who was transformed into a white swan.

Swans are swimming on the lake. Hunters with Siegfried and Benno come ashore to the ruins of the chapel. They see swans, one of which has a golden crown on its head. The hunters shoot, but the swans swim away unharmed and in a magical light turn into beautiful girls. Siegfried, captivated by the beauty of the swan queen Odette, listens to her sad story about how an evil genius bewitched them. Only at night do they take on their real appearance, and with sunrise they become birds again. Witchcraft will lose its power if a young man who has never sworn love to anyone falls in love with her and remains faithful to her. At the first rays of dawn, the girls disappear into the ruins, and now swans are swimming across the lake, and a huge eagle owl is flying behind them - their evil genius.

There's a ball at the castle. The prince and princess greet the guests. Siegfried is full of thoughts about the swan queen; none of the girls present touches his heart. Trumpets sound twice to announce the arrival of new guests. But then the trumpets sounded for the third time; it was the knight Rothbart who arrived with his daughter Odile, who was surprisingly similar to Odette. The prince, confident that Odile is the mysterious swan queen, joyfully rushes towards her. The princess, seeing the prince's passion for the beautiful guest, declares her Siegfried's bride and joins their hands. The swan Odette appears in one of the windows of the ballroom. Seeing her, the prince understands the terrible deception, but the irreparable has happened. The prince, overcome with horror, runs to the lake.

Lake shore. The swan girls are waiting for the queen. Odette tries to throw herself into the waters of the lake, her friends try to console her. The prince appears. He swears that he saw Odette in Odile and that is why he uttered the fatal words. He is ready to die with her. The evil genius in the guise of an owl hears this. The death of a young man in the name of love for Odette will bring him death! Odette runs to the lake. The evil genius tries to turn her into a swan to prevent her from drowning, but Siegfried fights him and then rushes after his beloved into the water. The owl falls dead.
At the premiere of the ballet in 1877, the roles of Odette and Odile were danced by Karpakova, Siegfried by Gillert, and Rothbart by Sokolov.

In 1894, the ballet Swan Lake was stagedLva Ivanov (1834-1901), Petipa's assistant, who staged mainly small ballets and divertissements on the stages of the Mariinsky, Kamennoostrovsky and Krasnoselsky theaters. Ivanov was distinguished by his amazing musicality and brilliant memory. He was a real gem; some researchers call him “the soul of Russian ballet.” A student of Petipa, Ivanov gave his teacher’s work even greater depth and a purely Russian character. However, he could create his choreographic compositions only to beautiful music. His best achievements include, in addition to the scenes of “Swan Lake”, “Polovtsian Dances” in “Prince Igor” and “ Hungarian Rhapsody"to music by Liszt.

By 1895, the libretto was revised again for production at the Mariinsky Theater, and they were working on itvenerableMarius Petipa (1818—1910) , who worked in St. Petersburg since 1847 (he made his debut as a dancer and choreographer at the same time and created an entire era in Russian ballet)Andcomposer's brotherM. I. Tchaikovsky.

This version later became a classic. Throughout the 20th century, ballet was performed on many stages in various options. His choreography absorbed the ideas of Gorsky (1871-1924), Vaganova (1879-1951), Sergeev (1910-1992), Lopukhov (1886-1973).

In 1953 truly revolutionary coup in understanding Tchaikovsky's painting accomplishedVladimir Burmeisterperformance of the Moscow Musical Theater named after Stanislavsky and Nemirovich - Danchenko.

This was truly a new word in the reading of an old masterpiece of the classical heritage, which I wrote about in my review great Galina Ulanova:

“Swan Lake” at the Stanislavsky and V. Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater showed us how fruitful can be the search of artists in the field of classical ballet, where, it seemed, everything was established once and for all.”.

Over the long history of the ballet, its parts were performed by the best dancers in the world, the directors were the best choreographers in the world, and the conductors the best conductors. A cartoon was made based on the ballet, full-length anime, film and television versions of the complete ballet.

