Le Corsaire
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Le Corsaire (The Pirate) is a ballet in three acts, with a libretto based on the poem The Corsair by Lord Byron. Originally choreographed by the Balletmaster Joseph Mazilier to the music of Adolphe Adam. First presented by the Ballet of the Académie Royale de Musique, Paris, France on 23 January 1856. The ballet has many celebrated passages which are often extracted and performed independently - the scene Le Jardin Animé, the Pas d'Esclave, and the Grand Pas de Trois des Odalisques. The most celebrated is the Le Corsaire Pas de Deux, which is among classical ballet's most iconic and performed excerpts.
The ballet has been much revised throughout its long and complex performance history by way of later stagings in Russia, most notably by Jules Perrot (1858), Marius Petipa (1858, 1863, 1868, 1885, and 1899), Alexander Gorsky (1912), Agrippina Vaganova (1931), Pyotr Gusev (1955), Konstantin Sergeyev (1972, 1992), and Yuri Grigorovich (1994).
During the mid to late 19th century Adolphe Adam's score acquired a substantial amount of additional music, and by the turn of the 20th century the score credited contributions from six different composers: Cesare Pugni, Grand Duke Peter II of Oldenburg (AKA Prince Oldenburg or Prince Peter Von Oldenburg), Léo Delibes, Léon Minkus, Prince Nikita Trubetskoi, and Riccardo Drigo (often not all of these composers are credited). Many Soviet-era revivals added new music as well, though the majority of such additions were extracted from ballets from the Imperial-era that were no longer being performed.
Today Le Corsaire is performed chiefly in two different versions - in Russia and parts of Europe (mostly eastern Europe) companies have mounted productions derived from Pyotr Gusev's 1955 revival, initially staged for the Ballet of the Maly Theatre of St. Petersburg, and later the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet in 1977. Outside of Russia and Europe - primarily in North America and some parts of western Europe - many companies have mounted productions derived from Konstantin Sergeyev's revival, initially staged for the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet in 1973, and later the Bolshoi Ballet in 1992.
[edit] The Birth of Le Corsaire
The first ballet adaptation of Lord Byron's 1814 poem The Corsair was mounted by the Balletmaster Ferdinand/Francois Albert Decombè to the music of Nicholas Bochsa for the ballet of the Drury Lane/King's Theatre in 1837, a production which was revived in 1844 quite successfully.
A second ballet adaptation of The Corsair proved to be among the most celebrated and enduring ballets ever created, first presented on January 23, 1856 by the Ballet of the Académie Royale de Musique (today known as the Paris Opera Ballet), Paris. The work was the brainchild of the Minister of State, then director of the Opèra, and of the Empress Eugénie of France, who wanted to create a ballet adaptation of Lord Byron's poem superior to the one mounted in London by Decombè.
The choreographer for this production was the Opéra's chief Balletmaster Joseph Mazilier, one of the most celebrated choreographers of his time, who was highly skilled in producing the full-length narrative ballets then in vogue, with many successes to his credit (including Paquita, in 1844). As was standard practice in 19th century ballet, a literary man was commissioned to write the libretto, and here Mazilier looked to the most celebrated dramatist available, Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges, who fashioned the scenario loosely based on Byron's poem (Verno crafted the scenarios for many ballets throughout his life, most notably Giselle in collaboration with Théophile Gautier in 1841, and later for Petipa's The Pharaoh's Daughter in 1862).
Le Corsaire was created primarily for the talents of the famous Italian ballerina Carolina Rosati, who was then the Opéra's reigning Prima, celebrated for her great beauty, strong pointes, clean batterie, precision of execution, and easily intelligible mime. The score was commissioned, for a phenomenal fee of 6,000 francs in addition to royalties, from Adolphe Adam, who at that time was the most distinguished composer writing for both the ballet and the opera in France (Adam is most noted for his score for the opera Les Toréadors -1849, his score for the ballet Giselle -1841, and as his famous Christmas carol O Holy Night -1847). The libretto for Le Corsaire went through many changes during the long months of the ballet's preparation, requiring Verno to be paid an additional 3,000 francs for the work.
Le Corsaire premiered to a resounding success, with Rosati's powerful interpretation of the heroine Medora becoming the rage of Paris. The stage effects were hailed as the best yet seen on the stage of the Opéra. Designed and executed by the master machinist Victor Sacré, they became immortalized by Gustave Doré's drawing of the ship-wreck from the third act. In attendance for the first three performances were Emperor Napoleon III himself, with his wife the Empress Eugénie, who had played a large part in work's gestation. So moved by Le Corsaire was the Empress that she exclaimed "In all my life I have never seen, and probably never shall see again, anything so beautiful or so moving".
