Swan Lake

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This article is about the ballet. For other uses, see Swan Lake (disambiguation).
Swan Lake
ChoreographerJulius Reisinger
MusicPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Premiere4 March [O.S. 20 February] 1877
Moscow
Original ballet companyBolshoi Ballet
GenreClassical ballet
Ballets by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
List of all compositions

Swan Lake (Russian: Лебеди́ное о́зеро, romanized: Lebedínoje ózero, IPA: [lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə] listenⓘ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky between 1875–76. Although its première met with little success, the work has since attained recognition as one of the most celebrated and frequently performed ballets in the repertoire.[1]

The narrative, originally conceived in two acts, draws upon elements of Russian and German folk tradition and recounts the tale of Odette, a princess transformed into a swan under the spell of a malevolent sorcerer. The first choreographic realisation was devised by Julius Reisinger (Václav Reisinger), and the ballet was premiered by the Bolshoi Ballet on 4 March [O.S. 20 February] 1877[2][3] at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.

Although numerous interpretations have since been staged, most ballet companies base their stagings both choreographically and musically on the 1895 revival of Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, first staged for the Imperial Ballet on 15 January 1895, at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. For this revival, Tchaikovsky's score was revised by the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatre's chief conductor and composer Riccardo Drigo.[4]

History

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Design by Frédéric de Haenen for the décor of act 2, Moscow 1877

Origins of the ballet

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The authorship of the original libretto remains uncertain, and the precise origins of the narrative are likewise obscure. While Russian and German folk traditions have been suggested as possible sources—among them Johann Karl August Musäus’s tale The Stolen Veil—these accounts bear only limited resemblance to the storyline of the ballet.[5]

One hypothesis proposes that the original choreographer, Julius Reisinger—a Bohemian and thus plausibly acquainted with The Stolen Veil—was responsible for devising the story.[6] An alternative view attributes the authorship to Vladimir Petrovich Begichev, then Director of the Moscow Imperial Theatres, possibly in collaboration with Vasily Geltser, a danseur of theBolshoi Theatre. A surviving libretto copy indeed bears Begichev’s name. However, as the first published libretto diverges from Tchaikovsky’s score in numerous passages, some scholars have suggested that it may have been prepared by a journalist, based upon observations of the early rehearsals, in line with the contemporary custom of reporting new operatic and balletic productions together with their scenarios in the press.

Some of Tchaikovsky’s contemporaries noted his keen interest in the life of King Ludwig II of Bavaria, whose existence was said to have been symbolically associated with the swan and who has at times been regarded as a possible prototype for the dreamer figure of Prince Siegfried.[7]

In May 1875 Vladimir Begichev commissioned Tchaikovsky to compose the score for Swan Lake, for which he received a fee of 800 rubles. The composer was provided only with a rudimentary framework from Julius Reisinger, outlining the requirements for each dance.[8] Unlike the instructions for the scores of The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker, no original written directives for Swan Lake were long thought to have survived. For many years, scholarly understanding of aspects such as choreography rested primarily upon contemporary commentaries and reviews.[9] However, in 2015 rehearsal notes dating from as early as 1876 were identified in the Institute for Art Studies in Moscow, offering fresh insight into the nature of the ballet’s original 1877 production.[10]

Tchaikovsky's influences

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From the late eighteenth century through to the early 1890s, ballet scores were typically composed by so‑called “specialists”: musicians adept at producing the light, decorative, melodious, and rhythmically lucid style then fashionable for the genre. Before embarking upon Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky acquainted himself with the works of such figures, including the Italian Cesare Pugni and the Austrian Ludwig Minkus.

Although Tchaikovsky initially regarded the work of the ballet “specialists” with some disdain, a closer study led him to appreciate the remarkable abundance of engaging melodies within their scores. Among the composers he held in highest esteem were Léo Delibes, Adolphe Adam, and, later, Riccardo Drigo. He would go on to share these reflections in correspondence with his protégé, the composer Sergei Taneyev.

In composing the score of Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky drew upon earlier works of his own. According to his nephew, Yuri Lvovich Davydov, and his niece, Anna Meck-Davydova, he had written a small ballet entitled The Lake of the Swans at their family home in 1871; this piece already featured the celebrated leitmotif later known as the “Swan’s Theme” or “Song of the Swans”. He also re-used musical material from The Voyevoda, an opera abandoned in 1868, notably in the Entr’acte of the fourth scene and in the opening passages of the Finale (Act IV, No. 29). Furthermore, the Grand adage (the “Love Duet”) of the second scene derives from the closing duet in his unfinished 1873 opera Undina.

By April 1876 the score had been completed and rehearsals commenced. Julius Reisinger soon began rejecting certain numbers as “undanceable”, even substituting music by other composers for some dances. Tchaikovsky objected to these alterations, and his music was ultimately restored. Although composer and choreographer were obliged to collaborate, both appeared to prefer working with as much independence from one another as possible.[11] On occasion, Tchaikovsky even sought guidance from Alina Bryullova, a family acquaintance, regarding the composition of ballet music; she later recalled that, owing to her lack of expertise, she had been able to offer him “virtually no advice.”[12]

Composition process

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Tchaikovsky’s enthusiasm for Swan Lake is reflected in the speed of its composition: commissioned in the spring of 1875, the score was completed within a year. In letters to Sergei Taneyev dated August 1875, he explained that his haste was driven not only by excitement for the project but also by a desire to complete it quickly, thereby freeing himself to begin work on an opera. He first composed the scores for the opening three numbers, before undertaking the orchestration in the autumn and winter, and continued to wrestle with the instrumentation well into the spring. By April 1876 the work was finished. His reference to an early draft implies the existence of a preliminary outline, though no such document has ever been found. In correspondence with friends he spoke of his long‑standing wish to write for the ballet stage, describing this particular commission as both stimulating and laborious in equal measure.[13]

Performance history

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Adelaide Giuri [ru] as Odette and Mikhail Mordkin as Prince Siegfried in Aleksandr Gorsky's staging of the Petipa/Ivanov Swan Lake for the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, 1901. A young Vera Karalli is seen kneeling.

Moscow première (world première)

  • Date: 4 March (OS 20 February) 1877
  • Place: Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow
  • Balletmaster: Julius Reisinger
  • Conductor: Stepan Ryabov
  • Scene Designers: Karl Valts (acts 2 & 4), Ivan Shangin (act 1), Karl Groppius (act 3)

St. Petersburg première

Other notable productions

Original interpreters

Role Moscow 1877 Moscow 1880 St. Petersburg 1895[14] Moscow 1901 London 1911 London 1946[15]
Queen Olga Nikolayeva Giuseppina Cecchetti
Siegfried Victor Gillert Alfred Bekefi Pavel Gerdt Mikhail Mordkin Vaslav Nijinsky Robert Helpmann
Benno Sergey Nikitin Aleksandr Oblakov Leslie Edwards
Wolfgang Wilhelm Wanner Gillert Paul Reymond
Odette Pelageya Karpakova Yevdokiya Kalmїkova Pierina Legnani Adelaide Giuri Mathilde Kschessinska Margot Fonteyn
Von Rothbart Sergey Sokolov Aleksey Bulgakov K. Kubakin David Davenport
Odile Pelageya Karpakova Pierina Legnani Mathilde Kschessinska Margot Fonteyn

Original production of 1877

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The première of Swan Lake took place on 4 March 1877 as a benefit performance for the ballerina Pelageya (Polina) Karpakova, who appeared as Odette, with Victor Gillert, the première danseur, in the role of Prince Siegfried. Karpakova may also have undertaken the part of Odile, although evidence suggests that the original conception was for the two roles to be performed by separate dancers. In modern productions, however, it has become customary for a single ballerina to interpret both Odette and Odile.