Russian ballerinas, performing in the role of the swan queen Odette, remained in people's memory as wonderful legends - Marina Semenova, Galina Ulanova,Maya Plisetskaya, Raisa Struchkova, Natalia Bessmertnova

The Bolshoi Ballet will continue its anniversary tour in London with Swan Lake

Today's ballet "Swan Lake" also suggests intrigue. The leading roles in this performance will be performed by the leading soloists of the Bolshoi Theater Olga Smirnova and Denis Rodkin. They also opened the tour of the Bolshoi Ballet, performing in the leading roles in Don Quixote, for which they received the highest praise from British critics. Now the artists will have to take a new exam in front of English reviewers.

It would be appropriate to add that “Swan Lake” was part of the program of the very first foreign tours of the Bolshoi Theater ballet 60 years ago. This time this choreographic masterpiece will be shown eight times on the stage of Covent Garden. Among the performers of the main roles, in addition to Olga Smirnova and Denis Rodkin, are Svetlana Zakharova, Anna Nikulina, Ekaterina Krysanova, Vladislav Lantratov, Semyon Chudin, Ruslan Skvortsov. Another debut is coming: one of the performers of the role of Odette-Odile, Yulia Stepanova, will perform for the first time in a Bolshoi Theater production, her partner in the role of Prince Siegfried will be Artem Ovcharenko.

The Moscow troupe's further playbill includes "The Flame of Paris", "The Taming of the Shrew" and "The Corsair". The performances of the Bolshoi Ballet on the stage of Covent Garden will last until August 13, 2016.

Concert in Great hall Moscow Conservatory named after. Tchaikovsky. Recording 2016.

Performs Symphony orchestra St. Petersburg.Conductor and soloist - Sergei Stadler.

In the program:Fragments of music from the ballet "Swan Lake": White Adagio; Pas de deux of Odile and Siegfried; Russian dance

"Swan Lake", a ballet to the music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, is the most famous in the world theatrical production. The masterpiece of choreography was created more than 130 years ago and is still considered an unsurpassed achievement of Russian culture. "Swan Lake" is a ballet for all times, a standard of high art. The greatest ballerinas in the world considered it an honor to perform in the role of Odette. The White Swan, a symbol of the greatness and beauty of Russian ballet, is at an unattainable height and is one of the largest “pearls” in the “crown” of world culture.

Performance at the Bolshoi Theater

The plot of the ballet "Swan Lake" is revealed fairy tale story about a Princess (swan) named Odette and Prince Siegfried.

Every performance of Swan Lake in Bolshoi Theater is a celebration accompanied by Tchaikovsky's immortal music and magnificent original choreography. Colorful costumes and scenery, impeccable dance of soloists and corps de ballet create an overall picture of high art. The hall of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow is always full when the best thing that has happened in the world of ballet art over the past 150 years is on stage. The performance takes place with two intermissions and lasts two and a half hours. The symphony orchestra continues to play quietly for some time during intermission musical theme. The plot of the ballet "Swan Lake" leaves no one indifferent, the audience empathizes with the characters from the very beginning, and by the end of the performance the drama reaches its climax. After the end of the ballet, the audience does not leave for a long time. One of the spectators, who came to Moscow and visited the Bolshoi Theater, figuratively expressed his admiration: “I regret that it is impossible to bring so many flowers to the performance to give gifts to all the artists; several trucks would be needed.” This best words gratitude that the walls of the Bolshoi Theater have ever heard.

"Swan Lake": history

The legendary ballet production began in 1875, when the management of the Bolshoi Theater ordered to the young composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky music for a new play called "Swan Lake". Creative project suggested updating the repertoire. For this purpose they decided to create the production “Swan Lake”. Tchaikovsky at that time was not yet a widely known composer, although he wrote four symphonies and the opera "Eugene Onegin". He set to work enthusiastically. For the play "Swan Lake" the music was written within one year. The composer presented the notes to the management of the Bolshoi Theater in April 1876.

Libretto

The libretto of the play was written by the famous theater figure of the time, Vladimir Begichev, in collaboration with ballet dancer Vasily Geltser. It is still unclear what literary source served as the basis for the production. Some believe that the plot of the work was borrowed from Heinrich Heine, others believe that the prototype was " Belaya Sergeevich Pushkin, but then it is not clear what to do with the main actor fairy tales, Prince Guidon, since he, as a character, is closely connected with the image of a noble bird. Be that as it may, the libretto turned out to be successful, and work began on the play “Swan Lake”. Tchaikovsky was present at the rehearsals and took an active part in the production.

