Petipa & Delibes's "Coppélia" reconstruction; w/ Alexandrova: Act I (1/3)

Premiere of Sergei Vikharev's reconstruction of the St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet's late 19th/early 20th century production of "Coppélia" for the Bolshoi Ballet. 12 March, 2009. This is easily the world's definitive production of "Coppélia".


** Cast -
--Swanilda - Maria Alexandrova
--Franz - Ruslan Skvortsov
--Dr. Coppelius - Gennadi Yanin
--Czardas - Maria Isplatovskaya & Vitaly Biktimirov
--For more cast details go here: http://www.bolshoi.ru/en/performances/283/roles/#20090312190000
--For more plot details go here: http://www.bolshoi.ru/en/performances/283/libretto/


**Notes -
**Due to the popularity & familiarity with "Coppélia" I have decided not to create the detailed résumé of scenes & dances that I include with my uploads. Instead, I have included my usual historical details as well as notes pertaining to anything unique to this production.


**History --
"Coppélia, ou La fille aux yeux d'email" ("Coppelia, or The Girl With Eyes of Enamel") was first staged by the renowned Ballet master Arthur Saint-Léon for the Théâtre Impérial de l'Opéra in Paris, & first presented on 20 May, 1870. It was the last ballet that Saint-Léon created before his death.

It was the Ballet Master Joseph Hansen who first staged the ballet for companies throughout Europe. The most important of these was Hansen's staging for Moscow's Imperial Bolshoi Theatre, which was first presented on 5 February [O.S. 24 January], 1882.

Marius Petipa staged his own version of "Coppélia" for the benefit performance of the celebrated ballerina Varvara Nikitina, first presented on 7 December [O.S. 25 November] 1884. Likely due to Marius Petipa's continuing skin illness from about 1892-1894, Enrico Cecchetti was entrusted to mount a revival of "Coppélia" for the benefit performance of the great Pierina Legnani at the Mariinsky Theatre. Nearly all modern-day productions of "Coppélia", most notably the Royal Ballet's, stem from the Stepanov choreographic notation of a 1904 performance of the ballerina Vera Trefilova in the Imperial Ballet's turn of the 20th century production.

Although the Bolshoi credits the choreography to both Cecchetti & Petipa, I have no doubt in my mind that Petipa is responsible for most, if not all, of the steps. Petipa certainly tinkered with "Coppélia" constantly as he took dancers through rehearsals between the revival of 1894 & the creation of the notation ten years later. Petipa was well known for making alterations, both big & small, to his ballets as he rehearsed them.


**Interview with Sergei Vikharev -
Here is a link to an incredible & provocative interview with Sergei Vikharev where he discusses the recent reconstructions & the Mariinsky's resistance to them -
http://www.theartsdesk.com/dance/reconstructing-ballets-past-2-master-restore...

--ENJOY!!

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Coppelia
• Maria
• Alexandrova
• Ruslan
• Skvortsov
• Bolshoi
• Ballet
• Delibes
• Petipa
• Cecchetti
• Sergei
• Vikharev
• Arthur
• Saint-Léon

[resborzage]

Does the Saint Leon choreography exist? What do you think of the Lacotte 'reconstruction.?

[mrlopez2681]

@resborzage sorry for responding so late. There is no way to know if the original Saint-Leon choreography exists. This is Petipa's version, restored from notation that was made in 1904 that all productions of Copellia derive in one way or another. Lacotte does NOT reconstruct ballets - he creates his own version based on the original scores & plot. His "Pharaoh's Daughter" is a travesty. There are only a few people who are familiar with the original Pugni score, & he BUTCHERED it.

[ejc480]

Bless you for uploading this!!!!

[palubob]

What an unexpected delight! A fine performance of an exciting new production. Alexandrova is a "natural" Swanilda and Yanin is the best character dancer anywhere today. Delibes' great score can keep one smiling throughout the whole ballet. The orchestral performance was excellent and sounded as if the musicians were enjoying themselves too.

[theamazingsoter]

And thank you very much for the link to the interview with Vikharev. I also wish that other companies would take over the reconstructions of Sleeping Beauty and La Bayadère so we don't lose them again...

Anyway, as Petipa would say "zan yew, monsieur López" (adoring the new look of your channel, btw) :)