The role of Odette was initially intended for the Russian ballerina Anna Sobeshchanskaya, but she was replaced following objections raised by a Moscow official.

The première was poorly received. While a small number of critics acknowledged the quality of Tchaikovsky’s score, the majority dismissed it as overly complex for ballet, describing it as “too noisy, too 'Wagnerian' and too symphonic."[16] ”Reisinger’s choreography was judged “unimaginative and entirely forgettable.”[16] The German provenance of the tale was treated with suspicion, the narrative itself derided as “foolish,” and the characters’ surnames criticised as unpronounceable. As for[16], then only a secondary soloist, her performance was regarded as “unpersuasive.”[16]

The poverty of the production, meaning the décor and costumes, the absence of outstanding performers, the Balletmaster's weakness of imagination, and, finally, the orchestra ... all of this together permitted (Tchaikovsky) with good reason to cast the blame for the failure on others.

— Modest Tchaikovsky, brother of the composer

It nonetheless remains the case—too often overlooked in accounts of the original production—that this staging endured for six years and was given a total of 41 performances, a figure exceeding that of several other ballets in the theatre’s repertory.[17]

Tchaikovsky pas de deux 1877

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Anna Sobeshchanskaya as Odette in Julius Reisinger's original production of Swan Lake, Moscow 1877

On 26 April 1877 Anna Sobeshchanskaya made her début in the dual rôle of Odette and Odile in Swan Lake, and almost immediately expressed her dissatisfaction with the ballet. She appealed to Marius Petipa, Premier Maître de Ballet of the St Petersburg Imperial Theatres, to create a new pas de deux to replace the pas de six of the third act. Such requests were common practice in 19th‑century ballet, where bespoke variations or pas were often devised at a ballerina’s insistence and subsequently became her legal property.

Petipa devised the pas de deux to music by Ludwig Minkus, then serving as ballet composer to the St Petersburg Imperial Theatres. Structured in the manner of a traditional pas de deux classique, the piece comprised a brief entrée, followed by the grand adage, individual variations for each dancer, and concluding with a coda.

Tchaikovsky was incensed by the alteration, insisting that, whether successful or not, he alone bore responsibility for the ballet’s music. He nevertheless consented to compose a new pas de deux, though difficulties soon emerged, as Sobeshchanskaya wished to preserve Petipa’s choreography. Tchaikovsky therefore undertook to write a score that corresponded so precisely to the existing steps that the ballerina required no rehearsal. She was so delighted with the result that she requested an additional variation, which Tchaikovsky duly provided.

Until 1953 this pas de deux was believed lost, until a répétiteur score was unexpectedly discovered in the archives of the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre, filed among the orchestral parts for Alexander Gorsky’s 1912 revival of Le Corsaire, in which he had incorporated the piece. In 1960 George Balanchine created a new pas de deux to this music for Violette Verdy and Conrad Ludlow, first performed at the City Center of Music and Drama in New York under the title Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux, by which it continues to be known and performed today.

Subsequent productions 1879–1894

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Julius Reisinger was succeeded as balletmaster by Joseph Peter Hansen, who made notable attempts to revive Swan Lake. On 13 January 1880 he presented a new production for his own benefit performance, with Evdokia Kalmykova, a pupil of the Moscow Imperial Ballet School, in the dual rôle of Odette/Odile, partnered by Alfred Bekefi as Prince Siegfried. This staging was received more favourably than the original, though it fell short of genuine success.

On 28 October 1882 Hansen mounted yet another version of Swan Lake, again casting Kalmykova as Odette/Odile. For this production he interpolated a Grand Pas into the ballroom scene, entitled La Cosmopolitana, adapted from the European section of the Grand Pas d’action “The Allegory of the Continents” in Marius Petipa’s 1875 ballet The Bandits, set to music by Ludwig Minkus. Hansen’s version of Swan Lake was performed only four times, the last of which took place on 2 January 1883, after which the ballet disappeared from the repertory.

In all, Swan Lake was performed 41 times between its première and the final performance of 1883 – a rather lengthy run for a ballet that was so poorly received upon its première. Hansen became Balletmaster to the Alhambra Theatre in London and on 1 December 1884 he presented a one-act ballet titled The Swans, which was inspired by the second scene of Swan Lake. The music was composed by the Alhambra Theatre's chef d'orchestre Georges Jacoby.

On 21 February the second scene of Swan Lake was presented in Prague by the Ballet of the National Theatre, in a staging by Balletmaster August Berger. The work was performed as part of two concerts conducted by Tchaikovsky himself, who recorded in his diary that he had experienced “a moment of absolute happiness” on hearing the ballet performed. Berger’s production adhered to the 1877 libretto, though the names of Prince Siegfried and Benno were changed to Jaroslav and Zdeňek, with the rôle of Benno danced by a woman en travestie. Berger himself performed as Prince Siegfried, partnered by Giulietta Paltriniera-Bergrova as Odette. The production received only eight performances, and although plans were made for its transfer to the Fantasia Garden in Moscow in 1893, these were never realised.

Petipa–Ivanov–Drigo revival of 1895

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Main article: Swan Lake (1895)
Pierina Legnani as Odette (1895)

In the late 1880s and early 1890s Marius Petipa and Ivan Vsevolozhsky entered into discussions with Tchaikovsky concerning a possible revival of Swan Lake. However, Tchaikovsky died on 6 November 1893, just as these plans were beginning to take shape. It remains uncertain whether he himself intended to revise the score for the new production. Following his death, Riccardo Drigo prepared a revised version of the music, with the approval of Tchaikovsky’s younger brother, Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky. There are substantial differences between Drigo’s adaptation and the original 1877 score, and it is Drigo’s revision—not Tchaikovsky’s first version—that forms the basis of most productions today.

Pavel Gerdt as Prince Siegfried (Mariinsky Theatre, 1895)

In February 1894 two memorial concerts organised by Ivan Vsevolozhsky were held in honour of Tchaikovsky. The programme included the second act of Swan Lake, staged by Lev Ivanov, Second Balletmaster of the Imperial Ballet. Attendance proved lower than expected, owing partly to the mixed character of the programme and the unusually high ticket prices, and the theatre was left half empty. Nevertheless, Ivanov’s choreography for Swan Lake was met with unanimous critical acclaim, and the performance itself was warmly received by those in attendance.[18]

The revival of Swan Lake was conceived as the benefit performance for Pierina Legnani during the 1894–1895 season. The death of Tsar Alexander III on 1 November 1894, however, led to a period of official mourning during which all rehearsals and ballet performances were suspended. This hiatus allowed full attention to be devoted to preparations for the major revival of Swan Lake. The production was a collaboration between Lev Ivanov and Marius Petipa: Ivanov retained his choreography for the second act and created the fourth, while Petipa was responsible for staging the first and third acts.

Modest Tchaikovsky was entrusted with revising the ballet’s libretto. His alterations included transforming Odette from a supernatural swan-maiden into a mortal woman placed under a curse, recasting the antagonist from Odette’s stepmother to the sorcerer von Rothbart, and reshaping the conclusion. In the revised ending, Odette chooses to drown herself, with Prince Siegfried electing to share her fate rather than live without her; their spirits are then reunited in an apotheosis.[19] In addition to these narrative changes, the structure of the ballet was altered from four acts to three, with the original second act becoming the second scene of the first act.

By early 1895 preparations were complete, and the ballet received its première on 27 January. Pierina Legnani appeared in the dual rôle of Odette/Odile, partnered by Pavel Gerdt as Prince Siegfried, with Alexei Bulgakov as Rothbart and Alexander Oblakov as Benno. The production was favourably received, with most reviews in the St Petersburg press expressing approval.