Failure

The Bolshoi Theater troupe worked with inspiration on the performance. The plot of the ballet "Swan Lake" seemed original to everyone, with elements of something new. Rehearsals continued until late at night, no one was in a hurry to leave. It never occurred to anyone that disappointment might soon set in. The play "Swan Lake", whose history was quite complicated, was preparing for its premiere. The theater audience was looking forward to this event.

The premiere of Swan Lake took place in February 1877 and, unfortunately, was unsuccessful. Essentially, it was a failure. First of all, the choreographer of the performance, Wenzel Reisinger, was declared the culprit of the fiasco, then the ballerina who played the role of Odette, Polina Karpakova, also got it. "Swan Lake" was abandoned, and all the scores were temporarily "put on the shelf."

Return of the performance

Tchaikovsky died in 1893. And suddenly in the theatrical environment it was decided to return to the play “Swan Lake”, the music for which was simply wonderful. All that remained was to restore the performance in a new edition and update the choreography. It was decided to do this in memory of the untimely departed composer. Modest Tchaikovsky, brother of Pyotr Ilyich, and Ivan Vsevolozhsky, director of the Imperial Theater, volunteered to create a new libretto. The musical part was handled by the famous bandmaster Ricardo Drigo, who short time it was possible to re-arrange the entire composition and compose an updated work. The choreographic part was reworked by the famous choreographer, Marius Petipa, and his student, Lev Ivanov.

New reading

It is believed that Petipa recreated the choreography of the ballet “Swan Lake”, but Lev Ivanov gave the performance a truly Russian flavor, who managed to combine free-spirited melodiousness and the unique charm of the Russian open spaces. All this is present on stage during the performance. Ivanov composed enchanted girls with crossed arms and a special tilt of the head, dancing in four. The touching and elusively attractive charm of the lake of swans is also the merit of the talented assistant Marius Petipa. The play "Swan Lake", the content and artistic color of which in the new reading had significantly improved, was ready to go on stage in a new edition, but before Petipa decided to raise the bar for the aesthetic level of the production even higher and re-enacted all the scenes of the balls in the palace of the Sovereign Princess, and also court festivities with Polish, Spanish and Hungarian dances. Marius Petipa contrasted Odile with the white swan queen invented by Ivanov, creating an amazing “black” pas de deux in the second act. The effect was amazing.

The plot of the ballet "Swan Lake" in the new production has been enriched and more interesting. The maestro and his assistants continued to improve the solo parts and their interaction with the corps de ballet. Thus, the play "Swan Lake", the content and artistic color of which in the new interpretation was significantly improved, was soon finally ready to go on stage.

New solution

In 1950, the choreographer of the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg proposed new version"Swan Lake". According to his plan, the tragic ending of the play was abolished, the white swan did not die, everything ended with a “happy ending.” Similar changes in the theatrical sphere often occurred, in Soviet era was considered in good form embellish events. However, the performance did not benefit from such a change; on the contrary, it became less interesting, although part of the audience welcomed the new edition of the production.

Self-respecting groups adhered to the previous edition. In favor classic version It also says that the tragic ending was originally intended as an in-depth interpretation of the entire work, and its replacement with a happy ending looked somewhat unexpected.

Act one. Scene one

On the stage there is a huge park, centuries-old trees are green. In the distance you can see the castle where the Sovereign Princess lives. On the lawn between the trees, Prince Siegfried, with his friends, celebrates his coming of age. Young people raise cups of wine, drink to their friend’s health, the fun is overflowing, everyone wants to dance. The jester sets the tone by dancing. Suddenly Siegfried's mother, the Sovereign Princess, appears in the park. Everyone present tries to hide traces of the feast, but the jester accidentally knocks over the cups. The princess frowns with displeasure, she is ready to express her indignation. Here she is presented with a bouquet of roses, and the severity softens. The princess turns and leaves, and the fun flares up with renewed vigor. Then darkness falls and the guests disperse. Siegfried is left alone, but he does not want to go home. A flock of swans flies high in the sky. The prince takes a crossbow and goes hunting.