Adam's score was highly praised for its melodiousness, orchestration, and dramatic intensity. Unfortunately it was to be the composer's last work; he died of a heart attack on May 3, 1856, nearly four months after the ballet's premiere. On the evening of the day of his death, Le Corsaire was given at the Opèra as a memoriam to him, and in attendance was the royal family with their guest of honor, King William I of Württemberg. As equally moved by the ballet as was the Empress Eugénie, the Emperor gave orders that all of the evening's box office receipts be given to the composer's widow.
Le Corsaire was given 43 performances in 1856 alone with only Rosati as Medora. Her interpretation of Medora was considered by all to be incomparable, and after her departure from Paris in 1859 the ballet was taken out of the repertory. Not long afterwards Mazilier retired.
[edit] Le Corsaire in Russia
[edit] Petipa and Perrot's revival of 1858
Le Corsaire was first staged in Russia by the great Ballet Master Jules Perrot for the Imperial Ballet (today known as the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet), premiering January 12, 1858 at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre (it is important to note that until 1886 the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre was the principal venue of both the Imperial Ballet and Opera). The production was mounted especially for the Ballerina Ekaterina Friedbürg with the young Marius Petipa as Conrad. For this production Perrot essentially restaged Mazilier's original choreography, while Petipa, who also assisted in mounting the work, refashioned some of the original dances, among them, the Pas de Éventails of Act I (in which Medora and 6 coryphèes create a "peacock effect" with large fans), and the Scéne de Seduction.
The Pas d'esclave -
For the 1858 production of Le Corsaire Petipa interpolated a pas de deux, taken from his 1857 ballet The Rose, The Violet, and the Butterfly, a work set to the music of Grand Duke Peter II of Oldenburg (AKA Prince Oldenburg or Prince Peter Von Oldenburg). This Pas was interpolated especially for the Ballerina Lyubov Radina, who danced the role of Gulnare, and it came to be known as the Pas d'Esclave - a dramatic Pas d'action in which the slave trader Lankendem (known as Isaac Lanquedem in the original production) attemps to "show off" his beautiful slave Gulnare, in order to sell her.
[edit] Petipa's revival of 1863
It is significant to address that by 1863, Jules Perrot had left Russia, and Petipa was serving as the Imperial Ballet's second Balletmaster. The great choreographer Arthur Saint-Léon held the position of Maître de Ballet (first Balletmaster) until his death in 1870. Upon the death of Saint-Léon Petipa was named Maître de Ballet, a position he would hold until 1903.
Petipa presented his own completely new revision of Le Corsaire on January 24, 1863, which was produced especially for his wife, the Prima Ballerina Mariia Surovshchikova-Petipa. For this new production Petipa commissioned the composer Cesare Pugni (who was at that time the First Imperial Ballet Composer to the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres) to make additions and modify the ballet's score. Among Pugni's additions was the Corsaire's Mazurka for the second act, which is still retained in modern productions.
The Grand Pas de Trois des Odalisques -
For his 1863 revival Petipa also expanded the Pas des Odalisques of Act II. Originally this Pas consisted of only Adolphe Adam's waltz from the original score. Petipa decided to revise this Pas into a standard Classical Pas de Trois (which consist of an Entrée, 3 variations, and coda). Petipa retained Adam's original waltz, which became the Entrée, and added the three variations and a coda: the first two variations and the coda were set to new music by Pugni, while the third variation, transferred into the Pas from another scene, was originally written by Adam as a variation for Gulnare. This Pas was transformed into what is now known as the Grand Pas de Trois des Odalisques (AKA the Classical Trio of the Odalisques), and is still danced today.
[edit] Mazilier's revival of 1867 and Petipa's revival of 1868
Four years later in Paris, Joseph Mazilier came out of retirement to mount a revival of Le Corsaire especially for the famous German Ballerina Adèle Grantzow, and in celebration of the Universal Exposition (World's Fair).
Le Jardin Animé -
For this 1867 revival Mazilier rechoreographed the entire ballet, and staged a new Grand Ballabile to new music by Léo Delibes especially for Grantzow, known at the time as the Grand Pas des Fleurs. This revival premiered on October 21, 1867 to an even bigger success than the original production. This was to be Mazilier's last work for the ballet; he died shortly after the ballet's premiere on April 18, 1868. His revival was given a total of 81 performances with Grantzow as Medora, and after her departure from Paris it was again taken out of the Opéra's repertory, never to be performed by the Parisian ballet again.
While performing Le Corsaire in Paris, Adèle Granztow was invited to perform with the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg. For the occasion Petipa mounted a complete revival of Le Corsaire in the hopes that she would have as much of a triumph in St. Petersburg as she has in Paris. Grantzow made certain that she could perform the Grand Pas de Fleurs in this staging, and so the ballerina assisted Petipa in mounting Mazilier's choreography, though she was rather surprised at how much the Balletmaster revised it. Not only did Petipa do this, but he also changed the scene's title to Le Jardin Animé (The Animated Garden), as it is still known today. The revival premiered on January 25, 1868, and was so successful that performances of other works had to be cancelled due to the public demand.
