Swan Lake

Chaikovski in 1877, ballet premiere year. In the photo he poses with Antonina Miliukova, with whom he married that same year.

Swan Lake (in Russian Лебединое Озеро [Lebedínoye óziero]) is a ballet-fairy tale structured in four acts, which was commissioned by the Bolshoi Theater in 1875 and premiered in 1877. The music was composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky; it's about your op. 20 and is the first of his ballets. In the original production the choreography was created by Julius Reisinger. The libretto is believed to have been written by Vladimir Petrovich Béguichev and Vasily Geltser, based on the German short story Der geraubte Schleier (The Stolen Veil) by Johann Karl August Musäus.

The first performance took place on March 4, 1877 at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. Contrary to its current great recognition, this work was surrounded by setbacks from its premiere; In addition to its poor initial production, of which some records have been lost, the creations of the music and the original choreography were not parallel due to technical disagreements between the parties, as Tchaikovsky (unfamiliar with ballet composition) worked independently. fast, innovative and carefree in a score that would end up baffling Reisinger. All this meant that the work was not well accepted either by the public or by critics, who expressed themselves with words such as "it will hardly become a repertoire ballet and nobody will regret it". January 1895 at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg this same work achieved its first great success with a new choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. The first ideas that Tchaikovsky had about Swan Lake were rearranged, and the pas de deux that he originally composed for the black swan was replaced by another one, also composed by him.

Since then, numerous revisions and stagings have kept this underrated work fresh, so that by the mid-1940s it began to be widely recognized as a paradigm of ballet. Swan Lake danced to the music of Tchaikovsky is currently one of the most renowned titles of world ballet and one of the greatest artistic exports of Imperial Russia, as well as one of the composer's emblematic works. Dancers as brilliant as Anna Pavlova and Rudolf Nureyev have left their mark on this enduring masterpiece.

History

Composition

The origins of the ballet Swan Lake are rather obscure, and as there are very few surviving records concerning the first production of the work, one can only speculate as to who was the author of the ballet. original script. The most authoritative theory attributes its authorship to Vladimir Petrovich Béguichev, director of the Imperial Theaters in Moscow at the time the ballet was originally produced, and Vasily Geltser, a dancer at the Imperial Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. But most likely Geltser was only the first person to copy the scenario for publication, since a surviving copy bears his name. The first published libretto of the ballet and the music composed by Tchaikovsky do not correspond in many parts. From this it can be inferred that the authentic first published libretto was possibly drawn by hand by a newspaper writer who had seen the initial essays. New productions of operas and ballets were always published in Imperial Russian newspapers, along with their respective settings.

According to two of Tchaikovsky's relatives, his nephew Yuri Lvovich Davýdov and his niece Anna Meck-Davýdova, the composer had earlier created a small ballet called Swan Lake at his home in 1871. This ballet included the famous leitmotiv known as the swan theme or swan song. Béguichev commissioned the score for Swan Lake to Tchaikovsky in 1875 for a rather modest price of 800 rubles. Beguichev soon began to choose artists who would participate in the creation of the ballet. The choreographer assigned to the production was the Czech Julius Reisinger, who had been employed since 1873 as a ballet master at the Imperial Ballet of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow (today known as the Bolshoi Ballet). It is unknown what kind of collaboration processes took place between Tchaikovsky and Reisinger. It seems that initially Tchaikovsky worked without full knowledge of Reisinger's specific requirements. Tchaikovsky probably had some kind of training when composing Swan Lake , since he had to know what kind of dances were would require. But unlike the instructions the composer received for the scores for Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker, on this occasion there are no surviving written instructions. When Reisinger began the choreography after the score was finished, he demanded some changes from Tchaikovsky. By demanding the addition or removal of a dance, Reisinger made it clear that he was going to be a very important part in the creation of this piece. Although the two artists were asked to collaborate, each seemed to prefer to work as independently of the other as possible.

Tchaikovsky's influences

From the early 19th century to the early 1890s, scores for ballets were almost always written by composers known as "specialists": composers who were highly skilled at notating light, decorative, melodious and rhythmically clear that was in vogue for ballet at that time. Tchaikovsky studied the music of these "specialists", such as the Italian Cesare Pugni and the Austrian Leon Minkus, before setting to work on Swan Lake. Tchaikovsky had a rather negative opinion of "specialist" ballet music until he studied it in detail, being impressed by the almost limitless variety of infectious melodies contained in his scores. Tchaikovsky admired more than anyone the ballet music of composers such as Léo Delibes, Adolphe Adam and Riccardo Drigo. He would later write to his protégé, the composer Sergei Tanéyev, «I heard the ballet Sylvia de Delibes... what charm, what elegance, what richness of melody, rhythm and harmony. I was ashamed, because if I had known about this music then, I would not have written Swan Lake». Tchaikovsky greatly admired Adam's 1844 score for Giselle, which featured the use of the technique known as leitmotiv: associating certain themes with certain characters or moods, a technique which he would use in Swan Lake, and later, in Sleeping Beauty.