Scene two

Dense forest. Spread among the thickets big lake. White swans swim across the water surface. Although their movements are smooth, some kind of elusive anxiety is felt. The birds are rushing about as if something is disturbing their peace. These are enchanted girls, only after midnight they will be able to take on human form. The evil wizard Rothbart, the owner of the lake, rules over defenseless beauties. And then Siegfried appears on the shore with a crossbow in his hands, deciding to hunt. He's about to shoot an arrow at white swan. Another moment, and the arrow will pierce the noble bird to death. But suddenly the swan turns into a girl of indescribable beauty and grace. This is the swan queen, Odette. Siegfried is enchanted; he has never seen such a beautiful face. The prince tries to meet the beauty, but she slips away. After several unsuccessful attempts, Siegfried finds Odette in a round dance of his girlfriends and confesses his love to her. The prince’s words touch the girl’s heart, she hopes to find in him a savior from Rothbart’s power. Dawn is coming soon, and all the beauties will turn into birds again with the first rays of the sun. Odette tenderly says goodbye to Siegfried, swans slowly swim away along the water surface. There remains an understatement between the young people, but they are forced to part because the evil sorcerer Rothbart is closely monitoring what is happening, and he will not allow anyone to escape his witchcraft. All girls, without exception, must become birds and remain enchanted until nightfall. Siegfried remains to leave so as not to endanger the white swans.

Act two. Scene three

There is a ball in the castle of the Sovereign Princess. There are many girls among those present noble birth, one of them should become Siegfried's chosen one. However, the prince does not honor anyone with his attention. Odette is in his thoughts. Meanwhile, Siegfried's mother is trying in every possible way to force one of her favorites on him, but to no avail. However, in accordance with etiquette, the prince is obliged to make a choice and give his chosen one beautiful bouquet flowers. Fanfares sound to announce the arrival of new guests. The evil wizard Rothbart appears. Next to the sorcerer is his daughter, Odile. She is like two peas in a pod and looks like Odette. Rothbart hopes that the prince will be fascinated by his daughter, forget Odette, and she will forever remain in the power of the evil wizard.

Odile manages to seduce Siegfried, he is infatuated with her. The prince announces to his mother that his choice is Odile, and immediately confesses his love to the insidious girl. Suddenly Siegfried sees a beautiful white swan in the window, he throws off the witchcraft spell and runs to the lake, but it’s too late - Odette is lost forever, she is exhausted, there are faithful swans around her, but they are no longer able to help.

Act three. Scene four

Deep quiet night. There are drooping girls standing on the shore. They know about the grief that befell Odette. However, all is not lost - Siegfried comes running and on his knees begs his beloved to forgive him. And then a flock of black swans, led by the sorcerer Rothbart, arrives. Siegfried fights him and wins, breaking the evil wizard's wing. The black swan dies, and with it the witchcraft disappears. Rising sun illuminates Odette, Siegfried and dancing girls, who will no longer have to turn into swans.

In four acts. Libretto by V. Begichev and V. Geltser.

Characters:

Odette, Queen of the Swan (Good Fairy)
Odile, daughter of an evil genius, similar to Odette
Dominant princess
Prince Siegfried, her son
Benno von Sommerstern, friend of the prince
Wolfgang, the prince's mentor
Knight Rothbart, evil genius disguised as a guest
Baron von Stein
Baroness, his wife
Baron von Schwarzfels
Baroness, his wife
Master of Ceremonies
Herald
Skorokhod
Friends of the prince, court gentlemen, ladies and pages in the princess's retinue, footmen, villagers, villagers, servants, swans and cubs

The action takes place in a fairyland in fairy-tale times.

History of creation

In 1875, the directorate of the imperial theaters approached Tchaikovsky with an unusual order. He was asked to write the ballet “Lake of Swans”. This order was unusual because “serious” composers had not previously written ballet music. The only exceptions were works in this genre by Adana and Delibes. Against the expectations of many, Tchaikovsky accepted the order. The script proposed to him by V. Begichev (1838-1891) and V. Geltser (1840-1908) was based on motifs found in different nations fairy tales about enchanted girls turned into swans. It is curious that four years earlier, in 1871, the composer wrote for children one act ballet called “Swan Lake,” so perhaps he had the idea of using this particular plot in big ballet. The theme of all-conquering love, triumphing even over death, was close to him: by that time the symphonic overture-fantasy “Romeo and Juliet” had already appeared in his creative portfolio, and the next year, after turning to “Swan Lake” (as the ballet began to be called in final version), but even before its completion, Francesca da Rimini was created.