In contrast to the triumphant reception of The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake did not immediately secure a dominant place in the repertory of the Mariinsky Theatre. Between its première and the 1895–1896 season it was given only sixteen performances, and it was omitted entirely in 1897. Even more striking, the ballet was staged just four times across 1898 and 1899. For several years the work was associated exclusively with Pierina Legnani, who retained it as her preserve until her return to Italy in 1901. Thereafter the rôle passed to Mathilde Kschessinskaya, whose interpretations were regarded as equally distinguished as those of her Italian predecessor.

Later productions

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A 2008 production at the Royal Swedish Opera

Throughout its performance history, it is the 1895 version of Swan Lake that has provided the foundation for almost all subsequent stagings. While nearly every balletmaster or choreographer who has revived the work has introduced alterations to the scenario, the traditional choreography for the dances has generally been preserved and is regarded as virtually inviolable. Over time, the rôle of Prince Siegfried has also assumed greater prominence, a development closely linked to the evolution of male ballet technique.

In 1922 the Finnish National Ballet became the first European company outside the Russian sphere to mount a full production of Swan Lake. Until its Helsinki première that year, the ballet had been performed only by Russian and Czech companies, with Western Europe having encountered the work solely through visiting Russian troupes.[20]

In 1940 the San Francisco Ballet became the first American company to present a complete production of Swan Lake. The hugely successful staging featured Lew Christensen as Prince Siegfried, Jacqueline Martin as Odette, and Janet Reed as Odile. Willam Christensen drew upon the Petipa–Ivanov version for his choreography, and enlisted the expertise of San Francisco’s sizeable community of Russian émigrés—among them Princess and Prince Vasili Alexandrovich of Russia—to ensure that the production faithfully reflected the traditions of Russian ballet and served as a vehicle for preserving Russian culture in the city.[21]

Several significant productions of Swan Lake have departed from both the 1877 original and the 1895 revival:

  • In 1967 Erik Bruhn produced and danced in a new staging of Swan Lake for the National Ballet of Canada, distinguished by Desmond Healey’s striking designs in a predominantly black-and-white palette. While substantial portions of the traditional Petipa–Ivanov choreography were preserved, Bruhn introduced notable musical as well as choreographic alterations. Most controversially, he reconceived the character of Von Rothbart as the malevolent Black Queen, thereby adding a psychological dimension to the Prince’s troubled relationships with women, including his domineering mother.
  • Illusions Like "Swan Lake" (1976), choreographed by John Neumeier for the Hamburg Ballet, reimagined the classical work by intertwining it with the life of Ludwig II of Bavaria, whose well‑documented fascination with swans provided the link. Neumeier retained much of Tchaikovsky’s original score, supplementing it with additional music by the composer, while blending elements of the traditional Petipa–Ivanov choreography with his own new dances and dramatic scenes. The ballet concludes with Ludwig’s drowning while incarcerated in an asylum, set against the dramatic finale of Act III. With its focus on an unhappy monarch compelled into a heterosexual marriage for dynastic reasons, and its allusions to the intimate struggles of actual royalty, the work anticipated later reinterpretations of Swan Lake by choreographers such as Matthew Bourne and Graeme Murphy. Illusions Like "Swan Lake" remains part of the repertory of leading German ballet companies.
  • Matthew Bourne’s re‑imagining of Swan Lake diverged radically from tradition by replacing the female corps de ballet with male swans and reframing the narrative around the psychological burden of modern royalty, focusing on a prince torn between his sexuality and his distant mother. Since its première, the production has toured extensively—to Greece, Israel, Turkey, Australia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Russia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United States, Ireland, and the United Kingdom—and has received more than thirty international awards.[22]
  • The 2000 American Ballet Theatre version (taped for television in 2005), rather than having the curtain down as the slow introduction is played, used this music to accompany a new prologue in which the audience is shown how Rothbart first transforms Odette into a swan. This prologue is similar to Vladimir Burmeister's production of Swan Lake (firstly staged in Stanislavsky Theatre in Moscow, 1953) but has some differences. Rothbart in this production is played by two dancers; one appears as a handsome young man who is easily able to lure Odette in the new prologue, and the other dancer is covered in sinister "monster makeup" which reveals the magician's true self. (In the film Black Swan, Natalie Portman, as Nina, dreams this in the film's opening sequence). About half-an-hour of the complete score is omitted from this production.[citation needed]
  • Graeme Murphy's Swan Lake was first performed in 2002, and was loosely based on the breakdown of the marriage of Lady Diana to Prince Charles and his relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles. It combined the roles of Rothbart and Odile into that of a Baroness, and the focus of the story is a love triangle.[23]
  • In 2010, Black Swan, a film starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis, contained sequences from Swan Lake.[24]
  • In 2010, South African choreographer and ballet dancer Dada Masilo, remade Tchaikovsky's classic.[25] Her version was a mix of classic ballet and African dance. She also made a plot twist by presenting Odile (the black swan) as a gay male swan rather than a female swan.[26][27]
  • A Swan Lake, choreographed by Alexander Ekman and composed by Mikael Karlsson, was created for the Norwegian National Ballet. The first act is part dance part theatre, about the original production of Swan Lake, which features two stage actors and a soprano. In the second act, the stage is filled in 5000 litres of water, and features the conflict between White Swan and Black Swan.[28][29]

Instrumentation

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Swan Lake is scored for the typical late 19th-century large orchestra:

Roles

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  • Princess Odette (the Swan Queen, the White Swan, the Swan Princess), a beautiful princess, who has been transformed into a white swan
  • Prince Siegfried, a handsome Prince who falls in love with Odette
  • Baron Von Rothbart, an evil sorcerer, who has enchanted Odette
  • Odile (the Black Swan), Rothbart's daughter
  • Benno von Sommerstern, the Prince's friend
  • The Queen, Prince Siegfried's mother
  • Wolfgang, his tutor
  • Baron von Stein
  • The Baroness, his wife
  • Freiherr von Schwarzfels
  • Freiherr von Schwarzfels' wife
  • A herald
  • A footman
  • Court gentlemen and ladies, friends of the prince, heralds, guests, pages, villagers, servants, swans, cygnets

Variations to characters

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By 1895, Benno von Sommerstern had become just "Benno", and Odette "Queen of the Swans". Also Baron von Stein, his wife, and Freiherr von Schwarzfels and his wife were no longer identified on the program. The sovereign or ruling Princess is often rendered "Queen Mother".

The character of Rothbart (sometimes spelled Rotbart) has been open to many interpretations. The reason for his curse upon Odette is unknown; several versions, including two feature films, have suggested reasons, but none is typically explained by the ballet. He is rarely portrayed in human form, except in act 3. He is usually shown as an owl-like creature. In most productions, the couple's sacrifice results in his destruction. However, there are versions in which he is triumphant. Yury Grigorovich's version, which has been danced for several decades by the Bolshoi Ballet, is noted for including both endings: Rothbart was defeated in the original 1969 version, in line with Soviet-era expectations of an upbeat conclusion,[30] but in the 2001 revision, Rothbart plays a wicked game of fate with Siegfried, which he wins at the end, causing Siegfried to lose everything. In the second American Ballet Theatre production of Swan Lake, he is portrayed by two dancers: a young, handsome one who lures Odette to her doom in the prologue, and a reptilian creature. In this version, the lovers' suicide inspires the rest of Rothbart's imprisoned swans to turn on him and overcome his spell.

Odile, Rothbart's daughter usually wears jet black (though in the 1895 production, she did not), and appears only in act 3. In most modern productions, she is portrayed as Odette's exact double (though the resemblance is because of Rothbart's magic), and therefore Siegfried cannot be blamed for believing her to be Odette. There is a suggestion that in the original production, Odette and Odile were danced by two different ballerinas. This is also the case in some avant garde productions.