Compositional process

Tchaikovsky's enthusiasm for Swan Lake is evident in the rapidity with which he composed. Commissioned in the spring of 1875, the piece was created in a full year. His letters to Sergei Taneyev from August 1875 indicate, however, that it was not his emotion alone that compelled him to create so quickly, but his desire to finish it as soon as possible in order to enable him to begin. to work in an opera. First, he created scores for the first three numbers of the ballet, then the orchestration during the fall and winter and was still struggling with the instrumentation in the spring. By 10 April 1876 the work was complete. Tchaikovsky's mention of a draft suggests the presence of some sort of summary, but no draft is known to exist. Tchaikovsky wrote several letters to his friends expressing his long-standing desire to work with this type of music, as well as his enthusiasm about his current challenging but laborious task.

However, Tchaikovsky also drew on earlier compositions of his. He made use of material from The Voivode, an opera he had abandoned in 1868. The Great Adagio (also known as the Love Duet) of the act two of Swan Lake is a verbatim copy of the duet between the protagonists of his opera Undina, just like the Valse des fiancées of act three. Another number that included a theme from The Voivode was the Entr'acte of act four. By April 1876 the score was complete and rehearsals began. Soon Reisinger began to put aside certain numbers that he described as "not suitable for ballet". He even started choreographing the dances to music by other composers, but Tchaikovsky protested and his pieces were reinstated.

Representations

Adelaide Giuri (Odette) and Mikhail Mordkin (Sigfrido), 1901.

• The premiere was March 4, 1877, Teatro Bolshói of Moscow; choreography of Julius Reisinger; directed by Stepán Ryábov; scenery by Karl Valts (Acts 2 & 4), Iván Shangin (Act 1), Karl Groppius (Act 3).
• 1880 and 1882, Teatro Bolshói of Moscow; choreography of Joseph Hansen, same director and designers as in the premiere.
• 1895, Mariinski Theatre of St. Petersburg; with choreography of Marius Petipa (Acts 1 & 3), Lev Ivanov (Acts 2 & 4); directed by Riccardo Drigo; scenery by Iván Andréyev, Mikhail Bocharov, Henrich Levogt; costume design by Yevgueni Ponomaryov
• 1901, Teatro Bolshói of Moscow; with choreography of Aleksandr Gorsky; directed by Andréi Árends; scenography of Aleksandr Golovín (Act 1), Konstantin Korovin (Acts 2 & 4) and N. Klodt (Act 3).
• 1911, production of the Russian Ballets of Serguéi Diáguilev in London; with choreography of Michel Fokine following Petipa-Ivanov; scenery of Golovin and Korovin.

World premiere in Moscow

The premiere of Swan Lake took place on March 4, 1877. The performance was for the benefit of the dancer Pelaguéya Karpakova, also known as Polina Karpakova. She herself played the role of Odette together with the first dancer of the Bolshoi Theater Victor Gillert as Prince Siegfried. Karpakova probably also danced Odile's part, although this is not known for certain. Russian ballerina Anna Sobeshchánskaya, originally slated (1877) for the role of Odette, was withdrawn from the premiere when a Moscow government official complained about her, claiming that she had accepted several pieces of expensive jewelry from him, only to then marry a fellow dancer and sell the pieces for cash. Sobeshchánskaya was replaced by Pelaguéya Karpakova who danced the role of the swan queen.

The premiere was not well received, garnering almost unanimous reviews about the dancers, orchestra, and set design. Unfortunately Tchaikovsky's masterful score was lost in the debacle of poor production. Although there were some who recognized its virtues, most considered it too complicated for ballet. The critics themselves were generally not familiar with ballet or music, but rather with spoken melodrama. They found Tchaikovsky's music "too loud, too Wagnerian and too symphonic". Critics also lambasted Reisinger's choreography as "unimaginative and altogether unmemorable";. The production did not succeed due to various reasons. The German origins of the Swan Lake story were "treated with suspicion while the story itself was considered "stupid" with unpronounceable surnames for her characters." Odette's dancer (and probably Odile though this has never been proven with certainty) was a secondary soloist and "not especially convincing";

"The poverty of production, that is, the scenery and the wardrobe, the absence of outstanding interpreters, the imaginative weakness of the choreographer, and, lastly, the orchestra... all this together allowed (a Chaikovski) with good reason to blame the failure of others".

— Modest Chaikovski, brother of the composer

Despite this negative reception, with the public and critics claiming that the music was too complex to be a ballet piece, the work is today considered one of Tchaikovsky's most valuable, elevating him to the sphere of the most important ballet composers.

Tchaikovsky's 1877 Pas de deux

Anna Sobeshkaya (Odette), 1877

Despite the poor reaction to the premiere, the ballet continued to be performed. On April 26, 1877, the prima ballerina of the Bolshoi in Moscow, Anna Sobeshchánskaya, made her debut as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake. From the beginning she was dissatisfied with the production of the ballet, but especially with the choreography by Reisinger and with the music by Tchaikovsky. Sobeshchánskaya traveled to Saint Petersburg so that Marius Petipa, the premier maître de ballet of the Imperial Theaters of Saint Petersburg, would choreograph a new pas de deux for her to replace the pas de six that functioned as the Grand pas of the third act. In 19th century ballet it was standard practice for a dancer to request a supplementary pas or variation and often these "made to measure" they literally became the legal property of the dancer for whom they were composed. Petipa choreographed Sobeshchánskaya's pas de deux to music composed by Leon Minkus, who held the position of ballet composer of the Imperial Theaters in St. Petersburg. The piece was a standard pas de deux classique consisting of a short entrée, the grand adage, a variation for the dancer, another variation for the dancer and an coda.