The composer approached the order very responsibly. According to the recollections of his contemporaries, “before writing the ballet, he spent a long time trying to figure out who he could contact in order to obtain accurate information about the music necessary for dancing. He even asked... what should he do with the dances, what should be their length, count, etc.” Tchaikovsky carefully studied various ballet scores to understand “this type of composition in detail.” Only after this did he begin composing. At the end of the summer of 1875, the first two acts were written, and at the beginning of winter - the last two. The following spring, the composer orchestrated what he had written and completed work on the score. In the fall, work was already underway at the theater on staging the ballet. It began to be implemented by V. Reisinger (1827-1892), who was invited to Moscow in 1873 to the position of choreographer of the Moscow Bolshoi Theater. Unfortunately, he turned out to be an unimportant director. His ballets throughout 1873-1875 invariably failed, and when in 1877 another of his performances appeared on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater - the premiere of Swan Lake took place on February 20 (March 4, new style) - this event went unnoticed. Actually, from the point of view of balletomanes, this was not an event: the performance was unsuccessful and left the stage eight years later.

The real birth of Tchaikovsky's first ballet took place more than twenty years later, after the composer's death. The directorate of the imperial theaters was going to stage Swan Lake in the 1893-1894 season. The directorate had at its disposal two excellent choreographers - the venerable Marius Petipa (1818-1910), who worked in St. Petersburg since 1847 (he made his debut as both a dancer and a choreographer and created an entire era in Russian ballet), and Lev Ivanov (1834-1901), an assistant Petipa, who staged mainly small ballets and divertissements on the stages of the Mariinsky, Kamennoostrovsky and Krasnoselsky theaters. Ivanov was distinguished by his amazing musicality and brilliant memory. He was a real gem; some researchers call him “the soul of Russian ballet.” A student of Petipa, Ivanov gave his teacher’s work even greater depth and a purely Russian character. However, he could create his choreographic compositions only to beautiful music. His best achievements include, in addition to the scenes of “Swan Lake”, “Polovtsian Dances” in “Prince Igor” and “Hungarian Rhapsody” to the music of Liszt.

Scenario new production The ballet was designed by Petipa himself. In the spring of 1893 it began collaboration with Tchaikovsky, interrupted by the composer’s untimely death. Shocked both by Tchaikovsky's death and by his own personal losses, Petipa fell ill. At the evening dedicated to memory Tchaikovsky and took place on February 17, 1894, among other numbers, the 2nd scene of “Swan Lake” staged by Ivanov was performed.

With this production, Ivanov opened a new page in the history of Russian choreography and gained fame as a great artist. Until now, some troupes stage it as a separate independent work. “...Lev Ivanov’s discoveries in Swan Lake are a brilliant breakthrough into the 20th century,” writes V. Krasovskaya. Highly appreciating Ivanov's choreographic discoveries, Petipa assigned him the swan scenes. In addition, Ivanov staged Csardas and a Venetian dance to Neapolitan music (later released). After his recovery, Petipa completed the production with his characteristic skill. Unfortunately, new twist The plot, a happy ending instead of the originally intended tragic one, proposed by Modest Tchaikovsky, the brother and librettist of some of the composer’s operas, determined the relative failure of the finale.

On January 15, 1895, the premiere finally took place at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, which gave long life"Swan Lake" Throughout the 20th century, the ballet was performed on many stages in various versions. His choreography absorbed the ideas of A. Gorsky (1871-1924), A. Vaganova (1879-1951), K. Sergeev (1910-1992), F. Lopukhov (1886-1973).

Plot

(original version)

In the park of the Sovereign Princess's castle, friends are waiting for Prince Siegfried. The celebration of his coming of age begins. To the sound of fanfare, the princess appears and reminds Siegfried that tomorrow at the ball he will have to choose a bride. Siegfried is saddened: he does not want to bind himself while his heart is free. At dusk, a flock of swans is visible flying by. The prince and his friends decide to end the day with a hunt.

Lake shore. The swan girls are waiting for the queen. Odette runs in in despair over the prince's betrayal. She tries to throw herself into the waters of the lake, her friends try to console her. The prince appears. He swears that he saw Odette in Odile and that is why he uttered the fatal words. He is ready to die with her. The evil genius in the guise of an owl hears this. The death of a young man in the name of love for Odette will bring him death! Odette runs to the lake. The evil genius tries to turn her into a swan to prevent her from drowning, but Siegfried fights him and then rushes after his beloved into the water. The owl falls dead.