[edit] Petipa's revivals of 1885, and 1899
Petipa then presented his third complete revision of Le Corsaire on November 10, 1885, created especially for the ballerina Eugeniia Sokolova. The Balletmaster completely rechoreographed the entire ballet for the occasion, and added new variations to the scene Le Jardin Animé to the music of Léon Minkus (First Imperial Ballet Composer to the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres from 1871-1886) which were used in substitution for Delibes's original variations.
Petipa then presented his last, and indeed most important revival of Le Corsaire on January 13, 1899 at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre, rechoreographing the majority of the ballet. This production was mounted especially for the Prima Ballerina Assoluta Pierina Legnani who danced Medora, with Olga Preobrajenskaya as Gulnare, and Pavel Gerdt as Conrad.
In 19th century ballet it was standard practice for a ballerina or danseur to interpolate a variation from another work into a ballet. Often the composers of the Imperial Ballet would literally "custom score" a variation at the request of a dancer. New variations had found their way into Le Corsaire throughout the work's performance history, but for Petipa's 1899 revival, new variations for Medora and Gulnare were used in substitution of Delibes' original solos in the scene Le Jardin Animé. The first, danced by Olga Preobrajenskaya as Gulnare, was originally the Variation of Amour taken from the 1876 Petipa/Minkus ballet The Adventures of Peleus, while the second variation, danced by Pierina Legnani as Medora, was taken from Petipa's 1883 ballet Pygmalion(AKA The Cyprus Statue) to the music of Prince Nikita Trubetskoi.
The variation danced in 1899 by Olga Preobrajenskaya as Gulnare is no longer performed in Le Jardin Animé anywhere in the world, and has been replaced over time by a variation that is by an unknown hand, though it is believed to be by Cesare Pugni, and is still danced by Gulnare in almost all productions of Le Corsaire in the scene Le Jardin Animé (this unidentified variation is danced by the Ballerina Paloma Herrera in the popular 1999 film of American Ballet Theatre's production of Le Corsaire). The variation danced in 1899 by Pierina Legnani as Medora is still retained in the scene Le Jardin Animé in the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet's production of Le Corsaire (this variation is danced by the Ballerina Altynai Asylmoratova in the popualar 1989 film of the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet's production of Le Corsaire). In later times the variation for Medora in the scene Le Jardin Animé has been occasionally replaced as well. During Le Jardin Animé, the Mariinsky Prima Ballerina Natalia Dudinskaya preferred to dance the rarely heard Variation of the Flower Girl taken from Léon Minkus' score for Petipa's Don Quixote (this variation is danced by Medora during Le Jardin Animé in most western productions of Le Corsaire, notably by Julie Kent in the popular 1999 film of American Ballet Theatre's production of Le Corsaire).
[edit] The Le Corsaire Pas de Deux
For the revival of 1899, Petipa commissioned the composer/conductor Riccardo Drigo to score a Grand Pas de Deux especially for Legnani's performance. Drigo came through with one of the most famous pieces of music in all of ballet: a short Entrée for harp, an Adagio, a fiery variation for the Suitor in triple time, a variation in polka time for Medora, and a rousing coda, complete with the required 32 bars of music for Legnani's famous 32 fouettés en tournant. The Danseur Aleksander Chekrygin danced the suitor.
It is not known for certain who was responsible for the choreography of Chekrygin's dancing, though there were occasions where Petipa either allowed the male dancers to choreograph their own dances, or he would have Christian Johansson, the influential teacher of the Imperial Ballet, arrange the variation. Legnani's original variation, which over the years has been substituted out quite often, is perhaps one of the most difficult solos for the classical ballerina that Petipa ever choreographed. Legnani, an Italian virtuosa, was well-known for her phenomenal technique, and for her variation in this Pas de Deux Petipa lavished notoriously intricate combinations that still challenge ballerinas to this day despite more evolved technical innovations.
It is a common misconception that the Le Corsaire Pas de Deux was originally danced as a Pas de Trois in 1899, as it is often performed in nearly all modern productions of the full-length ballet. To add to the misconception, Kevin McKenzie, director of American Ballet Theatre, commented in a documentary about the company's production of Le Corsaire that Petipa originally choreograhed the Le Corsaire Pas de Deux as a Pas de Trois. This revision did not come about until well into the Soviet period - though ballet historians are not certain which production first presented the piece as a Pas de Trois, it was possibly the revisions of Fedor Lophukov during the 1920s that first saw the piece danced in this way. According to the program of Petipa's 1899 revival and contemporary accounts, Legnani and Chekrygin performed the original staging of the Le Corsaire Pas de Deux as a duet.