News of this change soon reached Tchaikovsky who became very angry, stating that whether the ballet was good or bad, he alone would be responsible for its music. He then agreed to write a new pas de deux for the ballerina, but a problem soon arose: Sobeshchánskaya had no reservations about performing a pas to Tchaikovsky's new music, but she wanted to keep Petipa's choreography, and she had no desire to travel to St. Petersburg again to have the Ballet Master arrange a new one for her. In light of this, Tchaikovsky agreed to compose a pas whose rhythms and accents would correspond to Minkus's music to such an extent that it would not even require the dancer to rehearse it. Sobeshchánskaya was so pleased with Tchaikovsky's new version of Minkus's music that she asked him to compose an additional variation for her, which she did. Until 1953 it was believed that the original pas de deux had been lost. But a répétiteur was accidentally discovered in the archives of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. It was among the orchestral parts used in Aleksandr Gorsky's recovery of Adolphe Adam's The Corsair, who included it in his 1912 version of The Corsair. In 1960, George Balanchine choreographed a pas de deux to this music for the dancer Violette Verdy and the dancer Conrad Ludlow under the title Tchaikovsky's Pas de deux, which is still known today. and is interpreted today.

Productions between 1879 and 1894

Julius Reisinger left Moscow in 1879 and his successor as choreographer was Joseph Peter Hansen, who made considerable efforts from the early 1870s and through the 1880s to rescue Swan Lake. On January 13, 1880 he presented a new production with the student of the Imperial Moscow Ballet School Evdokía Kalmykova in the role of Odette / Odile and Alfred Bekefi in that of Siegfried. It had a much better reception than the original, although it was not a great success. On October 28, 1882 Hansen presented another version of this ballet again with Kalmykova as Odette/Odile. For the dance scene he arranged a Grand pas entitled La Cosmopolitana, which was taken from the European section of the well-known Gran pas d'action like The allegory of the continents from 1875 the ballet The Bandits staged by Petipa with music by Leon Minkus. Hansen's version of Swan Lake was performed only four times, its final performance being on January 2, 1883, and the ballet was soon dropped from the repertoire.

In all Swan Lake ran for a total of forty-one performances between its premiere and the 1883 finale, which was quite a long time for a ballet so poorly received at its premiere. Hansen went on to become a choreographer for the Alhambra Theater in London. On December 1, 1884, he presented a one-act ballet there entitled The Swans , inspired by the second scene of Swan Lake . The music was composed by Georges Jacoby, the conductor of the Alhambra Theatre. The second scene of Swan Lake was presented on February 21 in Prague by the National Theater Ballet in a version staged by the choreographer August Berger. The ballet was presented during two concerts conducted by Tchaikovsky. The composer noted in his diary that he experienced "a moment of utter bliss" when the ballet was performed. Berger's production followed the 1877 libretto, although Siegfried and Benno's names were changed to Jaroslav and Zdenĕk, with the role of Benno played by a transvestite dancer. The role of Siegfried was played by Berger himself with the dancer Giulietta Paltriniera-Bergrova as Odette. Berger's production stretched over eight performances, and a production at the Fantasy Garden in Moscow was even planned in 1893, but never materialized.

Petipa-Ivanov-Drigo montage from 1895

Pável Gerdt (Sigfrido), 1895

Between the late 1880s and early 1890s Petipa and Vsevolozhsky considered reviving Swan Lake and were in talks with Tchaikovsky about it. But the composer died on November 6, 1893, just as the plans were beginning to come to fruition. It is not yet certain that Tchaikovsky was going to review the music for this show. In any case, as a consequence of his death, Drigo was the one who revised the score, but not before receiving Modest's approval. There are big differences between Drigo's score and Tchaikovsky's. Drigo's revision of Tchaikovsky's score for Petipa and Ivanov's 1895 staging, and not Tchaikovsky's 1877 original, is the one that many, but not all, ballet companies use when staging this ballet today. In February 1894 two memorial concerts were held in honor of Tchaikovsky programmed by Vsevolozhsky. The production included the second act of Swan Lake with choreography by Lev Ivanov, second choreographer for the Imperial Ballet. This choreography by Ivanov was unanimously acclaimed as wonderful.

Italian virtuoso Pierina Legnani played Odette/Odile. She had made her debut in December 1893 with the Imperial Ballet in Cinderella, choreographed by Petipa, Ivanov and Enrico Cecchetti to music by Boris Fitinhof-Schell. She displayed her phenomenal technique by culminating her variation of the final scene during the grand pas with thirty-two fouettés en tournant , which was the maximum at the time. The dazzled audience screamed demanding an encore and the dancer repeated her variation this time performing twenty-eight fouettés en tournant . However, the death of Tsar Alexander III of Russia on November 1, 1894, and the subsequent period of official mourning put an end to all ballet performances and rehearsals for some time. Consequently, all efforts were concentrated on the pre-production of the return of Swan Lake. Ivanov and Petipa decided to collaborate on this production, Ivanov being in charge of the second and fourth acts (that is, the white acts), while Petipa would mount the first and third. Tchaikovsky's younger brother, Modest, was asked to make the necessary changes to the ballet libretto, the most prominent of his revision being the ballet finale. Instead of the lovers simply being drowned by the hand of the evil Rothbart as in the 1877 original, Odette commits suicide by drowning and Siegfried chooses to die as well rather than live without her. Quickly the spirits of the lovers meet again in an apotheosis. Likewise, the ballet went from having four acts to three, since the second became the second painting of the first act.