Music

In Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky still remains within the framework of the genres and forms of ballet music that had developed by that time according to certain laws, although he fills them with new content. His music transforms ballet “from the inside”: traditional waltzes become poetic poems of enormous artistic value; adagios are the moment of greatest concentration of feeling, saturated with beautiful melodies; the entire musical fabric of Swan Lake lives and develops symphonically, and does not become, as in most contemporary ballets, simply an accompaniment to one dance or another. In the center is the image of Odette, characterized by a reverent, excited theme. The associated soulful lyrics extend throughout the entire work, permeating it with beautiful melodies. Characteristic dances, as well as pictorial episodes, occupy a relatively small place in the ballet.

L. Mikheeva

In the photo: “Swan Lake” at the Mariinsky Theater

“Swan Lake” was composed by the young Tchaikovsky during one of his most active creative periods. Three symphonies and the now famous concert for piano and orchestra (1875) had already been created, a little later - the fourth symphony (1878) and the opera “Eugene Onegin” (1881). The approach of a composer of this level to composing ballet music was not common for that time. In the imperial theaters there were full-time composers for this type of creativity - Caesar Pugni, Ludwig Minkus, and later Riccardo Drigo. Tchaikovsky did not set himself the task of a “revolution” in ballet. With his characteristic modesty, he scrupulously studied ballet scores, striving, without breaking with the established forms and traditions of ballet performances, to saturate them from within musical basis high content.

It is now generally accepted that it was “Swan Lake” that opened up unprecedented musical horizons for Russian ballet, which were subsequently developed by Tchaikovsky himself and his followers in this area. However, Boris Asafiev is also right: “In comparison with the luxurious baroque of The Sleeping Beauty and the masterful symphonic action of The Nutcracker, Swan Lake is an album of soulful “songs without words.” It is more melodious and simple-minded than other ballets.” It is hardly possible to demand perfection of musical dramaturgy from the “firstborn”. To this day, in productions of Swan Lake, no ideal correspondence has been found between the composer’s musical intentions and the stage action.

The music was composed from May 1875 to April 1876 by order of the Moscow Bolshoi Theater. The basis of the ballet is fairy tale plot"from knightly times." There are many opinions about him literary sources: they call Heine, the German storyteller Museus, Russian fairy tales about the swan girl and even Pushkin, but the story itself is completely independent. The idea probably belonged to the composer, but the authors of the libretto are considered to be the inspector of Moscow theaters Vladimir Begichev and the ballet dancer Vasily Geltser. The performance premiered on February 20, 1877. Its, alas, extremely unsuccessful choreographer was Vaclav Reisinger. Unfortunately, the failure of this production cast a long shadow on the ballet itself. When, almost immediately after Tchaikovsky’s death, in 1893 the question arose about staging “Swan Lake” at the Mariinsky Theater, the most important development to a full stage realization had to be done without the author.

The composer’s brother Modest Tchaikovsky (librettist of “The Queen of Spades” and “Iolanta”), director of the Imperial Theaters Ivan Vsevolozhsky and Marius Petipa took part in modifying the plot basis. According to the latter’s instructions, conductor Drigo, who revered Tchaikovsky’s music, made significant adjustments to the ballet’s score. So the first two acts became two scenes of the initial act. The duet of the Prince and the villager from the first film became the now famous pas de deux of Odile and the Prince, replacing the sextet with the participation of the main characters at the ball. The storm scene, which, according to the composer's plan, concluded the ballet, was removed from the final act. Moreover, Drigo orchestrated and inserted three piano pieces by Tchaikovsky into the ballet: “Naughty” became a variation of Odile in the pas de deux, “Sparkle” and “A Little Bit of Chopin” were included in the third act.

It was for this modified score that the famous production 1895, which gave immortality to ballet. Petipa, in addition to the general direction of the production, composed the choreography of the first film and a number of dances at the ball. Lev Ivanov has the honor of composing swan paintings and some of the dances at the ball. The main role of Odette-Odile was danced by the Italian ballerina Pierina Legnani, and the role of Siegfried was performed by Pavel Gerdt. To a famous artist It was 1951, and the choreographers had to compromise: in the lyrical white adagio, Odette danced not with the Prince, but with his friend Benno, and Siegfried only mimed nearby. In the pas de deux, the male variation was stopped.