In 1931 Agrippina Vaganova revised the choreography of the Le Corsaire Pas de Deux especially for the graduation performance for her star pupil Natalia Dudinskaya, who was partnered by Konstantin Sergeyev. Through Vaganova's revision, the Le Corsaire Pas de Deux took on the basic shape it has today. In 1939 Vaganova's revision of the Pas de Deux was interpolated into her own 1931 staging of the full-length Le Corsaire, danced by Galina Ulanova and Nikolai Zubkovsky.
It was the noted Premiere Danseur of the Kirov/Mariinksy Ballet Vakhtang Chabukiani who had the most influential hand in refashioning the male dancing of the Le Corsaire Pas de Deux. During his performances in the Pas during the 1930s and 1940s he gave the male role more athletic and virtuoso choreographic elements. His interpretaion of the male role became in essence the standard, and it has remained so to the present day.
The Le Corsaire Pas de Deux became a much celebrated repertory staple with ballet companies all over the world when Rudolf Nureyev staged the peice for the first time in the west for a Covent Garden gala performance for himself and Margot Fonteyn in 1960. Since all that was available of Drigo's music in the west at that time was a piano reduction, the music was orchestrated by John Lanchbery, and is still performed often in his arrangements in the west today.
[edit] Alternate Variations for the Ballerina
Drigo's original ballerina's variation from the Le Corsaire Pas de Deux - a quick variation in polka time - has been substituted out many times throughout the work's performance's history - in 1958 Rudolf Nureyev danced the Le Corsaire Pas de Deux with Alla Sizova for their graduation performance from the Vaganova Choreographic Institutution (school of the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet). For the occasion Sizova substituted the original Ballerina's variation for the Variation of the Dryad Queen from Alexander Gorsky's 1900 revival of Petipa's ballet Don Quixote (which Gorsky added to the ballet to new music by Anton Simon. Today this music is almost always incorrectly credited to Léon Minkus).
When Rudolf Nureyev staged the Le Corsaire Pas de Deux for the first time in the West, he also included the variation that Sizova danced for their graduation performance, likely because it suited the more lyrical gifts of Fonteyn. For many years Nureyev's staging of the Pas became the standard in the west, complete with Fonteyn's interpolated variation. The other variation often danced in substitution of the original Ballerina solo is the Variation of Gamzatti from the Grand Pas d'Action from the Petipa/Minkus La Bayadère (this variation is actually from the Pas de Venus from Petipa's 1868 ballet Tsar Kandavl to the music of Cesare Pugni, and was added to La Bayadère by the Ballerina Olga Preobrajenskaya in 1900 when she danced Gamzatti).
[edit] Le Corsaire in the 20th century and America
Le Corsaire had been staged at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow as early as 1858 in a version later revised by the Balletmaster Ivan Clustin in 1902. It was not until after Petipa's death that a new revival was mounted at the Bolshoi Theatre by Alexander Gorsky, premiering on January 15, 1912 with Ekaterina Geltzer as Medora and Vasily Tikhomirov as Conrad. This staging, long gone from the repertory of the Bolshoi Theatre, was a restaging of Petipa's 1899 revival with revisions by Gorsky. He also included new dances to the music of such composers as Vasily Soloviev-Sedoy, Reinhold Glière, Frédéric Chopin, and even Tchaikovsky.
Petipa's last revival of Le Corsaire remained in the repertory of the Imperial Ballet until 1928 (by that time the company was known as the State Petrograd Ballet), where up to that point it had been performed an incredible 224 times since the premiere of the 1899 production. Many more stagings of Le Corsaire followed in versions that, for the most part, retained all of the ballet's classical dances as set down by Petipa, which by that time were considered almost sacrosanct (though they were not entirely immune from revision themselves).
The changes that came along in these revivals were done rather severely to the incidental scenes of action. As a result, the ballet's plot evolved from a dramatic tour de force into what many consider to be an absurd and insignificant comic tale that merely serves as the glue holding the dancing passages together - this is the way that Le Corsaire has been passed down to the present day.
Agrippina Vaganova, the revered pedagogue of Russian Ballet, supervised the first "after Petipa" revival of Le Corsaire for the Kirov Ballet in 1931. The next important revival of the work was staged by the Balletmaster Pyotr Gusev in 1955 for the Ballet of the Maly Theatre of St. Petersburg. This was the first production of the work to present a completely modified version of the libretto, written by Gusev and the ballet historian Yuri Slonimsky, which included a new character - the slave Ali - who would also perform the Le Corsaire Pas de Deux as the suitor. Aside from the new libretto Gusev opted to do a complete revision of the ballet's score - although by this time the score for Le Corsaire contained the traditional interpolated dances by many composers ( the Pas d'Esclave, the Corsaire's Mazurka, the Grand Pas de Trois des Odalisques, the scene Le Jardin Animé, the Grand Pas de Deux à Trois/Grand Pas de Deux, as well as the usual supplemental variations), the majority of the score still belonged to Adolphe Adam, as the music for the incidental scenes of action were from his original score of 1856. Gusev opted to discard nearly all of this original music in favor of music fashioned out of themes from Adam's 1842 ballet La Jolie Fille du Gand, as well as more additions from various ballets by Cesare Pugni.