The ballet premiered on Friday, January 27, 1895 with Pierina Legnani as Odette/Odile, with Pavel Gerdt as Prince Siegfried, Aleksei Bulgakov as Rothbart, and Aleksandr Oblakov as Benno. This performance took place at the Mariinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg, with choreography by Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov, directed by Riccardo Drigo. The scenery was by Ivan Andreyev, Mikhail Bocharov, Henrich Levogt. The costume design: Yevgueni Ponomaryov The production was a complete success, although not as it has been in modern times. Most of the reviews in the St. Petersburg newspapers were positive. Unlike the premiere of Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake did not dominate the Mariinsky Theater repertoire in its first season. Only sixteen performances were given between the premiere and the 1895-1896 season; and it was not performed in 1897. In addition, the ballet was only performed four times in 1898 and 1899. The ballet belonged solely to Legnani until he left Saint Petersburg for his native Italy in 1901. After his departure the ballet was taken over by Mathilde Kschessinska, which was as celebrated on paper as its Italian predecessor.

Other notable productions

Zenaida Yanowsky (Odette) at the Royal Opera House, 2007.

Throughout the long and complex history of staging Swan Lake, the one from 1895 has served as the basis for many productions. Almost all choreographers have largely kept to traditional choreography, which is considered practically sacred. The role of Siegfried has gained relevance over time, mainly due to the evolution of ballet technique. In 1940 the San Francisco Ballet was the first American company to stage a full production of Swan Lake. The montage achieved great success starring Lew Christensen as Siegfried, Jacqueline Martin as Odette and Janet Reed as Odile. Willam Christensen based his choreography on that of Petipa-Ivanov, relying on San Francisco's large Russian émigré population, led by Princess and Prince Vasili Alexandrovich of Russia, to help ensure the production was successful in its goal of preserving Russian culture in San Francisco.

Several notable productions have distanced themselves from the original and from 1895:

• 1976: Illusions like The Lake of the Swans John Neumeier with the Hamburg Ballet. Neumeier interpolates the story of Louis II of Bavaria in the plot of The lake of the swans, through the fascination of Luis with the swans. Much of the original score was used with additional material from Chaikovski. The choreography combined the material of Petipa and Ivanov with new dances and scenes of Neumeier. The ballet ends with the death of Luis by drowning while he is confined to a asylum, with dramatic music for the conclusion of the third act. With the theme of the unhappy royalty member being forced to marry for State reasons and also the reference to the personal lives of the present royalty, this work anticipated the interpretations of Bourne and Murphy. Illusions like The Lake of the Swans remains in the repertoire of the main German ballet companies.

• 1995: Lake Matthew Bourne swans. This ballet separated from the traditional replacing the female dance body with male dancers. Since its creation in 1995, Bourne's production has not been out of the scene for more than a few months. It has been represented on extensive tours in Greece, Israel, Turkey, Australia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Russia, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United States in addition to the United Kingdom. He has won more than 30 international awards to date.

• 2000: Version of the American Ballet Theatre, which was recorded for television in 2005. Instead of having lowered the curtain while the slow introduction sounds, he uses this music to accompany a new prologue in which he shows to the audience how Rothbart first transforms Odette into swan. This prologue is similar, although with some differences, to the assembly of Vladimir Burmeister of this same ballet premiered at the Stanislavsky Theatre in Moscow in 1953. Rothbart in this production is played by two dancers, one appears as a young and handsome man who easily attracts Odette in the new prologue and the other dancer carries a sinister "monster makeup" that reveals the true being of the witch. In the movie Black swan Natalie Portman, playing Nina, dreams about this at the opening scene. About half an hour of the complete score is omitted from this production.

• 2002: The lake of the swans Graeme Murphy. It is freely based on the rupture of Lady Di's marriage with Prince Charles and his relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles. They combine the roles of Rothbart and Odile in that of a baroness, and the focus of history is a loving triangle.

Libretto

Many critics have questioned the original source of the story Swan Lake. The libretto is based on a short story Der geraubte Schleier (The Stolen Veil), by the German writer Johann Karl August Musäus, although this story only provides the outlines of the plot. of the ballet. The Russian folk tale The White Duck also bears some resemblance to the ballet story and may have been another possible source. Tchaikovsky's contemporaries recalled that the composer was keenly interested in the life story of King Ludwig II of Bavaria, whose tragic life was supposedly marked by the sign of the swan and who was chosen consciously or not as the prototype of the dreamy Prince Siegfried.. The patriarch of Russian ballet Fyodor Lopukhov has described Swan Lake as a "national ballet" due to his swans, which he argues have their origins in Russian romantic lyrical sources, although many of the corps de ballet's movements stem from Slavic round dances. According to Lopukhov, "both the plot of Swan Lake and the image of the swan and the very idea of faithful love are essentially Russian".

