Lot Essay
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY
Ballet in three acts and four scenes based on a fairy tale by Perrault
ORIGINAL PRODUCTION
Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreographer: Marius Petipa
Designer: Heinrich Levot, Ivan Andreyev, Mikhail Bocharov, Konstantin Ivanov and Matvei Shishkov (sets); Ivan
Vsevolozhsky (costumes)
Company: The Russian Imperial Ballet
Première: January 3 (15), 1890, Maryinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg
NEW PRODUCTION
Choreographer: Petipa, restaged by Nicholas Sergeyev with additional choreography by Frederick Ashton and Ninette de Valois Designer: Oliver Messel (sets and costumes)
Company: The Royal Ballet
Première: February 20, 1946, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden,
London. (Revised by Ashton on June 10, 1960)
Nureyev's debut: 1962, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London
NEW PRODUCTION
Choreographer: Rudolf Nureyev, after Petipa
Designer: Nicholas Georgiadis (sets and costumes)
Company: La Scala Opera Ballet
Première: September 22, 1966, La Scala, Milan
(Restaged with The National Ballet of Canada in 1972 and The London Festival Ballet in 1975)
The Sleeping Beauty is generally viewed as the chef-d'oeuvre of 19th Century Russian ballet and the summit of the career of Marius Petipa, whose choreography of 1890 remains the inspiration for all subsequent productions, providing as it does an entrancing mixture of dancing styles including virtuoso academic variations, character dances and dances of high and low social form. The dichotomy of the material and the spirit, of the type also shown in the French Giselle and La Sylphide, is a favourite compositional device of late 19th Century Russian ballet. The magic of the story, the music of Tchaikovsky and Petipa's magnificent choreography made The Sleeping Beauty one of Nureyev's most favourite 'classical' ballets and the role of Prince Florimond one of his most celebrated successes. It is no surprise that his own production, with Nicholas Georgiadis' stunning design, came as early as 1966.
Ballet in three acts and four scenes based on a fairy tale by Perrault
ORIGINAL PRODUCTION
Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreographer: Marius Petipa
Designer: Heinrich Levot, Ivan Andreyev, Mikhail Bocharov, Konstantin Ivanov and Matvei Shishkov (sets); Ivan
Vsevolozhsky (costumes)
Company: The Russian Imperial Ballet
Première: January 3 (15), 1890, Maryinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg
NEW PRODUCTION
Choreographer: Petipa, restaged by Nicholas Sergeyev with additional choreography by Frederick Ashton and Ninette de Valois Designer: Oliver Messel (sets and costumes)
Company: The Royal Ballet
Première: February 20, 1946, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden,
London. (Revised by Ashton on June 10, 1960)
Nureyev's debut: 1962, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London
NEW PRODUCTION
Choreographer: Rudolf Nureyev, after Petipa
Designer: Nicholas Georgiadis (sets and costumes)
Company: La Scala Opera Ballet
Première: September 22, 1966, La Scala, Milan
(Restaged with The National Ballet of Canada in 1972 and The London Festival Ballet in 1975)
The Sleeping Beauty is generally viewed as the chef-d'oeuvre of 19th Century Russian ballet and the summit of the career of Marius Petipa, whose choreography of 1890 remains the inspiration for all subsequent productions, providing as it does an entrancing mixture of dancing styles including virtuoso academic variations, character dances and dances of high and low social form. The dichotomy of the material and the spirit, of the type also shown in the French Giselle and La Sylphide, is a favourite compositional device of late 19th Century Russian ballet. The magic of the story, the music of Tchaikovsky and Petipa's magnificent choreography made The Sleeping Beauty one of Nureyev's most favourite 'classical' ballets and the role of Prince Florimond one of his most celebrated successes. It is no surprise that his own production, with Nicholas Georgiadis' stunning design, came as early as 1966.