Swan Lake ballet". Tchaikovsky's ballet "Swan Lake"

Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake is one of the symbols of the great Russian art, a masterpiece that has become the pearl of the treasury of world music and the "calling card" of the Bolshoi Theater. Every note of a work permeates with suffering. The tragedy of the tragedy and the beautiful melody that characterizes the creations of Peter Ilyich became the property of all music lovers and choreographers in the world. The circumstances of the creation of this magnificent ballet are no less dramatic than the chords of "Scenes on the Lake".

Order for the ballet

The last quarter of the nineteenth century was a strange time for the ballet. Today, when it became an integral part of the classics, it's hard to imagine that a few decades ago this kind of art was treated as something secondary, unworthy of attention of serious musicians. P. Tchaikovsky, being not only a famous composer, but also a connoisseur of music, nevertheless the ballet loved and often attended performances, although he himself did not want to write in this genre. But something unforeseen happened, against the background of certain material difficulties there was an order from the directorate, for which they promised a considerable sum. The fee was promised generous, eight hundred rubles. Pyotr Ilyich served in the conservatory, and in those days the enlightenment workers did not live in luxury either, although, of course, the notions of prosperity were different. The composer set to work. The ballet "Swan Lake" (at first the name "The Island of Swans" was conceived) was built on the basis of German legends.

Wagner and Tchaikovsky

Since the action took place in Germany, PI Tchaikovsky, in order to penetrate the mysterious atmosphere of the Teutonic sagas and castles, in which knights and beautiful ladies were quite ordinary characters, went to this country (this, incidentally, about the scarcity of the contents of the then professors) . In the city of Bayreuth during the performance (they gave the "Ring of the Nibelungs") a glorious meeting took place between two geniuses, Peter Ilyich and Richard Wagner. Tchaikovsky was delighted with the "Lohengrin" and other operas of his famous colleague, which he did not fail to inform the German fellow on the music system. His main character, the Russian genius decided to call Siegfried, against which the great German did not object.

Another mysterious German, Ludwig II

There was another mysterious character who seriously influenced the future ballet Swan Lake. Wagner was patronized by the Bavarian monarch, Ludwig II, a strange man, but very talented in his own way. Building mysterious, fantastic and unusual castles, he created an atmosphere of the Middle Ages, very consonant with the soul of the great Russian composer. Even the death of the king, which occurred under extremely mysterious circumstances, fit perfectly into the biography of this extraordinary and charming personality. The death of an extraordinary monarch made P. Piotr's consciousness unconscious. Tchaikovsky depressing action, he was oppressed by the question of whether he brought, albeit unintentionally, trouble on his head with a grim story that he wanted to tell people.

Creative process

In ballet as an action, the choreography was always considered the most important party. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, this tradition was violated by the ballet Swan Lake. The content, however, also was of no small importance, it emphasized the semantic load of beautiful music. It is tragic and fits into the definition of unhappy love. Since the theatrical directorate acted as the customer of the ballet "Swan Lake", the libretto was entrusted to Vladimir Begichev, the leader of the Bolshoi. He was helped by V. Geltser, a dancer, and later the author himself connected to the creative process. The score was ready by 1876, and with all the care shown during the creation of the ballet, Tchaikovsky probably did not expect that this work would go down in a number of masterpieces that immortalized his name.

Actors, time and place

The place and time of action are marked as fabulous. The main actors are few, only thirteen. Among them is the power princess with the son Siegfried, the friend of the latter, von Sommerstern, his mentor Wolfgang, von Stein with his wife, von Schwartzfels, also with his wife, speedwoman, herald, ceremonies master, swan queen, she also enchanted beautiful Odette, like a drop of water similar to Odile and her father Rothbart, an evil sorcerer. And, of course, secondary characters, including small swans. In general, on the stage for four acts there are not so few artists.