Characters

• Princess Odette (the queen of the swans and the white swan or also the princess swan), the hero of history, a beautiful princess, who has become a white swan during the day and who only becomes her true and human aspect of princess during the night.
• Prince Sigfrido, the hero of history, a handsome prince who falls in love with Odette.
• Rothbart, the antagonist of history, an evil witch, who has enchanted Odette to become a white swan during the day but to be transformed into his true and human form of princess during the night.
• Odile (The Black Swan), the evil witch and daughter of Rothbart, the secondary antagonist, becomes Odette with the help of the evil witch Rothbart, her own father, so that Sigfrido will fall into a trap of his and deceive him completely.
• Benno von Sommerstern, a friend of Prince Sigfrido.
• The sovereign queen, the mother of Prince Sigfrido.
• Wolfgang, your tutor.
• Baron von Stein.
• The baroness, your wife.
• Freiherr von Schwarzfels.
• Your wife.
• A herald.
• A lackey.
• Knights and ladies of the court, the prince's friends, heralds, guests, landscapes, hamlets, servants, swans, swan chickens.

By 1895 Benno von Sommerstern had become simply "Benno" and Odette "Queen of the Swans". Also Baron von Stein and his wife, as well as Freiherr von Schwarzfels and his wife were no longer identified in the program. The sovereign princess or ruler is often substituted for "Queen Mother." Rothbart (Redbeard, Barbarossa) can also be spelled "Rotbart".

Plot

Swan Lake is usually performed in four acts and four scenes (mostly outside Russia and Eastern Europe), or three acts and four scenes (mostly in Russia and Europe). from the east).

Prologue

A dark forest

Included only in some versions, this scene, accompanied by the Overture, shows the royal transformation by which Princess Odette is turned into a swan for the first time.

Act I

A magnificent park before a palace.

Prince Siegfried celebrates his twenty-first birthday with his tutor, friends and peasants in one of the palace gardens. The amusements are interrupted by Siegfried's queen mother and her ladies-in-waiting, who worry about her son's carefree lifestyle. The queen herself reminds her son that the following night he must choose a wife during the royal ball celebrating his birthday. Young girls will be invited to the party, among the most beautiful in the region, and the prince must choose one of them as his future wife. This causes great melancholy in Siegfried since he cannot marry for love. His friend Benno and his tutor try to lift his troubled mood. As night falls, Benno sees a flock of swans flying overhead and suggests a hunting party. Siegfried and his friends take their crossbows and go in search of the swans.

Act II

Vals de los cisnes of Act II.

A lakeside clearing in a forest next to the ruins of a chapel. A moonlit night.

Sigfried has been separated from his friends. He arrives at the clearing by the lake, while a flock of white swans alight nearby. He aims his crossbow at the swans, but is frozen when one of them transforms into a beautiful maiden and princess named Odette. At first she is terrified of Siegfried, but he promises not to harm her. Then she tells him that she is Odette, the swan queen, that she and her companions and friends are the victims of a terrible spell cast by Rothbart, the evil owl-shaped sorcerer. During the day they turn into swans and only return to their human form at night on the shore of the enchanted lake created from the tears of Odette's deceased parents. The spell can only be broken if someone she has never loved before swears to love Odette forever. Rothbart appears and Siegfried threatens to kill him, but Odette intercedes since if Rothbart dies before the spell is broken, he can never be undone. Rothbart turns the girls back into swans to prevent the prince from breaking the spell. Odette walks away transformed into a swan.

As Rothbart disappears, swan maidens fill the clearing. Benno and his companions also arrive and point their crossbows at the maidens. Siegfried stops them just in time and sends them off. Now, alone with Odette and the swan maidens, Siegfried sets out to win Odette's trust. They fall in love with each other, but as dawn comes the spell drags Odette and her companions back to the lake and turns them into white swans again.

Act III

An opulent room in the palace.

The party is held in the castle where Siegfried must choose a wife. The queen mother enters with Siegfried and the master of ceremonies begins the celebration. The marriageable girls are introduced and the queen asks Siegfried to dance with six princesses and to choose one as a betrothed. Siegfried complains that he doesn't love any of them. He thinks of Odette, refuses to choose a wife, and his mother gets angry with him. At that moment the master of ceremonies announces the arrival of an unknown nobleman and his daughter. It is the baron and the evil witch Rothbart who arrives disguised at the party with his daughter, the evil witch Odile, turned into Odette. The evil wizard Rothbart has transformed her daughter Odile into Odette, so that to Siegfried she is almost identical to Odette in every way, except that she wears black instead of white. The prince, bewitched by the witch, thinks he sees Odette in Odile, turned into Odette. Odette, transformed into a white swan, appears as a vision and tries in vain to warn Siegfried that he is being deceived. But Siegfried remains oblivious and proclaims to the court that he intends to make Odile his wife, turned into Odette. The queen mother accepts and Siegfried swears eternal love to Odile. Rothbart uncovers himself and shows Siegfried a magical vision of Odette, transformed into a white swan, in the distance. Odile then stops looking like Odette and transforms and recovers her true face as Odile, content with having deceived Siegfried by making him believe that Odile when she was transformed into Odette, was her beloved, dear and adored Odette. Siegfried realizes his terrible mistake and, overcome with grief, he runs desperately towards the lake.