With this interpolated music new leitmotifs were fashioned for the ballet's main characters, along with Gusev creating a new version of the ballet's prologue - this scene included the standard opening of the ballet with the famous shipwreck, followed by a scene set on a beach. Gusev added here a new Entrance for Medora, and an elaborate Pas for Gulnare, Medora, and ten other ballerinas, who subsequently find Conrad and his party washed ashore. Soon after the women are kidnapped by Lankendem and his cohorts, which causes Conrad and his party to go to their rescue. Gusev also added many individual dances throughout his production from Riccardo Drigo's score for Petipa's 1889 ballet The Talisman. Originally Gusev had intended to mount this revision for the Kirov Ballet, but the company chose to retain Vaganova's 1931 staging (Gusev's production was also staged for the Novosibirsk Ballet in 1964, where it is still retained).
Many more revisions of Le Corsaire were mounted in Russia, perhaps one of the most noted being in 1958 for the Stanislavsky Ballet by the former ballerina Nina Grishschina with the assistance of the Balletmasters Alexei Chichinadze and Vladimir Bourmiester, a production which was revived in 1989. In 1973, the Balletmaster of the Kirov Ballet Konstantin Sergeyev staged his own completely new revision of Le Corsaire, a production which was soon pulled 4 years later by Oleg Vinogradov, the former director of the Ballet of the Maly Theatre, who was appointed director of the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet that year. Vinogradov opted to stage Gusev's 1955 revision of the ballet instead, a production that the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet still retains in its repertory to the present day.
In 1989 the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet decided to present a revival of Le Corsaire for its upcoming world tour. There was much debate as to whether Gusev's staging would be retained or whether Sergeyev's version would be reinstated. In the end, they chose to retain Gusev's version, while still lavishing the production with new sets and costumes. This staging premiered to great success in New York at the Metropolitan Opera House on July 3, 1989 with the Ballerina Altynai Asylmuratova as Medora (this production was filmed at the Mariinsky Theatre in April of 1989, and has been released onto DVD/video).
Sergeyev then staged a complete revival of his 1973 revision of Le Corsaire for the Bolshoi Ballet, at the invitation of Yuri Grigorovich, the company's director. This production premiered on March 11, 1992 to great success, becoming Sergeyev's last work for the ballet; he died on April 1, that same year. Grigorovich then decided to pull Sergeyev's staging from the Bolshoi's repertory after only seven performances, so that there would be no competition for his own staging, which premiered on February 16, 1994, a production that is still retained in the repertory of the Bolshoi Ballet.
The sets and costumes designed by Irina Tibilova which were used for Konstantin Sergeyev's production of Le Corsaire sat unused in the archives of the Bolshoi Theatre for almost five years. At the suggestion of Sergeyev's wife, the celebrated Ballerina and teacher Natalia Dudinskaya, Anna-Marie Holmes staged Sergeyev's production for the Boston Ballet (with the assistance of Dudinskaya, Tatiana Terekhova, Sergei Berezhnoi, Tatiana Legat, and Vadim Disnitsky).
The music for this production was copied from the conductor's score used by Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet, as well as additional parts taken from the Mariinsky Theatre library. The Boston Ballet music librarian Arthur Leeth, the company pianist Marina Gendal, and conductor Jonathan McPhee performed a cut-and-paste operation on the score as the choreography was adapted for the new staging. This required the re-ordering of many numbers, as well as a few new transitional passages which were composed by Kevin Galie. Galie also did a substantial re-orchestration throughout many parts of the score primarily to the dance numbers, notably the Grand Pas de Trois des Odalisques, the Pas d'Esclave, and the Grand Pas de Deux à Trois Classique (AKA the Le Corsaire Pas de Deux). This production premiered on March 27, 1997 with the Ballerina Natasha Akhmarova as Medora, to great success.
Nearly one year later, American Ballet Theatre in New York rented the Boston Ballet's production for its own staging of Le Corsaire. The staging went through even more revisions both choreographically and musically, with musical modifications performed by American Ballet Theatre conductor Charles Parker and the company pianist Henrietta Stern. This production premiered on June 19, 1998, with Nina Ananiashvili as Medora, Ashley Tuttle as Gulnare, Giuseppe Picone as Conrad, Jose Manuel Carreño as Ali, and Vladimir Malakhov Lankendem. The ABT production was later filmed at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, California by PBS for Great Performances in 1999, with Julie Kent as Medora, Paloma Herrera as Gulnare, Ethan Steifel as Conrad, Angel Corella as Ali, and Vladimir Malakhov as Lankendem.