Story line

A young, cheerful and wealthy Siegfried enjoys spending time with friends. It has a triumph, the day of majority. But a swan flock appears, and something attracts the young prince after her into the forest. Odette, having adopted a human form, captivates him with her beauty and tells of the insidiousness of Rothbart, who bewitched her. The prince gives a vow of eternal love, but the queen mother has her own plan for the matrimonial arrangement of her son's destiny. At the ball he is presented to Odile, a girl very similar to the swan's queen. But the similarity is limited by appearance, and soon Siegfried realizes his mistake. He enters into a duel with the villain Rothbart, but the forces are unequal. In the final, lovers perish, the villain (in the reincarnation of an owl), too. This is the plot. "Swan Lake" has become an outstanding ballet not because of its unusual, but thanks to the magic music of Tchaikovsky.

The failed premiere

In 1877, the Bolshoi premiered. On February 20, Pyotr Ilyich looked forward with anxiety and impatience. For excitement the grounds were, for the production took Wenzel Reisinger, safely failed all previous premieres of the theater. Hope that this time he will succeed, it was not enough. And it happened. Not all contemporaries appreciated the magnificent music, psychologically perceiving the action in the aggregate. The efforts of the ballerina Polina Karpakova in creating the image of Odette failed. The corps de bal deserved many caustic remarks of criticism for inappropriate waving by hands. The costumes and decorations were unfinished. Only with the fifth attempt, after the change of the soloist (it was danced by Anna Sobeschanskaya, prima ballerina from the troupe of the Bolshoi Theater), managed to somehow captivate the audience. P. Tchaikovsky was depressed by failure.

Mariinsky staging

It so happened that the ballet "Swan Lake" was duly appreciated only after the death of the author, who was not destined to enjoy his triumph. Eight years the production was not very successful on Bolshoi's stage, until it was finally removed from the repertoire. Work on a new stage version of the choreographer Marius Petipa began with the author, helped them by Lev Ivanov, who had truly extraordinary abilities and beautiful musical memory.

The script was rewritten, all the choreographic numbers were rethought. The death of the great composer shocked Petipa, he became ill (other personal circumstances contributed to this ), but, having recovered, he set himself the goal of creating such a ballet Swan Lake, which would become a miraculous monument to PI Tchaikovsky. He succeeded.

Already on February 17, 1894, shortly after the composer's death, at the evening of his memory, the pupil of Petipa L. Ivanov offered the public a new version of the interpretation of the second act, characterized by criticism as a brilliant breakthrough. Then, in January 1895, the ballet was staged at the Mariinsky Theater of St. Petersburg. This time the triumph was extraordinary. Somewhat dissonant with the general spirit of the work was a new ending, happy. She was offered by the late composer's brother, Modest Tchaikovsky. In the future, the troupe returned to the original version, which has been put to this day with constant success by theaters all over the world.

The fate of the ballet

The failure with the "Swan Lake", apparently, was the reason why the composer did not take up ballets for thirteen years. Tchaikovsky, perhaps, was also embarrassed by the fact that this genre was still considered light-weight, unlike operas, symphonies, suites, cantatas and concerts, which he preferred to create. The composer wrote three ballets in all, the remaining two are "The Sleeping Beauty", which premiered in 1890, and a couple of years later the "Nutcracker" presented to the public.

As for the "Swan Lake", his life has become a long, and, most likely, eternal. The whole twentieth century ballet does not come off the stage of the leading theaters of the world. His ideas were realized during his production by the outstanding choreographers of our time A. Gorsky, A. Vaganova, K. Sergeev and many others. The revolutionary approach to the musical part of the work prompted the search for new creative ways in the dance, confirming the world leadership of the Russian ballet. Art connoisseurs from different countries, visiting Moscow, consider it an indispensable point of visiting the Bolshoi Theater. "Swan Lake" - a performance that does not leave anyone indifferent, to see it - the dream of all the ballet dancers. Hundreds of outstanding ballerinas consider the party of Odette to be their creative career.

Would know Peter Ilyich ...