Act IV

On the shore of the lake.

On the shores of the lake the young-swans sadly await the arrival of Odette. She arrives crying desperately for Siegfried's betrayal and tells them of the sad events of the party in the palace. The swan maidens try to comfort her, but she resigns herself to death. Siegfried appears imploring her forgiveness. She forgives him and the couple reaffirm their love. Rothbart appears and insists that Siegfried keep his promise to marry Odile, after which Odette will transform into a swan forever. Siegfried and Odette fight against him, but everything is in vain, since the curse cannot be undone. Siegfried chooses to die with Odette, so the two lovers commit suicide by jumping into the lake. That sacrifice of love breaks Rothbart's spell on the swan maidens, causing him to lose his power over them and die. At dawn the spirits of Odette and Siegfried are seen appearing over the lake, now together forever, going up to the heavenly regions.

Alternative endings

There are many different endings, ranging from romantic to tragic.

• In 1877 in the original ballet Sigfrido struggles with Rothbart and pulls one of his wings, thus destroying his powers. Sigfrido has broken the swan maiden spell and marries Odette. A version danced by the Mariinski Ballet in 2006 closely follows the original end: the true love of Sigfrido and Odette defeats Rothbart and Odette returns to their human form to happily join Prince Sigfrido. This version has often been used by the ballet companies of Russia and China. A similar ending was used in the 1994 American animation film Princess swan.

• In 1986 on the mount of Rudolf Nureyev for the Ballet of the Paris Opera Rothbart fights with Sigfrido, who is defeated and dies, leaving Rothbart to lead Odette triumphantly to heaven.

• In 2006 in the assembly of New York City Ballet with choreography by Peter Martins (following Lev Ivanov, Marius Petipa and George Balanchine), the statement of Prince Sigfrido who wishes to marry Odile constitutes a betrayal that condemns Odette to remain a swan forever. Sigfried stays alone in pain while the curtain falls.

• In 2009 in a Ballet of San Francisco Sigfrido and Odette are thrown into the lake, as in the production of 1895 and Rothbart is destroyed. Then you see two swans, who are lovers, fly beyond the moon.

• In 2010 in a production of the Canadian National Ballet Odette forgives Sigfrido his betrayal and the promise of reconciliation shines momentarily before Rothbart calls for a violent storm. Rothbart and Sigfrido fight. When the storm calms Odette stays alone to mourn Sigfrido's death.

• In 2012 in the assembly of the Russian State Ballet of Siberia in Blackpool Grand Theatre Prince Sigfrido drags Rothbart to the lake and both drown. Odette looks like a swan.

Analysis

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	[[:Archivo:IOSAct II]] [[Archivo:UD180pxUDnoicon]
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Instrumentation

This piece was written for the typical large orchestra of the late 19th century:

• Strings: violins I and II; rapes, cellos, bass and harp.
• Wind wood: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in Yeah.♫, the and do2 fagotes.
• Metal Wind: 4 tubes in fa2 horns in the and Yeah.♫2 trumpets in fa, re and my3 trombones (2 tenors, 1 bass) and tuba.
• Percussion: timbales, clear box, saucers, pump, triangle, pandereta, castanets, tam-tam, glockenspiel.

Structure

The score from which this scheme is extracted is that of Tchaikovsky's original version, so it does not coincide with Drigo's, that is, the one that is performed today. The titles for each number are taken from the original published score; some of the numbers are titled simply as musical cues, namely those that are not translated from their original French titles.

Introduction

Moderato assai — Allegro non troppo — Tempo I

Act I

No. 1 Scène: Allegro giusto

No. 2 Waltz: Tempo di valse

No. 3 Scène: Allegro moderato

No. 4 Trois Pass

I. Intrada (or Entrée): Allegro

II. Andante sustainuto

III. Allegro semplice, Presto

IV. Moderato

V. Allegro

VI. Coda: Allegro vivace

No. 5 Pas de de deux for two bufons (this number was later transformed into the Pas de Deux del cisne negro)

I. Tempo di valse ma non troppo vivo, quasi moderato

II. Andante – Allegro

III. Tempo di valse

IV. Coda: Allegro molto vivace

No. 6 Pas d'action: Andantino quasi moderato – Allegro

No. 7 Subject (Introduction to Dance with Goblets)

No. 8 Dance with Goblets: Tempo di polacca

No. 9 Finale: Sujet, Andante

Act II

No. 10 Scène: Moderato

No. 11 Scène: Allegro moderato, Moderato, Allegro vivo

No. 12 Scène: Allegro, Moderato assai quasi andante

No. 13 Danzas de los cisnes

I. Tempo di valse

II. Moderato assai

III. Tempo di valse

IV. Allegro moderato (this number later became the famous Dance of the small swans)

V. Pas d'action: Andante, Andante non troppo, Allegro (with material taken from Undina)

VI. Tempo di valse

VII. Coda: Allegro vivo

No. 14 Scène: Moderato

Act III

No. 15 Scène: March – Allegro giusto

No. 16 Ballabile: Dance of ballet corps and dwarfs: Moderato assai, Allegro vivo

No. 17 Guest entrance and Vals: Allegro, Tempo di valse

No. 18 Scène: Allegro, Allegro giusto

No. 19 Grand pas de six.