Today the full-length Le Corsaire has been staged by many companies all over the world. It is Pyotr Gusev and Konstantin Sergeyev's stagings that serve as the foundation for these productions, though to date there has not been a company who has chose to merge the two. Outside of Russia, primarily in western Europe and the Americas, it is Sergeyev's production that has been staged primarily, while in Russia and in eastern Europe Gusev's revision has been staged for the most part.
[edit] Pacific Northwest Ballet School's reconstruction of Le Jardin Animé
Petipa's choreography for Le Corsaire as danced by the Imperial Ballet at the turn of the 20th century was notated between circa 1894 and 1900 in the Stepanov method of dance notation. The notation for Le Corsaire, along with a whole cache of documentation for Petipa's ballets as he envisaged them are part of a collection known as the Sergeyev Collection, which is today housed in the Harvard University Library.
In June 2004 the School of the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle presented a reconstruction of Petipa's choreography for the scene Le Jardin Animè, taken directly from the notation. It was staged by the dance historian and Stepanov notation expert Douglas Fullington, and Manard Stewart, former principle dancer of the Pacific Northwest Ballet.
[edit] Video
[edit] Gallery of Le Corsaire
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[edit] Synopsis
(NOTE - The following synopses detail the two most prominent versions of Le Corsaire. The first is of Pyotr Gusev and Yuri Slonimsky's scenario, used mostly in Russia and eastern Europe (most notably by The Mariinsky Ballet). The second is of Konstantin Sergeyev's 1973/1992 scenario as adapted for American Ballet Theatre's production.
[edit] Scenario for the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet's version of Le Corsaire (by Pyotr Gusev and Yuri Slonimsky)
Characters
- Conrad -- Captain of the corsair ship
- Ali -- Conrad's slave
- Birbanto -- First mate, and Conrad's friend
- Lankendem -- Slave dealer
- Medora -- Young Greek woman
- Gulnare -- Young Greek woman and Medora's friend
- The Seid Pasha -- A Turkish nobleman
[edit] Prologue: Shipwreck
A groups of Mediterranean corsairs (pirates), led by Conrad, Birbanto, and the slave Ali are caught at sea in a fierce storm. Soon, their great ship sinks.
[edit] Act I
Scene 1: The Sea-Shore Conrad and his friends are washed ashore. Young Greek women appear, led by Medora and Gulnare. They soon discover the shipwrecked corsairs, and immediately Medora and Conrad fall in love. But soon the women become aware of impending danger, and quickly hide the corsairs. A patrol of Turkish traders, in league with the villainous slave dealer Lankandem, are hunting for beautiful woman to sell as slaves. The Turks soon capture the young Greek women, and are paid handsomely by Lankendem. They soon head off to the slave market in a Turkish bazaar, and the corsairs vow to rescue the unfortunate maidens.
Scene 2: The Slave Market Amidst the bustle and barter the wealthy Seid Pasha turns up at the slave market to purchase beautiful young slave women for his harem. Lankendem shows off all of the fruits of his travels from foreign lands, and though he extols the beauty of captive maidens from Palestine and Algeria, the Pasha is not interested. Soon Lankendem presents Gulnare, who enchants the Pasha. Gulnare and Lankendem dance a Pas d'action (the Pas d'esclave). He then pays handsomely for her as she is carried off to his harem. But Lankendem has saved his greatest spoil for last - the beautiful Medora. The Pasha soon makes his offer, but is soon outbid by an unknown trader, who is Conrad in disguise. Conrad then wins Medora and whisks her away, followed by her fellow captives. In the confusion the Corsaires also take Lankendem captive.
[edit] Act II
The Corsaire's Cave Conrad and his fellow corsairs take Medora and her fellow maidens to their cave filled with treasure. At the height of the celebrations Medora and Conrad declare their love, and Ali vows to be Medora's devoted slave. The three dance a Grand Pas Classique (the Grand Pas de Deux à Trois or Le Corsaire Pas de Deux). The woman ask Medora to intercede on their behalf so that they may be released. Conrad promises to free them, but Birbanto and his friends protest, and a fight breaks out. Conrad keeps his word and releases the woman. Lankendem, who has witnessed the conflict, strikes a deal with Birbanto and his friends - in exchange for his freedom, he informs them of a potion that, when sprinkled on a flower, can immideiately induce sleep. Birbanto and his friends agree. Conrad and Medora return, relishing in the chance to be alone together. Lankendem then offers Medora a bouquet of flowers to give to Conrad. Conrad then smells the beautiful flowers and falls asleep. Soon, Lankendem, Birbanto, and their cohorts capture Medora. Conrad then awakes, and he and Ali vow to save her once again.