Balletomanes of that time did not immediately appreciate the merits of the premiere. However, the viewer, who had previously loved The Sleeping Beauty, The Queen of Spades and The Nutcracker, warmly accepted new ballet Tchaikovsky, in which the sincere lyricism of the music was successfully combined with soulful choreography swan scenes Lev Ivanov, and the festive paintings included such masterpieces by Marius Petipa as pas de trois and pas de deux. It was this production that gradually (and with inevitable changes) conquered the whole world.

In Russia, the first changes began within 6 years. The first “editor” was Alexander Gorsky, one of the performers of the role of Benno in St. Petersburg. The Jester appeared in the first picture, but Benno disappeared in the second. The Spanish ball dance composed by Gorsky is now performed everywhere. Ivanov-Petipa's Swan Lake ran at the Mariinsky Theater with minor adjustments until 1933.

In ballet different years Matilda Kshesinskaya, Tamara Karsavina, Olga Spesivtseva shone. In 1927, young Marina Semenova amazed everyone with her proud Odette and demonically powerful Odile.

The idea of a decisive rethinking of classical ballet belonged to Agrippina Vaganova and her co-authors: musicologist Boris Asafiev, director Sergei Radlov and artist Vladimir Dmitriev. Instead of a “fantastic ballet”, a romantic short story appeared before the audience. The action was moved to early XIX century, the Prince became a Count, carried away ancient legends, Rothbardt is his neighbor, the Duke, who wants to marry off his daughter. The swan only appeared in the count’s dreams as a girl. The bird shot by the Duke died in the arms of the Count, who in anguish stabbed himself with a dagger. In the updated “Swan Lake,” the two heroines were danced not by one, as before, but by two ballerinas: the Swan by Galina Ulanova, Odile by Olga Jordan. The curious adaptation of the ballet lasted less than ten years, but what remained was the reverent choreographic scene “The Bird and the Hunter,” which replaced Odette’s obscure story about her fate at the beginning of the second film.

In 1937, at the Moscow Bolshoi Theater, Asaf Messerep also updated Swan Lake. It was then that the tragic death of the heroes, so important for Tchaikovsky’s plan, was replaced by a straightforward “happy ending”. It seems that the date of this correction, which became mandatory for productions of the Soviet period, is not accidental. Since 1945, in Leningrad, the Prince began to defeat the villain Rothbardt in hand-to-hand combat. Fairness requires that it be noted that choreographer Fyodor Lopukhov is not the only one responsible for this innovation. He interpreted the whole picture of the ball as an extended witchcraft - the dancers and guests appeared on Rothbardt’s orders.

For more than half a century, the “stage and choreographic version” of Konstantin Sergeev’s “Swan Lake” (1950) has been preserved on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater. And although little remains of the choreography of 1895 (the second scene, supplemented by the dance of large swans, mazurka, Hungarian, and also partly a pas de deux in the ball scene), it itself has become a “classic” for more than half a century, thanks to tours theater audiences from all continents admired her. It accumulated the dance and artistic skills of dozens of excellent performers of the main roles: from Natalia Dudinskaya to Ulyana Lopatkina, from Konstantin Sergeev to Farukh Ruzimatov.

Two productions that enriched stage history"Swan Lake" were realized in Moscow in the second half of the 20th century. The performances, almost diametrical in style and concept, had one thing in common - a declarative return to Tchaikovsky’s original score (though not in in full) and a corresponding rejection of the 1895 production: only Ivanov’s second picture was preserved, and even then with Gorsky’s amendments.

Vladimir Burmeister performed his version on stage Musical theater named after Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko (1953). For the introduction to the ballet, a scene was composed explaining to the audience how and why Rothbardt turned Odette and her friends into swans. In the second act, developing Lopukhov's idea, the choreographer interpreted the suite of characteristic dances as a series of temptations of the Prince, each of which demonstrated another face of the insidious Odile and her world. IN last act I was impressed by the dance-based scene of the raging elements, in tune with the apogee of the characters’ feelings. In the finale, love triumphed, and the swans, almost before the viewer’s eyes, transformed into girls.