Petipa & Glazunov's Raymonda 4/4, 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 III: " Le festival des noces" -

--01 Entr'acte
--02 Grand cortège hongrois
--03 Rapsodie
--04 Mazurka (Insertion from Glazunov's 1894 "Scènes de Ballet", op. 52)
--05 Palotás

--06 Pas classique hongrois -
--a. Entrée
--b. Grand adage
--b. Variation I (Mlle. Johanssen)
--c. Variation pour quatre danseurs (Messrs. Legat II, Kyaksht, Legat III & Gorsky)
--d. Variation de Jeanne de Brienne (M. Legat II, originally a variation from Act II)
--e.Variation de Raymonde (Mlle. Legnani)
--f. Grand coda

--07 Galop générale
--08 Apothéose: Tourney


**Libretto -

Act III: " Le festival des noces" - The grounds near the castle of Jeanne de Brienne

King André II of Hungary, the countess Sybille & the newly wedded couple are congratulated (Cortège hongrois). In honour of the distinguished guest, a Hungarian- style divertissement & other dances are given. In an apotheosis, a knightly tournament is seen.


**Notes -
** The "Variation pour quatre danseurs" was, sadly, not notated, so the traditional choreography has been retained. The 1898 premiere featured 4 legendary male dancers: the brothers Nikolai & Sergei Legat, Georgy Kyaksht & Alexander Gorsky, all of whom were pioneers in the field of male technique, & for whom many of the classical repertory's most well-known male variations were originally created.

** 26:51 - Jeanne de Brienne's variation in the final Pas classique has an interesting history - it is actually supposed to be precede Raymonda's variation in the Act II Grand pas d'action as a solo for the troubadour Béranger, originally danced by Nikolai Legat in 1898. The choreography performed by Nikolai Legat has been restored by Vikharev, showing 21st century dancers & balletomanes that the danseurs of late 19th century St. Petersburg were not as technically unaccomplished as is popularly thought. The choreography traditionally danced throughout the world today is the work of Konstantin Sergeyev, done for himself ca. 1948 for his revival of the full-length "Raymonda" at the Kirov. It can be seen here with Sergeyev retaining shadings of the original - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnEkZPgFZso

**I am not sure who is responsible for the restored choreography of Jeane de Brienne's solo. It is often assumed that Petipa sent his male dancers to the great pedagogue Christian Johanssen for their variations, or that he allowed the danseur to create his own solo. An account by Johanssen survives that tells of how Petipa would watch Johanssen's men's class & take notes. Johanssen would then see his combinations on stage very soon afterward. I do believe, however, that by the 1890s Petipa began choreographing male solos himself. By that time the ranks of men in the Imperial Ballet had become quite accomplished, & Petipa was himself very old & very wise. But I suppose one will never know for sure who choreographed Jeane de Brienne's solo.

**It's obvious that Glazunov based his music for Jeanne de Brienne's solo on a variation by the French-American composer Ernest Guiraud that is still retained in many Russian productions of "Coppélia" as a solo for Franz in the final Pas de deux. It can be seen/heard here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZcW7N3EqZ4.

**As with her Act I pizzicato solo, Novikova takes a monstrously slow tempo for the famous "piano variation", which makes the choreography drag. It is interesting to compare the tempo Novikova prefers here to the tempo used by Dudinskaya in this clip (about 1 minute in) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnEkZPgFZso Dudinskaya's tempo is far more musically correct though slightly faster, no doubt so that the solo could fit the required length of the film.

**Whoever thought it was a good idea to have a split-screen effect of the pianist playing & Novikova dancing needs to be told a thing or two. It's even more ridiculous than close-up shots of ballerina feet scurrying about en pointe. But it makes me wonder...why is a solo pianist more worthy of the split-screen thing than the solo violinist, or any solo instrument for that matter?

**The "Rapsodie"/Danse des enfants has been absent for decades at the Mariinsky & from many Russian productions. An edit of the music was utilized by Yuri Grigorovich for his so-called "Raymonda Pas de deux" as a male variation, which can bee seen here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFo_V_YNyRc.

**The "Palotás" (a Czardas) & the Mazurka are presented in reverse order from what Petipa originally staged. But it does make more sense to have the Czardas precede the Pas classique hongrois.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

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

[theamazingsoter]

I like the choreography of Jean de Brienne's variation, but I was hoping to see a variation for Clémence too. In Nureyev's production (the only full-length version that uses the music, I believe) the variation is danced as a pas de trois by Clémence and two friends - the Grand Pas Hongrois becomes, in effect, a Pas de dix. Do you know if Petipa cut her variation for the original production, mrlopez?

By the way, the link in your second note doesn't work.

[mrlopez2681]

@theamazingsoter - whoops! link fixed! Petipa cut the 2nd solo. The first variation isn't for Henriette, its guess its just a random female solo, so in turn I guess the second solo wasn't for Clemence. This whole concept of a "pas de dix" is a post-revolution thing, & has nothing to do with Petipa.

[theamazingsoter]

@mrlopez2681 Part 2 - but anyway, this wonderful production, just like the other reconstructions by Vikharev and Burlaka, are like dreams come true. My only complaints are the awful video editing and the annoying zooming in and out in some parts of the film. I hope they have enough material to make a DVD that will do Raymonda justice.

[theamazingsoter]

@mrlopez2681 Oh, if that's the case... I just thought it was a little strange (and somewhat disappointing) that after two acts of shared Pas with Henriette and Raymonda, Clémence did not get to dance at all in the last act. It's confusing because in some versions the first variation is danced by the ballerina who dances Henriette. I think it's a pity that Petipa decided to cut the music; I wonder what he would have choreographed for that lovely little variation.