I. Intrada (or Entrée): Moderato assai

II. Variation 1: Allegro

III. Variation 2: Walking with motorbike

IV. Variation 3: Moderate

V. Variation 4: Allegro

VI. Variation 5: Moderate, Allegro semplice

VII. Grand coda: Allegro molto

Appendix I

Pas de deux for Mme. Anna Sobeshkaya (with the music of Léon Minkus, later choreographed by Balanchine as Pas deux de Chaikovski)

No. 20 Hungarian Dance: Czardas – Moderato assai, Allegro moderato, Vivace

Appendix II

No. 20a Russian dance for Mlle. Pelaguéya Karpakova: Moderato, Andante semplice, Allegro vivo, Presto

No. 21 Spanish Dance: Allegro non troppo (Tempo di bolero)

No. 22 Neapolitan Dance / Venetian: Allegro moderato, Andantino quasi moderato, Presto

No. 23 Mazurka: Tempo di mazurka

No. 24 Scène: Allegro, Tempo di valse, Allegro vivo

Act IV

No. 25 Entr'acte: Moderato

No. 26 Scène: Allegro non troppo

No. 27 Dance of small swans: Moderato

No. 28 Scène: Allegro agitato, Molto meno mosso, Allegro vivace

No. 29 Scène finale: Andante, Allegro, Alla breve, Moderato e maestoso, Moderato

In popular culture

This piece appears in a large number of soundtracks for movies, TV shows, video games, etc.; as well as versions made by musical artists from all over the world.

Literature

• 1989 Swan Lake: is a children's novel written by Mark Helprin and illustrated by Chris van Allsburg, which recreates the original story as a story about political struggles in a country without the name of Eastern Europe. In it Odette becomes a hidden princess from her birth by which she handles the threads (and eventually usurper) behind the throne, being the story told to her daughter.
• 1999 The Black Swan: is a fantasy novel written by Mercedes Lackey that reimages the original story and focuses especially on Odile. Rothbart's daughter is a self-righteous witch who comes to sympathize with Odette.
• 2009 Amiri " Odette: is a verse story by Walter Dean Myers with illustrations of Javaka Steptoe. Myers places the story in the public housing projects "El Lago de los cisnes" of a great city. Amiri is a basketball player, "Prince of the Night", a champion of the asphalt tracks of the park. Odette belongs to Big Red, a power dealer in the streets.

Cinema

• 1925 The Phantom of the Opera: in this silent film is often used as a background track an extract of The lake of the swans.
• 1931 Dracula: in initial credits you can hear an extract from The lake of the swans.
• 1932 The mummy: the same extract was also included in this horror film.
• 1940 The Waterloo Bridge: the protagonist, a ballet dancer played by Vivien Leigh, appears dancing a fragment of this ballet characterized as the white swan.
• 1968 Funny: Barbra Streisand in the role of Fanny Brice, dances in a comic parody The lake of the swans.
• 1970 The Music Lovers: in this film by Ken Russell, the Chaikovski himself played by Richard Chamberlain, attends a representation of this ballet with his newlywed wife (Nina) Antonina Miliukova interpreted by Glenda Jackson, who does not understand the argument of the work.
• 1981 Hakuchou no Mizuumi (The lake of the swans): is a Japanese film anime by Kimio Yabuki with Toei Animation. The story is relatively true to the original and throughout the film they sound like environmental music different pieces of ballet.
• 1994 The Swan Princess: this trilogy of cartoon narrates the story of Odette, a beautiful princess who becomes swan during the day by the spell cast by the evil witch Rothbart.
• 1997 Ana Karenina: In this film directed by Bernard Rose and starring Sophie Marceau many pieces of ballet can be heard.
• 1997 Love!: This drama directed by Joe Mantello and based on Terrence McNally's homonymous novel includes in one of his scenes the Dance of the Small Swans (Dance des petits cygnes) of the second act, in a wonderful masculine interpretation.
• 2000 Billy Elliot.: at the end of the film the protagonist appears dancing in the version of choreographer Matthew Bourne.
• 2002 Princess Tutu: is a Japanese anime that narrates a story similar to that of The lake of the swans.
• 2003 Barbie of Swan Lake: is the third animated film of the Barbie collection, which is freely inspired in the history of The lake of the swans Although it differs quite a bit. Barbie is Odette, the story is accompanied by ballet and music. The technique of movement capture was used with the collaboration of New York City Ballet members.
• 2006 Scoop: at first and repeatedly throughout the Woody Allen film you can hear the Dance of the small swans.
• 2010 Despicable Me: In the animated film the girls adopted by the villain ask this one to go to see them in their performance The lake of the swans.
• 2011 Black Swan: directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Natalie Portman.
• 2013 Barbie and the magical sneakers: uses part of the story The lake of the swanswhere Cristhin becomes Odette.