Synopsis

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Swan Lake is generally presented in either four acts, four scenes (primarily outside Russia and Eastern Europe) or three acts, four scenes (primarily in Russia and Eastern Europe). The biggest difference of productions all over the world is that the ending, originally tragic, is now sometimes altered to a happy ending.

Prologue

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Some productions include a prologue that shows how Odette first meets Rothbart, who turns Odette into a swan.

Act 1

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A magnificent park before a palace

[Scène: Allegro giusto] Prince Siegfried is celebrating his birthday with his tutor, friends, and peasants [Waltz]. The revelries are interrupted by his mother, the Queen [Scène: Allegro moderato], who is concerned about his carefree lifestyle. She tells him that he must choose a bride at the royal ball the following evening (some productions include the presentation of some possible candidates). He is upset that he cannot marry for love. His friend, Benno, and his tutor try to lift his troubled mood. As evening falls [Sujet], Benno sees a flock of swans flying overhead and suggests they go on a hunt [Finale I]. Siegfried and his friends take their crossbows and set off in pursuit of the swans.

Act 2

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A lakeside clearing in a forest by the ruins of a chapel. A moonlit night.

The "Valse des cygnes" from act 2 of the Ivanov/Petipa edition of Swan Lake

Siegfried has become separated from his friends. He arrives at the lakeside clearing, just as a flock of swans lands [Scène. Moderato]. He aims his crossbow [Scène. Allegro moderato], but freezes when one of them transforms into a beautiful maiden named Odette [Scène. Moderato]. At first, she is terrified of him. When he promises not to harm her, she explains that she and her companions are victims of a spell cast by the evil owl-like sorcerer named Rothbart. By day they are turned into swans and only at night, by the side of the enchanted lake – created from the tears of Odette's mother – do they return to human form. The spell can only be broken if one who has never loved before swears to love Odette forever. Rothbart suddenly appears [Scène. Allegro vivo]. Siegfried threatens to kill him but Odette intercedes – if Rothbart dies before the spell is broken, it can never be undone.

As Rothbart disappears, the swan maidens fill the clearing [Scène: Allegro, Moderato assai quasi andante]. Siegfried breaks his crossbow, and sets about winning Odette's trust as they fall in love. But as dawn arrives, the evil spell draws Odette and her companions back to the lake and they are turned into swans again.

Act 3

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An opulent hall in the palace

Guests arrive at the palace for a costume ball. Six princesses are presented to the prince [Entrance of the Guests and Waltz], as candidates for marriage. Rothbart arrives in disguise [Scène: Allegro, Allegro giusto] with his daughter, Odile, who is transformed to look like Odette. Though the princesses try to attract Siegfried with their dances [Pas de six], he has eyes only for Odile. [Scène: Allegro, Tempo di valse, Allegro vivo] Odette appears at the castle window and attempts to warn him, but he does not see her. He then proclaims to the court that he will marry Odile before Rothbart shows him a magical vision of Odette. Grief-stricken and realizing his mistake (he vowed only to love Odette), he hurries back to the lake.

Act 4

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By the lakeside

Scene from act 4; Vienna State Opera, 2004

Odette is distraught. The swan maidens try to comfort her. Siegfried returns to the lake and makes a passionate apology. She forgives him, but his betrayal cannot be undone. Rather than remain a swan forever, she chooses to die. He chooses to die with her and they leap into the lake, where they will stay together forever. This breaks Rothbart's spell over the swan maidens, causing him to lose his power over them and he dies. In an apotheosis, they, who transform back into regular maidens, watch as Siegfried and Odette ascend into the Heavens together, forever united in love.

1877 libretto synopsis

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Act 1

Prince Siegfried, his friends, and a group of peasants are celebrating his coming of age. His mother arrives to inform him she wishes for him to marry soon so she may make sure he does not disgrace their family line by his marriage. She has organized a ball where he is to choose his bride from among the daughters of the nobility. After the celebration, he and his friend, Benno, spot a flock of flying swans and decide to hunt them.

Act 2

Siegfried and Benno track the swans to a lake, but they vanish. A woman wearing a crown appears and meets them. She tells them her name is Odette and she was one of the swans they were hunting. She tells them her story: her mother, a good fairy, had married a knight, but she died and he remarried. Odette's stepmother is a witch who wanted to kill her, but her grandfather saved her. He had cried so much over her mother's death, he created the lake with his tears. She and her companions live in it with him, and can transform themselves into swans whenever they wish. Her stepmother still wants to kill her and stalks her in the form of an owl, but she has a crown which protects her from harm. When she gets married, her stepmother will lose the power to harm her. Siegfried falls in love with her but she fears her stepmother will ruin their happiness.

Act 3

Several young noblewomen dance at Siegfried's ball, but he refuses to marry any of them. Baron von Rothbart and his daughter, Odile, arrive. Siegfried thinks Odile looks like Odette, but Benno does not agree. He dances with her as he grows more and more enamored of her, and eventually agrees to marry her. At that moment, Rothbart transforms into a demon, Odile laughs, and a white swan wearing a crown appears in the window. Siegfried runs out of the castle.

Act 4

In tears, Odette tells her friends Siegfried did not keep his vow of love. Seeing him coming, they leave and urge her to go with them, but she wants to see him one last time. A storm begins. He enters and begs her for forgiveness. She refuses and attempts to leave. He snatches the crown from her head and throws it in the lake, saying, "Willing or unwilling, you will always remain with me!" The owl flies overhead, carrying the crown away. "What have you done? I am dying!" Odette says, and falls into his arms. The lake rises from the storm and drowns them. The storm quiets, and a group of swans appear on the lake.[31]

Alternative endings

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Many different endings exist, ranging from romantic to tragic.

