'La Esmeralda - Grand Pas classique - 1/2 - The Mikhailovsky Ballet

1/2 of the Grand pas classique (a.k.a. "Pas des fleurs") taken from the Mikhailovsky Ballet's (formerly known as the Maly/Mussorgsky Ballet) production of the full-length "La Esmeralda".


Grand Pas classique (choreography by Marius Petipa) -
--1. Grande valse (Drigo)
--2. Adage (Pugni)
--3. Variation I (Drigo)


**many will notice that the music of the Grand adage of the pas is also used in the Mariinsky's 1941 production of "La Bayadère" to accompany a pas for Nikiya & a slave. Konstantin Sergeyev utilized this music when he created the piece for his wife, the ballerina Natalia Dudinskaya, in 1954.


This production was staged by Pyotr Gusev & the great ballerina Tatiana Vecheslova, who both remembered the ballet as it was performed before the choreography & mise-en-scène became heavily revised by Soviet-era ballet masters.

Recently, a film of this production was released onto DVD, but unfortunately it was severly edited, leaving only about 55 minutes.


**Notes of "La Esmeralda" -

"La Esmeralda" was first staged in 1844 at Her Majesty's Theatre in London for the great Carlotta Grisi by the Ballet master Jules Perrot & composer Cesare Pugni during the heyday of the Romantic ballet.

Throughout the 1840s Perrot & Pugni staged the ballet for Fanny Elssler's many engagements at several important European theatres, including La Scala & the Königliches Opernhaus in Berlin. In 1849 Perrot & Pugni followed Elssler to St. Petersburg to stage the work in an expanded edition for the Imperial Ballet. "La Esmeralda" had now found its permanent home in Russia.

Marius Petipa revived "La Esmeralda" on several occasions throughout the late 19th century. In 1886 he presented his definitive version in a production staged especially for the Italian ballerina Virginia Zucchi. For this revival Riccardo Drigo refurbished Pugni's score, & added the famous "La Esmeralda pas de six" to highlight the ballerina's dramatic talents. Petipa revived "La Esmeralda" for the last time in 1899 especially for Mathilde Kschessinskaya.

Perrot's original production of "La Esmeralda" featured a 'Pas des fleurs' , & it was for either his 1886 or 1899 revivals of the ballet that Petipa transformed this pas into the 'Grand pas classique' seen here to mostly new music by Riccardo Drigo. However, I am not sure of the origins of the opening 'Grande valse', since the violin répétiteur of the score held in the Sergeyev Collection - which documents the score for "La Esmeralda" as performed by the Imperial Ballet at the turn of the 20th century - retains Cesare Pugni's original 'Entrée' for this pas, rather than the 'Grande valse' heard here, which is actually a re-worked version of the 'Valse des esprits' from Drigo's score for Petipa's 1889 "Le Talisman".

But, regardless of its origins, here one can see this masterfully staged piece of brilliant classical choreography.

For their 2009-2010 season, the Bolshoi Ballet will present a reconstruction of Petipa's final production of "La Esmeralda".

--ENJOY!!

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• La
• Esmeralda
• Mussorgsky
• Maly
• Mikhailovsky
• Ballet
• St.
• Petersburg
• Russia
• Russian
• Drigo
• Pugni
• Petipa

[BalletArchives]

when this video was filmed?

[mrlopez2681]

@BalletArchives - this is about 1986

[palubob]

Was the 1941 Mariinsky Bayadere the version in which Chaboukiani had a hand?

[SaxonBiggy]

A Drigo waltz is absolutely unmistakeable.

[1230hana]

Is this Stanislavsky and Nemirovitch-Danchenk Ballets in Moscow?? I see fabulous dramatic dancers!! Especially this girl remains me my late best teacher and best friend = Stanislavsky Ballets' GREAT dancing-actress Violetta Bovt.

I am very very very interested in who coached these two female dancers. Nowadays we see many famous dancers with only dance technique but no heart....I am really glad to know the existence of these fantastic performers. Thank you so much to let us know it!!

[Lucylives08]

what company is this?

thank you for this rare treasure!

[HelgaMaq]

And the variation of the clip in Burmeister version belongs to Esmeralda herself.

[HelgaMaq]

Oh! One more forgotten treasure from Adam's collection of classics - La Esmeralda!