Petipa & Glazunov's Raymonda 2/4, La Scala

Sergei Vikharev's reconstruction of Marius Petipa & Alexander Glazunov's original 1898 production of "Raymonda" for the Teatro alla Scala. Broadcast of October 27, 2011.


**Résumé of dances/scenes -

Act I (scene 2): Visions -

--01 Entr'acte
--02 Grand scène du rêve

--03 Grand Pas d'action -
--a. Grand adage
--b. Valse fantastique
--c. Variation I
--d. Variation II
--e. Variation pour Mlle. Legnani (arranged by Glazunov from the Valse of his 1894 " Scènes de Ballet", op. 52)
--f. Grand coda

--04 Scène dramatique
--05 Ronde des follets et des farfadets
--06 Scène finale: L'aurore


**Libretto -
Scene two: "Visions" (A shady garden; in the background, the high terrace of the castle of the Countess de Doris)

The White Lady, without making a sound, advances along the terrace. Raymonda follows her in a state of unconsciousness. At a signal from the White Lady, the garden is wrapped in mist. A moment later, the mist disappears & Raymonda sees herself next to Jean de Brienne.

They are surrounded by La renommée (Glory), les chevaliers (knights) & les filles célestes (celestial maidens). The garden is illuminated by a fantastic light (Grand pas d'action). Raymonda expresses her joy to the White Lady, who interrupts her enthusiasm: "Look & see what awaits you!" Raymonda wants to return to her fiancé but she finds a handsome Saracen knight who has taken the place of Jean de Brienne. The stranger declares his passionate love for her. Raymonda is confused & upset, but she finds the strength to reject him (Scène dramatique). Imps & elves appear from everywhere (Ronde des follets et des farfadets), surrounding Raymonda who begs the White Lady to save her. At that moment, the Saracen tries to take Raymonda by force: Raymonda cries out & falls to the ground in a faint. The frightful vision disappears along with the White Lady. Raymonda awakens.


**Notes -
**It is amazing that anyone could have even considered for a moment changing Petipa's choreography for the dream sequence. Compare what is seen here to the version from the Soviet-era that is still performed at the Mariinsky as though it were some sacred text, & one is confronted with many horrible revelations - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG886vbHGzY

**An unfortunate re-occurrence of this production is the use of tempi that are entirely too slow, a modern-day preference in ballet (so-called "performance speed") that is also musically incorrect. This is apparent in the "Valse fantastique" & the subsequent variations, & invariably causes the choreography to drag in spots.

**Here, Jean de Brienne is costumed as a mediæval Knight of the 12th century crusades, rather than in some questionable get-up I've seen in other productions.

**It is a revelation to see the restored Grand adage, particularly the passage where Jean de Brienne kneels before Raymonda & offers her his sword. She then thrusts it into the ground & places his laurels around the sword's hilt. Also, the use of palm is the Christian symbol representing Jesus' triumphal procession into Jerusalem, something very appropriate for Jean de Brienne, a Knight of the Crusades. Such details & use of props were always a feature of Petipa's ballets, & is far more satisfying than the version one sees in the Mariinsky's Sergeyev edition of the Grand adage, where endless promenades have replaced Petipa's detailed & thoughtful work. I also love the spectacle of women representing Glory (also with palm) along with the corps de ballet of "celestial maidens" & little cupids framing the Knights that are keeping guard.

**Petipa rejected the music that Glazunov originally composed for Raymonda's variation, certainly feeling that the music was inadequate for showcasing the Prima ballerina. In light of this, Glazunov arranged a variation for Pierina Legnani from the Valse found in his 1894 suite "Scènes de Ballet". Many different versions of "Raymonda" have resurrected Glazunov's original variation - Nureyev's production for the Paris Opéra utilized the music to accompany a solo for Jean de Brienne in the Vision Scene. This is pretty silly, considering Jean de Brienne is a Knight of the 12th century crusades & likely wouldn't prance about to such twinkly music!

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Raymonda
• Marius
• Petipa
• Alexander
• Glazunov
• Mariinsky
• Olesia
• Novikova
• Sergei
• Vikharev
• Michail
• Jurowski
• La
• Scala
• Konstantin
• Sergeyev
• Natalia
• Dudinskaya

[looovecats]

Well, maybe it's exactly how it was designed in Petipa times, but for me costumes are awful, especially pink, and tutus looks heavy. Altogether it doesn't look like a dream, but more like a country fair. I much more prefer so criticised 'soviet' costumes in Sergeyev and Grigorovich versions, which make stage look really out of this world. Sometimes less is more.

[mrlopez2681]

@looovecats - Personally I see nothing wrong with adapting the old designs to suit the modern tastes, like the mariinsky did for Sleeping beauty or Bayadere reconstruction. But a country fair?!? Are you SERIOUS?

[JosephineBakerTube]

@looovecats & sometimes less is just that: less. The Sergeyev/Grigorovich versions may have costumes that are more simple, but they stand for absolutely nothing. Petipa's staging features costumes that mean something, as each group represents a character or group that is part of the story. The Tutu certainly could've been adapted (like the Bolshoi did with Corsaire). Furthermore, the Soviet choreography is pretentious, theme-less & merely dancing for dancing's sake @ the expense of the story.

[theamazingsoter]

Typical Petipa dream/vision scene - I love it!

I was very impressed by the choreography of the Grand adagio, especially the part of Raymonda's dance with the sword and the palm - it's so beautiful and poetic. And Novikova danced her variation divinely. Also, this is the first time I found the meeting between Raymonda and Jean moving (I love her jump into his arms). As for the costumes, I think they are fine, but I like the tutu of the six coryphées and especially Raymonda's tutu the most.

[faun070]

For those who are willing to let themselves be enchanted by the genius of Petipa, like Raymonda is prepared to follow the White Lady to her destiny you will be rewarded like the knight Jean de Brienne, receiving the Palm of Victory during the Dream Adagio, while the sounds of trumpeteers revealed in the apotheose will send shivers down your spine.

[faun070]

This Raymonda is the genuine article! (Vikharev's work on) Petipa's masterpiece answers all the questions raised by, and adresses all the inconsistencies of well-known versions.

[muckychat]

Merci pour l'orchestre!