  • In 1950, Konstantin Sergeyev staged a new Swan Lake for the Mariinsky Ballet (then the Kirov) after Petipa and Ivanov, but included some bits of Vaganova and Gorsky. Under the Soviet regime, the tragic ending was replaced with a happy one, so in the Mariinsky and Bolshoi versions, Odette and Siegfried lived happily ever after.
  • In the version danced today by the Mariinsky Ballet, the ending is one of a "happily ever after" in which Siegfried fights Rothbart and tears off his wing, killing him. Odette is restored to human form and she and Siegfried are happily united. This version has often been used by Russian and Chinese ballet companies.
  • In the 1966 version Rudolf Nureyev choreographed for the Vienna State Ballet, Rothbart takes Odette away and leaves Siegfried to drown in the storm he created, leaving Odette in captivity.
  • In the 1986 version Rudolf Nureyev choreographed for the Paris Opera Ballet, Rothbart fights with Siegfried, who is overcome and dies, leaving Rothbart to take Odette triumphantly up to the Heavens.
  • In the 1988 Dutch National Ballet production, choreographed by Rudi van Dantzig, Siegfried realized he cannot save Odette from the curse, so he drowns himself. His friend, Alexander, finds his body and carries him.[32]
  • In the 1988 version of the London Festival Ballet, Odette dies in Siegfried's arms, who carries her to the lake, where they both drown themselves. This breaks the curse and they are united in death.
  • Although the 1969 Bolshoi Ballet production by Yury Grigorovich contained a happy ending similar to the Mariinsky Ballet version, the 2001 revision changed the ending to a tragic one. Siegfried is defeated in a confrontation with the Evil Genius, who seizes Odette and takes her away to parts unknown before the lovers can unite, and Siegfried is left by himself at the lake. The major-key rendition of the main leitmotif and the remainder of the Apotheosis (retained in the 1969 production) are replaced with a modified, transposed repeat of the Introduction followed by the final few bars of No. 10/No. 14, closing the ballet on a dour note.
  • In a version which has an ending very close to the 1895 Mariinsky revival, danced by American Ballet Theatre starting in 2000 (with a video recording published in 2005), Siegfried's mistaken pledge of fidelity to Odile consigns Odette to remain a swan forever. After realizing her last moment of humanity is at hand, Odette throws herself into the lake, killing herself. Siegfried follows her to his death. This act of sacrifice and love breaks Rothbart's power, and he is destroyed. In the final tableau, the lovers are seen rising together to Heaven in apotheosis.
  • In a version danced by New York City Ballet in 2006 (with choreography by Peter Martins after Lev Ivanov, Marius Petipa, and George Balanchine), Siegfried's declaration he wishes to marry Odile constitutes a betrayal that condemns Odette to remain a swan forever. She is called away into swan form, and Siegfried is left alone in grief as the curtain falls.
  • In the 2006 version by Stanton Welch for Houston Ballet, also based upon Petipa and Ivanov, the last scene has Siegfried attempting to kill Rothbart with his crossbow, but he misses and hits Odette instead. She falls, Rothbart's spell now broken, and regains human form. Siegfried embraces her as she dies, then carries her body into the lake, where he also drowns himself.[33][34][35]
  • In the 2006 version by Michael Pink for Milwaukee Ballet, Rothbart stabs Odette before Siegfried's eyes. Odette mortally wounded, is carried to the lake by Siegfried where they drown themselves. Their love defeats both Rothbart and Odile. As in the 1895 Mariinsky revival, the apotheosis reveals the lovers reunited in death.
  • In a version danced by San Francisco Ballet in 2009, Siegfried and Odette throw themselves into the lake, as in the 1895 Mariinsky revival, and Rothbart is destroyed. Two swans, implied to be the lovers, are then seen flying past the Moon.
  • In a version danced by National Ballet of Canada in 2010, Odette forgives Siegfried for his betrayal and the promise of reconciliation shines momentarily before Rothbart summons forth a violent storm. He and Siegfried struggle. When the storm subsides, Odette is left alone to mourn the dead Siegfried.
  • In the 2012 version performed at Blackpool Grand Theatre[36] by the Russian State Ballet of Siberia Siegfried drags Rothbart into the lake and they both drown. Odette is left as a swan.
  • In the 2015 English National Ballet version My First Swan Lake,[37] specifically recreated for young children, the power of Siegfried and Odette's love enables the other swans to rise up and defeat Rothbart, who falls to his death. This breaks the curse, and Siegfried and Odette live happily ever after. This is like the Mariinsky Ballet's "happily ever after" endings. In a new production in 2018, Odile helps Siegfried and Odette in the end. Rothbart, who is Odile's brother in this production, is forgiven and he gives up his evil power. Odette and Siegfried live happily ever after and stay friends with Rothbart and Odile.
  • In Hübbe and Schandorff's 2015 and 2016 Royal Danish Ballet production, Siegfried is forced by Rothbart to marry Odile, after condemning Odette to her curse as a swan forever by mistakenly professing his love to Odile.
  • In the 2018 Royal Ballet version, Siegfried rescues Odette from the lake, but she turns out to be dead, even though the spell is broken. The pre-2018 versions do not have this ending, only the 1895 ending.[38]
  • In David Hallberg's 2023 Australian Ballet version, Odette makes an irrevocable promise to von Rothbart, vowing eternal obedience in order to save Siegfried. Triumphantly, Rothbart takes Odette away from Siegfried. Alone in his grief, Siegfried throws himself off a cliff and dies.[39]

Structure

[edit]

Tchaikovsky's original score (including additions for the original 1877 production),[40] which differs from the score as revised by Riccardo Drigo for the revival of Petipa and Ivanov that is still used by most ballet companies, corresponds to this layout. The titles for each number are from the original published score. Some of the numbers are titled simply as musical indications, those that are not are translated from their original French titles.

Act 1

[edit]
Introduction: Moderato assai – Allegro non-troppo – Tempo I
Extract from Act 1
No. 2 Waltz
Played by the Ballet Française Symphony Orchestra
Problems playing this file? See media help.
No. 1 Scène: Allegro giusto
No. 2 Waltz: Tempo di valse
No. 3 Scène: Allegro moderato
No. 4 Pas de trois
1. Intrada (or Entrée): Allegro
2. Andante sostenuto
3. Allegro semplice, Presto
4. Moderato
5. Allegro
6. Coda: Allegro vivace
No. 5 Pas de deux for Two Merry-makers (later fashioned into the Black Swan Pas de Deux)
1. Tempo di valse ma non troppo vivo, quasi moderato
2. Andante – Allegro
3. Tempo di valse
4. Coda: Allegro molto vivace
No. 6 Pas d'action: Andantino quasi moderato – Allegro
No. 7 Sujet (Introduction to the Dance with Goblets)
No. 8 Dance with Goblets: Tempo di polacca
No. 9 Finale: Sujet, Andante

Act 2

[edit]
Extract from Act 2
No. 13 Dance of the Little Swans
Played by the Ballet Française Symphony Orchestra
Problems playing this file? See media help.
No. 10 Scène: Moderato
No. 11 Scène: Allegro moderato, Moderato, Allegro vivo
No. 12 Scène: Allegro, Moderato assai quasi andante
No. 13 Dances of the Swans
1. Tempo di valse
2. Moderato assai
3. Tempo di valse
4. Allegro moderato (later the famous Dance of the Little Swans)
5. Pas d'action: Andante, Andante non-troppo, Allegro (material borrowed from Undina)
6. Tempo di valse
7. Coda: Allegro vivo
No. 14 Scène: Moderato

Act 3

[edit]
Extract from Act 3
No. 20 Hungarian Dance
Played by the Ballet Française Symphony Orchestra
Problems playing this file? See media help.
No. 15 Scène: March – Allegro giusto
No. 16 Ballabile: Dance of the Corps de Ballet and the Dwarves: Moderato assai, Allegro vivo
No. 17 Entrance of the Guests and Waltz: Allegro, Tempo di valse
No. 18 Scène: Allegro, Allegro giusto
No. 19 Pas de six
1. Intrada (or Entrée): Moderato assai
2. Variation I: Allegro
3. Variation II: Andante con moto (although titled as a variation, this number was likely meant to follow the Intrada and serve as the central Grande adage of the Pas de six after the Intrada but either composed to be out of sequence and published as such after the first variation)
4. Variation III: Moderato
5. Variation IV: Allegro
6. Variation V: Moderato, Allegro semplice
7. Grand Coda: Allegro molto
Appendix I – Pas de deux pour Mme. Anna Sobeshchanskaya[a]
1. Andante
2. Variation I: Allegro moderato
3. Variation II: Allegro
4. Coda: Allegro molto vivace
No. 20 Hungarian Dance: Czardas – Moderato assai, Allegro moderato, Vivace
Appendix II – No. 20a Danse russe pour Mlle. Pelageya Karpakova: Moderato, Andante semplice, Allegro vivo, Presto
No. 21 Danse Espagnole: Allegro non-troppo (Tempo di bolero)
No. 22 Danse Napolitaine: Allegro moderato, Andantino quasi moderato, Presto
No. 23 Mazurka: Tempo di mazurka
No. 24 Scène: Allegro, Tempo di valse, Allegro vivo