[edit] Act III
Scene 1: The Seid Pasha's Harem Gulnare is being fêted by the Pasha, and she is enjoying herself. Lankendem soon arrives and presents the Pasha with three woman of ideal beauty to entertain the harem. They dance a Pas de Trois Classique (the Grand Pas de Trois des Odalisques). Soon Lankendem carries in the greatest prize - Medora. Though she is very sad at having been captured once more, her spirits are lifted when she is re-united with Gulnare.
Scene 2: Le Jardin Animé Medora, Gulnare, and the woman of the harem join together to dance a fantastical Grand Ballabile in which they celebrate beauty, grace, and harmony in a garden filled with flowers and magic fountains.
Scene 3: The Rescue Afterwards, the Pasha is warned that mysterious pilgrims have arrived. The pilgrims arrival coincides with the evening prayer, which is conducted by the leader, who is really Conrad in disguise. Their true identity is soon revealed, and they take revenge on the Pasha, his men, and Lankendem. They rescue Medora and Gulnare.
[edit] Epilogue
Medora, Conrad, Gulnare, and Ali set sail for new adventures, certain this time of lasting happiness.
[edit] Scenario for American Ballet Theatre's Version of Le Corsaire (derived from Sergeyev's version)
Characters
- Conrad -- Captain of the corsair ship
- Ali -- Conrad's slave
- Birbanto -- First mate, and Conrad's friend
- Lankendem -- Slave dealer
- Medora -- the beautiful slave girl
- Gulnare -- Medora's friend
- Seyd -- A Turkish Pasha
[edit] Prologue
A pirate ship, manned by Conrad, his slave Ali, and his friend Birbanto, sails toward Turkey.
[edit] Act I
The Bazaar Dealers and buyers fill a noisy bazaar where slave girls are being traded. Conrad and his men arrive where Lankendem, the owner of the bazaar, is selling girls. Conrad sees Medora, a slave girl, and falls immediately in love. Seyd, a Pasha, arrives on the scene amidst much fanfare. Lankendem presents three young women, who dance a Pas de Trois Classique (the Grand Pas de Trois des Odalisques) whom the Pasha rejects. Lankendem then presents Gulnare, a lovely slave girl, and together Gulnare and Lankendem dance a Pas d'action (the Pas d'Esclave). The Pasha buys her. Lankendem then presents a young slave girl, Medora, and everyone is entranced by her beauty. The Pasha buys her. Conrad instructs the slave to steal Medora back and the corsairs raid the village and kidnap Lankendem.
[edit] Act II
The Grotto Conrad shows Medora his cave filled with treasure. Birbanto calls all the corsairs to bring in their stolen bounty to the grotto, as well as the slave girls and Lankendem. Medora, Conrad, and the slave Ali dance a Grand Pas Classique (the Grand Pas de Deux à Trois or Le Corsaire Pas de Deux). Afterward, Medora entreats Conrad, in the name of their love, to free all the slave girls. He agrees, but Birbanto rebels against the idea and instead persuades the pirates to riot against Conrad. By the force of Conrad's commanding personality and physical presence, he single-handedly instills terror into the hearts of the corsairs and they abandon their mutinous plan. Not to be thwarted, Birbanto devises a new scheme. He sprays a rose with a sleeping potion and forces Lankendem to help him pass the flower to Medora, who unwittingly gives it to Conrad. He inhales its aroma and falls into a drugged sleep. The corsairs return to the grotto and attempt to capture Medora. While struggling, she snatches a dagger and cuts Birbanto's arm. In the confusion, Lankendem steals Medora back and escapes. Birbanto is about to kill Conrad but is interrupted by the slave. Stunned and broken-hearted, Conrad discovers Medora missing. Birbanto feigns ignorance and swears his loyalty to Conrad.
[edit] Act III
Scene 1: The Pasha's Palace The playful Gulnare is interrupted by Lankendem bringing a veiled Medora. The Pasha is delighted that Medora has been recaptured.
Scene 2: Le Jardin Animé' (The Animated Garden) The Pasha then decides to take a nap. He dreams of all of the beautiful women of his harem dancing in an enchanted flower garden. The woman dance a Grand Ballabile.
Scene 3: The Pasha's Palace Conrad and his party arrive at the palace in disguise, waking the governor. Once inside, the maurauders attack the Pasha and his guards. After the residents flee, Medora names Birbanto as the traitor and Conrad kills him. Conrad, Ali, Medora and Gulnare all escape to the Corsaire ship.
Scene 4: The Storm The corsair ship sails upon a calm sea. Conrad, at the helm, cradles Medora in his arms. Suddenly a fierce storm blows across as lightning illuminates the darkening sky. Gusting winds shred the sails and a lightning bolt snaps the ship's mast in half. The ship sinks amidst the relentless, turbulent waters.