Video Games

• 1988: video game Final Fantasy II Squaresoft uses a small part of The lake of the swans Right before the fight against Chief Lamia. In the PlayStation Portable version the part is longer.
• 1990: the graphic adventure Loom by LucasArts created by Brian Moriarty has a soundtrack formed entirely by extracts from the suite The lake of the swans. Even the theme of a swan is incorporated into history.
• 2009: video game Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games SEGA includes The lake of the swans in his artistic ice skating competition.
• 2016: video game Overwatch Blizzard Entertainment within the "Widowmaker" aspects are "Odette" and "Odile" the white swan and the black swan.
• 2016: Subsequently also in Overwatch Blizzard Entertainment at the Christmas event "Inverland" added an aspect of "Cascanueces" for "Zenyatta", where their orbs are replaced by nuts.
• 2018: It is rumored that for this year's event another related aspect could be added, being for "Junkrat" the "King of mice".

Selected discography

Audio

• 1954 – Antal Doráti (director), Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (1.a full recording, end of 1953, originally only in monkey; some false stereo themes in LP)
• 1959 – Ernest Ansermet (director), Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, engraved in stereo oct–nov 1958, reduced
• 1974 – Anatole Fistoulari (director), Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Ruggiero Ricci (violin)
• 1976 – André Previn (director), London Symphony Orchestra, Ida Haendel (violin)
• 1979 - Seiji Ozawa (director), Boston Symphony Orchestra, Joseph Silverstein (violin)
• 1982 – John Lanchbery (director), Philharmonia Orchestra
• 1988 – Yevgeny Svetlanov (director), Russian State Symphony Orchestra
• 1990 – Michael Tilson Thomas (director), London Symphony Orchestra
• 1992 – Charles Dutoit (director), Montreal Symphony Orchestra
• 2006 – Valery Gergiev (director), Orchestra of the Mariinski Theatre

Video

• 1966 – John Lanchbery (director), Vienna State Opera Ballet, Rudolf Nureyev (Sigfrido), Margot Fonteyn (Odette / Odile)
• 1968 – Viktor Fedotov (director), Kirov Ballet, John Markovsky (Sigfrido), Yelena Yevteyeva (Odette / Odile)
• 1976 – Algis Zhuraitis (director), Ballet Bolshoi, Alexander Bogatirev (Sigfrido), Maya Plisétskaya (Odette / Odile)
• 1982 – Ashley Lawrence (director), The Royal Ballet, Anthony Dowell (Sigfrido), Natalia Makarova (Odette / Odile)
• 1984 – Algis Zhuraitis (director), Ballet Bolshoi, Alexander Bogatirev (Sigfrido), Natalia Bessmertnova (Odette / Odile)
• 1986 – Viktor Fedotov (director), Kirov Ballet, Konstantin Zaklinsky (Sigfrido), Galina Mezentseva (Odette / Odile)
• 1988 – Graham Bond (director), English National Ballet, Peter Schaufuss (Sigfrido), Evelyn Hart (Odette / Odile)
• 1989 – Algis Zhuraitis (director), Ballet Bolshoi, Yuri Vasyuchenko (Sigfrido), Alla Mikhalchenko (Odette / Odile)
• 1990 – Viktor Fedotov (director), Kirov Ballet, Igor Zelensky (Sigfrido), Yuliya Makhalina (Odette / Odile)
• 1992 – Alexander Sotnikov (director), Perm Theatre Ballet, Alexei Fadeyechev (Sigfrido), Nina Ananiashvili (Odette / Odile)
• 1992 – Jonathan Darlington (director), Paris Opera Ballet, Patrick Dupond (Sigfrido), Marie-Claude Pietragalla (Odette / Odile)
• 1996 – Michel Quéval (director), Royal Swedish Ballet, Anders Nordström (Sigfrido), Nathalie Nordquist (Odette / Odile)
• 1998 – Daniel Barenboim (director), Berlin State Ballet, Oliver Matz (Sigfrido), Steffi Scherzer (Odette / Odile)
• 2004 – James Tuggle (director), La Scala Theatre Ballet, Roberto Bolle (Sigfrido), Svetlana Zakharova (Odette / Odile)
• 2005 – Ormsby Wilkins (director), American Ballet Theatre, Angel Corella (Sigfrido), Gillian Murphy (Odette / Odile)
• 2006 – Vello Pahn (director), Paris Opera Ballet, Jose Martinez (Sigfrido), Agnes Letestu (Odette / Odile)
• 2007 – Valery Gergiev (director), Ballet Mariinski, Danila Korsuntsev (Sigfrido), Ulyana Lopatkina (Odette / Odile)
• 2009 – Valeriy Ovsyanikov (director), The Royal Ballet, Thiago Soares (Sigfrido), Marianela Núñez (Odette / Odile)
• 2009 – Vladimir Fedoseyev (director), Zurich Ballet, Stanislav Jermakov (Sigfrido), Polina Semionova (Odette / Odile)

Gallery

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  Decorative design for Act II of Gaanen, 1877.

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  Pierina Legnani as Odette, 1895.

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  Pável Gerdt as Prince Sigfrido, 1895.

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  Aleksandr Gorsky mounting on the Bolshei, 1901.

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  Alicia Alonso as a black swan, 1955.

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  Mounting in the Bolshei, 2006.

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  Assembly in Czech Republic, 2009.