Act 4

[edit]
Extract from Act 4
No. 29 Scène Finale
Played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra
Problems playing this file? See media help.
Act IV No.29 Scène Finale
Extract from Act IV
Played by the Russian State Symphony Orchestra
Problems playing this file? See media help.
No. 25 Entr'acte: Moderato
No. 26 Scène: Allegro non-troppo
No. 27 Dance of the Little Swans: Moderato
No. 28 Scène: Allegro agitato, Molto meno mosso, Allegro vivace
No. 29 Scène finale: Andante, Allegro, Alla breve, Moderato e maestoso, Moderato

Adaptations and references

[edit]

Live-action film

[edit]
  • The opening credits for the first sound version of Dracula (1931) starring Bela Lugosi includes a modified version of the Swan Theme from act 2. The same piece was later used for the credits of The Mummy (1932) as well as Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932) and is often used as a backing track for the silent film, Phantom of the Opera (1925).
  • The film I Was an Adventuress (1940) includes a long sequence from the ballet.
  • The documentary World Assembly of Youth features the New York City Ballet performing Black Swan at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York in August 1951
  • The plot of the 1965 British comedy film The Intelligence Men reaches its climax at a performance of the ballet, with an assassination attempt on the ballerina portraying Odette.
  • The 1966 American political thriller film Torn Curtain directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Paul Newman and Julie Andrews contains a scene from the ballet Swan Lake. The lead couple of the film, played by Newman and Andrews, are escaping from East Berlin during the Cold War and attend a performance of the ballet as part of their escape plan. They are spotted and reported to the police by the lead ballerina (Tamara Toumanova) during the ballet performance. Their dramatic escape from the theatre during the ballet is a high point of the film.
  • In 1968–69, the Kirov Ballet along with Lenfilm studios produced a filmed version of the ballet starring Yelena Yevteyeva as Odette.[43]
  • In the film Funny Girl (1968), Barbra Streisand, playing Fanny Brice, dances in a comedic spoof of Swan Lake.
  • In the film A Woman Under The Influence (1974), Gena Rowlands, Mabel Longhetti dances in the garden with her children to Swan Lake and later hums the melody.
  • The ballet is central to the plot of Étoile (1989).
  • In Brain Donors (1992), the three main characters try and succeed in sabotaging a fictional production of the ballet.
  • The 1998 Czech fantasy film Jezerní královna directed by Václav Vorlíček is a loose adaptation of the Swan Lake story. Odette (played by Jitka Schneiderová) is one of seven princesses kidnapped by the eponymous Queen of the Lake (Ivana Chýlková) to be her slaves, dancing for her underwater and transforming into swans on the surface.
  • Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan (2010) focuses on two characters from Swan Lake-the Princess Odette, sometimes called the White Swan, and her evil duplicate, the witch Odile (the Black Swan), and takes its inspiration from the ballet's story, although it does not literally follow it. Clint Mansell's score contains music from the ballet, with more elaborate restructuring to fit the horror tone of the film.
  • In Of Gods and Men (2011), the climactic Swan Lake music is played at the monks' Last Supper-reminiscent dinner.
  • In the film T-34, music from Swan Lake could be heard while the main characters test-drive a captured T-34 for the Germans and pulling off ballet-style moves with the tank.
  • As of August 2020, a live-action adaptation of the ballet is being produced by Mandeville Films, written by Olivier Award-winning playwright Jessica Swale and starring Felicity Jones with Universal Pictures set to distribute.[44]
  • The end of the ballet is in the film The Courier (2020).
  • The ballet is referenced in the film Fast X (2023) by Jason Momoa's character Dante.

Animated theatrical and direct-to-video productions

[edit]
  • Swan Lake (1981) is a feature-length anime produced by the Japanese company Toei Animation and directed by Koro Yabuki. The adaptation uses Tchaikovsky's score and remains relatively faithful to the story. Two separate English dubs were made, one featuring regular voice actors, and one using celebrities as the main principals (Pam Dawber as Odette, Christopher Atkins as Siegfried, David Hemmings as Rothbart, and Kay Lenz as Odille). The second dub was recorded at Golden Sync Studios and aired on American Movie Classics in December 1990 and The Disney Channel in January 1994.[45] It was presently distributed in the United States by The Samuel Goldwyn Company. It was also distributed in France and the United Kingdom by Rouge Citron Production.[46]
  • Swan Lake (1994) is a 28-minute traditional two-dimensional animation narrated by Dudley Moore. It is one of five animations in the Storyteller's Classics series. Like the 1981 version, it also uses Tchaikovsky's music throughout and is quite faithful to the original story. What sets it apart is the climactic scene, in which the prince swims across the lagoon towards Rothbart's castle to rescue Odette, who is being held prisoner there. Rothbart points his finger at the prince and zaps him to turn him into a duck – but then, the narrator declares, "Sometimes, even magic can go very, very wrong." After a moment, the duck turns into an eagle and flies into Rothbart's castle, where the prince resumes his human form and engages Rothbart in battle. This animation was produced by Madman Movies for Castle Communications. The director was Chris Randall, the producer was Bob Burrows, the production co-ordinator was Lesley Evans and the executive producers were Terry Shand and Geoff Kempin. The music was performed by the Moscow State Orchestra. It was shown on TVOntario in December 1997 and was distributed on home video in North America by Castle Vision International, Orion Home Video and J.L. Bowerbank & Associates.
  • The Swan Princess (1994) is a Nest Entertainment film based on the Swan Lake story. It stays fairly close to the original story, but does contain many differences. For example, instead of the Swan Maidens, we have the addition of sidekicks Puffin the puffin, Speed the tortoise, and Jean-Bob the frog. Several of the characters are renamed – Prince Derek instead of Siegfried, his friend Bromley instead of Benno and his tutor Rogers instead of Wolfgang; Derek's mother is named Queen Uberta. Another difference is Odette and Derek knowing each other from when they were children, which introduces us to Odette's father, King William and explains how and why Odette is kidnapped by Rothbart. The character Odile is replaced by an old hag (unnamed in this movie, but known as Bridget in the sequels), as Rothbart's sidekick until the end. Also, this version contains a happy ending, allowing both Odette and Derek to survive as humans once Rothbart is defeated. It has eleven sequels, Escape from Castle Mountain (1997), The Mystery of the Enchanted Treasure (1998), Christmas (2012), A Royal Family Tale (2014), Princess Tomorrow, Pirate Today (2016), Royally Undercover (2017), A Royal MyZtery (2018), Kingdom of Music (2019), A Royal Wedding (2020), A Fairytale is Born (2023), and Far Longer than Forever (2023) which deviate even further from the ballet. None of the films contain Tchaikovsky's music.
  • Barbie of Swan Lake (2003) is a direct-to-video children's movie featuring Tchaikovsky's music and motion capture from the New York City Ballet and based on the Swan Lake story. In this version, Odette is not a princess by birth, but a baker's daughter; instead of being kidnapped by Rothbart and taken to the lake against her will, she discovers the Enchanted Forest when she willingly follows a unicorn there. She is also made into a more dominant heroine in this version, as she is declared as the one who is destined to save the forest from Rothbart's clutches when she frees a magic crystal. Another difference is the addition of new characters, such as Rothbart's cousin the Fairy Queen, Lila the unicorn, Erasmus the troll, and the Fairy Queen's fairies and elves, who have also been turned into animals by Rothbart. These fairies and elves replace the Swan Maidens from the ballet. It is also the Fairy Queen's magic that allows Odette to return to her human form at night, not Rothbart's spell. Other changes include renaming the Prince Daniel and a happy ending, instead of the ballet's tragic ending. Like the 1877 production, Odette wears a magic crown that protects her.
  • Barbie in the Pink Shoes (2013) features an adaptation of Swan Lake amongst its many fairytales.