[edit] Epilogue
As the wind subsides and the sea calms itself, the moon rises in the sky. It sheds light upon Conrad and Medora, clinging to a rock and offering thanks for their miraculous survival, a testimony to the strength of their love.
[edit] The music of Le Corsaire on CD
The following list is of recordings of music from the ballet Le Corsaire. Though there are bootleg recordings available taken from the soundtrack of the American Ballet Theatre and the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet's DVD releases, this list concentrates only on officially released recordings.
- Adam: Le Corsaire Richard Bonynge, English Chamber Orchestra. (1992) Decca 430 286-2, 2CDs. Out-of-print. Note for this recording Bonynge utilized the conductor's score as used for Mazilier's 1867 revival of Le Corsaire. It contains Adam's original, unaltered score, as well as Delibes' addition of the music for the scene Le Jardin Animé in it's original orchestration by Delibes, and with the original variations for the characters Medora and Gulnare. It does not contain the additions added to the score in Russia throughout the mid to late 19th century.
- Musique Pour le Ballets de Marius Petipa Klaus Weise, Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice. (1996) Accord 205472, 1 CD. Out-of-print. Note Among the excerpts included on this disc (from Petipa's Raymonda, Don Quixote), are the 3 Pas Petipa added to Le Corsaire - the Pas d'esclave (by Grand Duke Peter II of Oldenburg), Grand Pas de Trois des Odalisques (by Adolphe Adam and Cesare Pugni), and the Le Corsaire Pas de Deux (by Riccardo Drigo), which consists of the original variation for Medora in polka time. These pieces are incorrectly attributed solely to Adam in the liner notes. To date, this is the only officially released professional recording of these pieces.
- Ballet Gala from the Boxed-set Original Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra Georgi G. Zhemchushin, Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra. (1989) Pilz 44 1008-2, 1 CD. Out-of-print. Note This recording contains the Le Corsaire Pas de Deux in an extremely stripped-down version of Drigo's original orchestration. Drigo's original female variation is substituted-out for Léon Minkus's Variation of Gamzatti from the Grand Pas d'action from the ballet La Bayadère.
The following list is of recordings of Drigo's Le Corsaire Pas de Deux as orchestrated by John Lanchbery for Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn in 1962. Except where noted, all of these recordings contain the Variation of the Dryad Queen from Don Quixote to music by Anton Simon in substitution for the original variation Drigo composed for Medora.
- Ballet Gala Richard Bonynge, English Concert Orchestra. (1990) London 421 818-2, 2 CDs. Out-of-print. Note This recording is also included in the boxed-set Fête du Ballet (Decca 468 578-2, 10 CDs).
- Pas de Deux Richard Bonynge, London Symphony Orchestra. (1963, re-released in 1992) London 433 862-2, 1 CD. Out-of-print.
- Pas de Deux: The Ballet Experience Boris Spassov, Sofia National Opera Orchestra. (2002) Capriccio 67 012, 1 CD.
- Ballet Gala Terence Kern, Orchestra of the London Festival Ballet. (1996) Seraphim 5 69089 2, 2 CDs. Out-of-print. Note This recording contains Drigo's original variation for Medora in polka time in Lanchbery's orchestration.
[edit] External links
- Le Corsaire Fact Sheet by Robert Greskovic
- The Pacific Northwest Ballet School's reconstruction of Le Jardin Animé by Sanra Kurtz
- American Ballet Theatre repertory archive - Le Corsaire
- Anna-Marie Holmes answers questions about Le Corsaire on Ballettalk.com
[edit] References
- American Ballet Theatre. Theatre program for Le Corsaire. Playbill 24-26,31. 2005.
- Fullington, Doug. "Petipa's Le Jardin Animé Restored". The Dancing Times: September, 2004. Vol. 94, No. 1129.
- Garafola, Lynn, ed. and translator. "The Diaries of Marius Petipa" from Studies in Dance History: Spring 1992 Vol. III, No. 1
- Guest, Ivor Forbes. CD Liner notes. Adolphe Adam. Le Corsaire. Richard Bonynge cond. English Chamber Orchestra. Decca 430 286-2.
- Guest, Ivor Forbes. Ballet of the Second Empire.
- Guest, Ivor Forbes. Jules Perrot: Master of the Romantic Ballet.
- Mariinsky Ballet. Theatre program for Le Corsaire. 2004.
- Smakov, Gennady. The Great Russian Dancers.
- Wiley, Roland John, selector and translator. A Century of Russian Ballet: Documents and Eyewitness Accounts 1810-1910.
- Wiley, Roland John. Dances from Russia: An introduction to the Sergeyev Collection. The Harvard Library Bulletin: January, 1976. Vol. XXIV, No. 1.fr:Le Corsaire
