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 Swan Lake Swan Lake (Russian: Лебединое Озеро, Lebedinoye Ozero, Swan Lake) is a ballet, first presented in four acts, Opus 20, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. The scenario was worked out by Vladimir Begichev and Vasiliy Geltser, and the music was composed 1875-1876. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger. The ballet received its premiere in 1877 at the Bolshoy Theatre in Moscow. Although it is presented in many different versions, most ballet companies base their stagings both choreographically and musically on the 1895 revival of Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, staged for the Imperial Ballet in 1895 at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. For this revival, Tchaikovsky's score was revised by Riccardo Drigo.
Synopsis
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).
Act 1 - A magnificent park before a castle.
Swan Lake begins at a royal court. Prince Siegfried, heir to the kingdom, must declare a wife at his birthday ball. Upset that he cannot marry for love, Siegfried escapes into the forest at night. As he sees a flock of swans flying overhead, he sets off in pursuit.
Act 2 - A mountainous wild place, surrounded by forest. In the distance a lake, on the right side of which are ruins. A moonlit night.
Swan Lake - Act 2
Pas de Quatre
Siegfried aims his crossbow at the swans and readies himself for their landing by the lakeside. When one comes into view, however, he stops. Before him is a beautiful creature dressed in white feathers, more woman than swan. Enamoured, the two dance and Siegfried learns that the swan maiden is the princess Odette. An evil sorcerer, von Rothbart, captured her and used his magic to turn Odette into a swan by day and woman by night.
A retinue of other captured swan-maidens attend Odette in the environs of Swan Lake, which was formed by the tears of her parents when she was kidnapped by von Rothbart. Once Siegfried knows her story, he takes great pity on her and falls in love. As he begins to swear his love to her - an act that will render the sorcerer's spell powerless - von Rothbart appears. Siegfried threatens to kill him but Odette intercedes. If von Rothbart dies before the spell is broken, it can never be undone.
Act 3 - An opulent hall in the castle.
The Prince returns to the castle to attend the ball. Von Rothbart arrives in disguise with his own daughter Odile, making her seem identical to Odette in all respects except that she wears black while Odette wears white. The prince mistakes her for Odette, dances with her, and proclaims to the court that he intends to make her his wife. Only a moment too late, Siegfried sees the real Odette and realizes his mistake. The method in which Odette appears varies: in some versions she arrives at the castle, while in other versions von Rothbart shows Siegfried a magical vision of her.
Act 4 - Same scene by the lake as in Act 2.
Realizing that the spell can never be broken, Odette and Siegfried drown themselves by leaping into the lake. This causes von Rothbart to lose his power over them, and he dies as a result.
Note: Many different endings exist, ranging from romantic to tragic:
- In a version which has an ending very close to the original danced by American Ballet Theatre in 2005, Siegfried's mistaken pledge of fidelity to Odile consigns Odette to eternal swanhood. Realizing that her last moment of humanity is at hand, Odette commits suicide by throwing herself into the lake. The Prince does so as well. This act of sacrifice and love breaks von 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 the Mariinsky Theatre in 2006, the true love between Siegfried and Odette defeats von Rothbart, who dies after the prince breaks one of his wings. Odette is restored to human form to unite happily with the prince. This version has often been used by Russian and Chinese ballet companies.
- In a version danced by New York City Ballet in 2006 (with choreography by Peter Martins after Lev Ivanov, Marius Petipa, and George Balanchine), the Prince's declaration that he wishes to marry Odile constitutes a betrayal that condemns Odette to remain a swan forever. Odette is called away into swan form, and Siegfried is left alone in grief as the curtain falls.
Notable Productions of Swan Lake
The Original
Lebedinoe Ozero (Swan Lake)
Choreography: Julius (Wentzel) Reisinger
Music: P.I. Tchaikovsky
Design: Karl Valz, Ivan Shanguine, and Karl Gropius
Libretto: Vladimir Begichev
Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, 4 March [20 February], 1877
Pelegaya Karpakova (Odette), Stanislav Gillert (Siegfried)
Revised
Choreography: Joseph Peter Hansen after Reisinger
Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, 1880 & restaged 1882
Ivanov's Act II
Choreography: Lev Ivanov
Design: Botcharov & Levogt
Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, February 29, 1894
Pierina Legnani (Odette)
The "Standard Version"
Choreography: Marius Petipa (Acts I & III) and Lev Ivanov (Acts II & IV)
Music: P.I. Tchaikovsky (Edited by Riccardo Drigo)
Design: Mikhail Bocharov and Heinrich Levogt
Libretto: Modeste Tchaikovsky and others after Begichev
Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, January 27 [January 15], 1895
Pierina Legnani (Odette/Odile), Pavel Gerdt (Siegfried)
The First in the West
Choreography: Mikhail Fokine after Petipa/Ivanov
Music: P.I. Tchaikovsky
Design: Konstanti Korovin and Aleksandr Golovin
Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, London, November 30, 1911
Mathilde Kshessinskya (Odette/Odile), Vaslav Nijinsky (Siegfried)
The First Full Length Production in the United States
Choreography: William Christensen after Petipa/Ivanov
Music: P.I. Tchaikovsky
Design: Leslie Hurry
San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco, September 27, 1940
Jacquelin Martin (Odette), Janet Reed (Odile), Lew Chrsitensen (Siegfried)
The Revision Most Are Indebted To
Choreography: Vladimir Burmeister after Lopukhov
Music: P.I. Tchaikovsky
Design: Anatole Lushin & Archangelskaya
Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theatre, Moscow, April 25, 1953
Violetta Boft (Odette/Odile), Oleg Chichinadze (Siegfried)
Restaged
Design: Dimitri Bouchne
Paris Opera Ballet, December 21, 1960
Josette Amiel (Odette/Odile), Peter van Dijk (Siegfried)
The All Male Swan Lake
Choreography: Mathew Bourne
Music: P.I. Tchaikovsky
Design: Lez Brotherston
Adventures in Motion Pictures, Sadler's Wells Theatre, November 9, 1995
Adam Cooper (The Swan), Fiona Chadwick (The Queen)
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