Computer/video games

[edit]

Dance

[edit]
The Silent Violinist, a professional mime busker act, that references the "swan princess" concept.
  • The Swedish dancer/choreographer Fredrik Rydman has produced a modern dance/street dance interpretation of the ballet entitled Swan Lake Reloaded. It depicts the "swans" as heroin addict prostitutes who are kept in place by Rothbart, their pimp. The production's music uses themes and melodies from Tchaikovsky's score and incorporates them into hip-hop and techno tunes.[48]

Literature

[edit]
  • Amiri & Odette (2009) is a verse retelling by Walter Dean Myers with illustrations by Javaka Steptoe.[49] Myers sets the story in the Swan Lake Projects of a large city. Amiri is a basketball-playing "Prince of the Night", a champion of the asphalt courts in the park. Odette belongs to Big Red, a dealer, a power on the streets.
  • The Black Swan (1999) is a fantasy novel written by Mercedes Lackey that re-imagines the original story and focuses heavily on Odile. Rothbart's daughter is a sorceress in her own right who comes to sympathise with Odette.
  • The Sorcerer's Daughter (2003) is a fantasy novel by Irina Izmailova, a retelling of the ballet's plot. The boyish and careless Siegfried consciously prefers the gentle, equally childlike Odile, while the stern and proud Odette is from the very beginning attracted to Rothbart (who later turns out to be the kingdom's rightful monarch in hiding).
  • Swan Lake (1989) is a children's novel written by Mark Helprin and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg, which re-creates the original story as a tale about political strife in an unnamed Eastern European country. In it, Odette becomes a princess hidden from birth by the puppetmaster (and eventually usurper) behind the throne, with the story being retold to her child.

Music

[edit]
  • British instrumental band The Cougars had a #33 UK hit with the single "Saturday Nite at the Duck-Pond", which used music from Swan Lake by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The song achieved some notoriety for being banned by the BBC. The reason for the ban was reported in the musical press, saying Saturday Nite At The Duck Pond was "a travesty of a major classical work".
  • Japanese instrumental rock group Takeshi Terauchi & Bunnys recorded this on their 1967 album, Let's Go Unmei.
  • Belgian band Wallace Collection quote from Act 2 Scene 10 in their track "Daydream" (1969).[50][51]
  • British ska band Madness featured a ska version in 1979 on their debut album One Step Beyond...
  • British post-punk band Public Image Ltd's 1979 single Death Disco borrows elements of the main theme. The track appears on their 1979 album Metal Box under the title Swan Lake.
  • South Korean group Shinhwa re-imagines the main theme into a hip-hop k-pop song "T.O.P. (Twinkling of Paradise)" (1999)
  • Los Angeles group Sweetbox uses the main theme for the chorus of their song "Superstar" from the 2001 album Classified.
  • German singer Jeanette Biedermann uses the Swan Lake melody structure for her 2001 single release "How It's Got To Be".
  • Spanish symphonic metal band Dark Moor borrows elements on the song "Swan Lake", the first track of their 2009 album Autumnal.
  • A reggae version of the Swan Lake ballet appears on the 2017 album Classical Made Modern 3.[52]
  • Canadian metal band The Agonist has made an a cappella version of act 2's "Scène. Moderato", which is included in their second studio album, Lullabies for the Dormant Mind.
  • Beyoncé uses the ballet's famous theme in her "visual album" Lemonade, a reference that underscores the film's meditation on infidelity.
  • Scott Hamilton – Tenor Saxophone. Jazz interpretation – Scott Hamilton CLASSICS[53]
  • X Japan uses a short excerpt of it in "Silent Jealousy".

Musicals/opera

[edit]
  • Odette – The Dark Side of Swan Lake, a musical written by Alexander S. Bermange and Murray Woodfield, was staged at the Bridewell Theatre, London in October 2007.
  • In Radio City Christmas Spectacular, The Rockettes do a short homage to Swan Lake during the performance of the "Twelve Days of Christmas (Rock and Dance Version)", with the line "Seven Swans A-Swimming".
  • Billy Elliot the Musical incorporates the most famous section of Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake in a dance number, in which the main character dances while shadowed by his future, adult self.
  • The musical Anastasia includes a scene in which several of the main characters attend a performance of Swan Lake in Paris near the show's climax. The four characters sing about their inner conflicts and desires as Tchaikovsky's score blends into the musical's melodies, the dancers onstage representing both the ballet's characters and the thoughts of each singer in turn.
  • The top of the third act of the opera The Abduction of Figaro (1984) includes a parody of Swan Lake where Odile is portrayed as a Carmen Miranda character.

Television

[edit]
  • During the era of the Soviet Union, Soviet state television preempted large announcements with video recordings of Swan Lake on four infamous occasions. In 1982 state television broadcast recordings following the death of Leonid Brezhnev. In 1984 recordings preempted the announcement of the death of Yuri Andropov. In 1985, recordings preempted the announcement of the death of General Secretary Konstantin Chernenko.[54] The final and most oft-cited instance of the use of Swan Lake in this context was during the August 1991 Soviet coup attempt leading up to the dissolution of the Soviet Union.[55]
  • When independent Russian news channel TV Rain was forced to shut down due to censorship laws caused by the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the station chose to end its final newscast with Swan Lake in a reference to its use in 1991.[56][57]
  • Princess Tutu (2002) is an anime television series whose heroine, Duck, wears a costume reminiscent of Odette's. She is a duck transformed by a writer into a girl (rather than the other way around), while her antagonist, Rue, dressed as Odile, is a girl who had been raised to believe she is a raven. Other characters include Mytho in the role of Siegfried, who is even referred to by this name towards the end of the second act, and Drosselmeyer playing in the role of Rothbart. The score of Swan Lake, along with that of The Nutcracker, is used throughout, as is, occasionally, the Petipa choreography, most notably in episode 13, where Duck dances the climactic pas de deux alone, complete with failed lifts and catches.
  • In the second season of the anime Kaleido Star, a circus adaptation of Swan Lake becomes one of the Kaleido Stage's most important and successful shows. Main character Sora Naegino plays Princess Odette, with characters Leon Oswald as Prince Siegfried and May Wong as Odile.
  • In episode 213 of The Muppet Show, Rudolf Nureyev performs Swine Lake with a giant ballerina pig.
  • In episode 105 of Cagney and Lacey, Det. Chris Cagney went to this with her boyfriend and hated it so that she fell asleep in the second act.
  • Swan Lake was heard in two episodes of the Playhouse Disney series Little Einsteins: "Quincy and the Magic Instruments" and "The Blue Footed Boobey Bird Ballet".
  • In the Tiny Toon Adventures episode Loon Lake, Babs Bunny helps out Shirley the Loon after she was ridiculed by a group of snobbish swans in ballet class while preparing for a performance of Swan Lake.
  • In Dexter's Laboratory episode, Deedeemensional, Dexter, in order to deliver an important message to his future self, was forced to dance Swan Lake with Dee Dee and her future self.
  • The Beavis and Butt-Head episode "A Very Special Episode" uses the same arrangement used in Dracula and The Mummy while Beavis is feeding the bird he saved.
  • In the animated children's show Wonder Pets, Linny, Tuck and Ming-Ming help encourage a baby swan to dance in his own way. The music of Swan Lake is used.
  • A close arrangement of the waltz from act 1 appears in episodes 16, 23 and 78 of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, "Sonic Rainboom", "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" and "Simple Ways".
  • In one of the Shimmer and Shine episodes called "The Great Ballet". Swan Lake was seen in this episode.
  • In one of the Madagascar: A Little Wild episodes called "Hippo Lake". It has a bunch of Swan Lake references from this episode.

Symbolism

[edit]

In the 2020s, Swan Lake became a symbol of protest in Russia.[58] The symbolism dates to the failed Soviet coup of 1991. On August 19 of that year, as tanks rolled into Moscow, state television aired the entire ballet on loop. Communist hardliners then announced that they had seized control of the country from Mikhail Gorbachev, whom they had arrested. Boris Yeltsin responded by climbing on a tank in central Moscow and urging citizens to turn out in protest. For three days, thousands of protesters stood off the army, after which the coup leaders relented. Within four months, the Soviet Union was gone.[58][59]

In 1991, there was a tradition of interrupting regular programming by airing the ballet on loop when the government was in crisis: it happened with the death of Leonid Brezhnev in 1982, while a successor was selected, and again with the deaths of Yuri Andropov in 1984 and Konstantin Chernenko in 1985. Swan Lake thus became "a sign of political instability and upheaval."[59]

Selected discography

[edit]

Audio

[edit]
Year Conductor Orchestra
1954 Antal Doráti Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra first complete recording, late 1953, mastered originally in mono only; some mock-stereo issues released on LP
1959 Ernest Ansermet Orchestre de la Suisse Romande taped in stereo Oct–Nov. 1958, abridged
1974 Anatole Fistoulari Radio Filharmonisch Orkest with Ruggiero Ricci, violin
1976 André Previn London Symphony Orchestra with Ida Haendel, violin
1977 Richard Bonynge National Philharmonic Orchestra with Mincho Minchev, violin
1979 Seiji Ozawa Boston Symphony Orchestra with Joseph Silverstein, violin
1982 John Lanchbery Philharmonia Orchestra
1988 Yevgeny Svetlanov Russian State Symphony Orchestra
1990 Michael Tilson Thomas London Symphony Orchestra
1992 Charles Dutoit Montreal Symphony Orchestra
2006 Valery Gergiev Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre
2013 Neeme Järvi Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra with James Ehnes, violin: a multi-channel SACD recording
2018 Vladimir Jurowski State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Russian Federation 1877 version

Video

[edit]
Year Conductor Ballet Siegfried Odette / Odile
1957 Yuri Fayer Bolshoi Ballet Nikolai Fadeyechev Maya Plisetskaya
1966 John Lanchbery Vienna State Ballet Rudolf Nureyev Margot Fonteyn
1968 Viktor Fedotov Kirov Ballet John Markovsky Yelena Yevteyeva
1976 Algis Zhuraitis Bolshoi Ballet Alexander Bogatirev Maya Plisetskaya
1980 Ashley Lawrence The Royal Ballet Anthony Dowell Natalia Makarova
1984 Algis Zhuraitis Bolshoi Ballet Alexander Bogatirev Natalia Bessmertnova
1986 Viktor Fedotov Kirov Ballet Konstantin Zaklinsky Galina Mezentseva
1988 Graham Bond English National Ballet Peter Schaufuss Evelyn Hart
1989 Algis Zhuraitis Bolshoi Ballet Yuri Vasyuchenko Alla Mikhalchenko
1990 Viktor Fedotov Kirov Ballet Igor Zelensky Yulia Makhalina
1992 Alexander Sotnikov Perm Theatre Ballet Alexei Fadeyechev Nina Ananiashvili
1992 Jonathan Darlington Paris Opera Ballet Patrick Dupond Marie-Claude Pietragalla
1996 Michel Quéval [fr] Royal Swedish Ballet Anders Nordström Nathalie Nordquist
1998 Daniel Barenboim Berlin State Ballet Oliver Matz Steffi Scherzer
2004 James Tuggle La Scala Theatre Ballet Roberto Bolle Svetlana Zakharova
2005 Ormsby Wilkins American Ballet Theatre Ángel Corella Gillian Murphy
2006 Vello Pähn Paris Opera Ballet Jose Martinez Agnès Letestu
2007 Valery Gergiev Mariinsky Ballet Danila Korsuntsev Ulyana Lopatkina
2009 Valeriy Ovsyanikov The Royal Ballet Thiago Soares Marianela Núñez
2009 Vladimir Fedoseyev Zurich Ballet Stanislav Jermakov Polina Semionova
2014 Alexander Ingram Vienna State Ballet Vladimir Shishov Olga Esina
2015 Pavel Sorokin Bolshoi Ballet Denis Rodkin Svetlana Zakharova
2015 Boris Gruzin The Royal Ballet Matthew Golding Natalia Osipova
2018 Koen Kessels The Royal Ballet Vadim Muntagirov Marianela Núñez

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Years of fame". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  2. ^ Kant, Marion, ed. (2007). The Cambridge Companion to Ballet. Cambridge Companions to Music. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 164. ISBN 978-0-521-53986-9.; 'Old style' date 4 March
  3. ^ Chaĭkovskiĭ, Modest Ilʹich; Newmarch, Jeaffreson; Rosa Harriet (1906). The life & letters of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky. J Lane. p. 735.
  4. ^ "Swan Lake Ballet 2018 India". BookMyShow. Archived from the original on 6 March 2018.
  5. ^ Rachel Beaumont (19 February 2015). "The Swan Lake mystery: An amalgam of different fairytales". Royal Opera House. Archived from the original on 29 March 2017.
  6. ^ "The Fascinating History of Swan Lake: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Greatest Ballet". History Hit. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  7. ^ Leimanis, Aivars (2002). "Synopsis" (Press release). Latvian National Opera. Archived from the original on 21 August 2004. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  8. ^ Wiley 1991, p. 40.
  9. ^ Dorris, G. (1985). "Tchaikovsky and the ballet". Dance Chronicle. 9 (2): 256–263. doi:10.1080/01472528508568925.
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  18. ^ Wiley, R. J. (1997). The life and ballets of Lev Ivanov: Choreographer of the nutcracker and swan lake. Claredon Press. pp. 170–173.
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  23. ^ interview Archived 12 February 2006 at the Wayback Machine, David McAllister and Graeme Murphy, Ballet.co magazine, July 2005
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Sources

Notes

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  1. ^ Pas de deux pour Mme. Anna Sobeshchanskaya (original music composed by Ludwig Minkus, adapted by Tchaikovsky. Choreographed in 1953 by George Balanchine as the Tchaikovsky Pas de deux).[41] Madame Sobeshchanskaya was, apparently, pleased.

    For more than seventy years, this pas de deux was forgotten. Because it was a later composition, it was not published as part of Tchaikovsky's score and was thought to have been lost. The orchestral partition was accidentally rediscovered in 1953 among the orchestral parts for Alexander Gorsky's early 20th century production of the ballet Le Corsaire. It soon came to the attention of George Balanchine, who successfully sought permission to use it for his own choreography.[42]

Further reading

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  • G. Abraham, ed. Tchaikovsky: a Symposium (London, 1945/R, R 1970 as The Music of Tchaikovsky. London: W. W. Norton, 1974)
  • C. W. Beaumont. The Ballet called Swan Lake (London, 1952)
  • Brown, David. Tchaikovsky: The Man and His Music. London: Faber & Faber, 2006. 108–119
  • Brown, David. "Tchaikovsky's Mazeppa." The Musical Times 125.1702 (1984): 696–698.
  • Norris, George. Stanford, the Cambridge Jubilee and Tchaikovsky (London, 1980)
  • Nuzzo, Nancy B. "Swan Lake: a chronology; The sleeping beauty: a chronology; other Tchaikovsky ballets." Dance Magazine, 55 (June 1981), 57–58.
  • Pudelek, Janina (1990–1991). "Swan Lake in Warsaw, 1900". Dance Chronicle. 13 (3): 359–367. doi:10.1080/01472529008569046. JSTOR 1567690.
  • Robinson, Harlow. "Review: Untitled." Slavic and East European Journal, 31 (1987): 639–640
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Swan Lake.

Background

Video recordings

Scores