The world premiere (!!!) of Marius Petipa's final ballet is now streaming

[li tai po]

Today the Kazakh National Academy of Choreography in Astana presented the world premiere of Marius Petipa's last ballet, The Romance of the Rosebud and the Butterfly, which was completely choreographed by Petipa to a specially commissioned score by Riccardo Drigo and recorded in Stepanov notation, scheduled for its premiere on 23 January 1904 at the Hermitage Theatre, St. Petersburg, but inexplicably cancelled before the first performance.  "All my work is wasted", wrote Petipa in his diary.

 

The performance is streaming on you tube and the link is below.

 

Petipa had cast Olga Preobrazhenskaya as the Rosebud, rather than the Tsar's favourite Matilda Kschessinskaya.  The cast also included Anna Pavlova and Mikhail Fokine among the soloists and a group of students as the butterflies, including Vaslav Nijinsky.  It is thought that the the Tsar was displeased by the snub of his favourite ballerina.

 

Nikolai Sergeyev brought the notated score out of Russia after the revolution and it now survives in the Harvard University Library.  The ballet has been reconstructed by Vassily Medvedev and most of the boys are students of Anton Lukovkin, formerly of the Mariinsky Ballet and the English National Ballet.

 

There is a strong 'Bolshoi' tradition in Kazakhstan, with Spartacus a mainstay of the repertoire.  Since her appointment as Director both of the Astana Ballet and the Kazakh National Academy, Altynai Asylmuratova has been attempting to introduce more of the Mariinsky/Vaganova style to her company and school.  You can judge for yourself how well she has succeeded.

 

(It is not quite true to call it the world premiere, as it was performed once on 11 May 1919 for Riccardo Drigo's farewell benefit performance, revived by one of the original butterflies, who had also contributed to the notation - but it has not been seen since).

 

Here is the story of the ballet, as set out in Nadine Meisner's biography of Petipa:

 

The curtain rises on a darkened stage, where all nature is asleep until dawn arrives and a daisy - a special part for Pavlova - appears along with bell-shaped flowers who sway their heads and wake up the other flowers.  They shake the dewdrops from their leaves and a morning breeze flurries through them.  Small butterflies pursue the violets, but it is a handsome 'sphinx butterfly' (Mikhail Fokine) which attracts the flowers and they vie for his attention.  At some point an old butterfly, played by Pavel Gerdt, chases after Pavlova's daisy.  A rosebud (Preobrazhenskaya) emerges from the crowd of roses and the sphinx butterfly chooses her; they leave together after a pas de deux and various group sequences.  A bold nasturtium - danced by Vera Trefilova - enters, carrying a leaf which serves as a parasol.  She dances and flirts with her butterfly-admirers.  The other flowers tell her about the rose and they decide to play a trick on her.

 

The second scene shows a different part of the garden, where the rose, now blossomed, and the butterfly are dancing.  The nasturtium enters, determined to win over the butterfly - and succeeds, despite the rose's desperate attempts to keep him.  There follows a triumphant dance for the other flowers, the rose has disappeared and the nasturtium and the butterfly can be seen afar, arm in arm.  A storm darkens the sky, bringing lightning and a downpour.  The flowers revel in the freshness of the rain, but the butterflies seek shelter.  Calm returns and the rose appears, faded and weeping, followed by marigolds [the french word for marigold also means worry] and thistles.  She asks the Queen of the Gardens, an aristocratic lily, to help bring back her inconstant lover.  The Queen causes the rose to be transformed back into a rosebud; other characters, including the nasturtium and the butterfly, arrive in time to see the transformation and dance a pas d'ensemble.  Th sphinx is reignited and pushing away the nasturtium he begs the rose's forgiveness.  After playing hard-to-get, she eventually falls into his arms.  Finally comes the apotheosis of a setting sun, visible through a fine drizzle, which delights the flowers and overpowers the butterflies.

 

 

Мировая премьера балета Р. Дриго «Роман бутона розы и мотылька»

[maryrosesatonapin]

That is amazing!  (I haven't time to watch tonight but will give it my full attention tomorrow.)  I remember seeing this company in London a couple of years ago and they were lovely to watch.

[li tai po]

This performance is by the school, not the company.  It runs for just over an hour and a half.

[maryrosesatonapin]

Well done them!

 

[RosiesDream]

I enjoyed the ballet rather more than I thought I would, because a) I'm not mad on Petipa's choreography, and b) when I read the synopsis I was reminded of the amusing Victorian "Cameo" ballet in Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake, with the woodcutter and the butterflies.

It was a very thin plot for an hour and a half run. Bubblegum ballet, if you will. But after all the tough stuff that's been thrown at us recently, I was in the mood for pretty and tuneful.

I will leave comments on technique to others, but the performance was sweetly pretty with an artless sincerity that is impossible to fake. The music was delightful and the costumes simple and colourful. The little girl dancing the Lily Queen seemed rather good and I hope she will find a career in ballet

I loved it and I think the school can be proud.

[Jeannette]

Fabulous!!! Thank you for the link, lo tai po!

[Jeannette]

Thanks again for this topic and for the link to Monday’s premiere performance!

 

I’m curious if Li Tai Po or anyone else may expound on the musical score for this production. Most of it is recognizable Drigo;  for example, I noted large segments from Enchanted Forest (which Ratmansky used in the Bolshoi Corsair), The Pearl (much used in Konstantin Sergeyev’s classroom work, From Lande to Vagabova), Flora’s Awakening (galop for Fauns), and even one number from Drigo’s The Magical Flute.

So here’s my question:

 

Is any of the music of this performance from Drigo’s  1904 Romance of the Rosebud and the Butterfly? Or is this a mix of various Drigo scores…put together for a “reimagining” of the ballet in Kazakhstan? 

 

Also - Is it true that this particular work is among those in the Harvard Collection of Stepanov notes? If so, it’s news to me, as it’s not on the list that I have. Maybe notes for other ballets exist, apart from the Harvard group, in other locations? I know that not all of the works notated by N. Sergeyev & his team made it out of the USSR…e.g., Don Q and other famous Petipa works are not at Harvard. Where did the stager, Medvedev, find Stepanov notations to Romance of the Rosebud…?

 

 

I totally love this ballet, so richly staged, fit for a Tsar’s viewing. Job well done, students & team of the Kazakh Ballet Academy!  I ask the questions because it fascinates me, not due to dislike or to be a troublemaker. Thanks, in advance, for any insights and clarifications. 💕 🌸 👏 

[maryrosesatonapin]

1 hour ago, Jeannette said:

Thanks again for this topic and for the link to Monday’s premiere performance!

 

I’m curious if Li Tai Po or anyone else may expound on the musical score for this production. Most of it is recognizable Drigo;  for example, I noted large segments from Enchanted Forest (which Ratmansky used in the Bolshoi Corsair), The Pearl (much used in Konstantin Sergeyev’s classroom work, From Lande to Vagabova), Flora’s Awakening (galop for Fauns), and even one number from Drigo’s The Magical Flute.

 

I just wanted to comment on how impressed I am by Jeannette's knowledge of Drigo's music.  Kudos!  I really liked the music but had little detailed knowledge of it.  I vaguely recognised the Corsair sections.

[Jeannette]

52 minutes ago, maryrosesatonapin said:

I just wanted to comment on how impressed I am by Jeannette's knowledge of Drigo's music.  Kudos!  I really liked the music but had little detailed knowledge of it.  I vaguely recognised the Corsair sections.

So kind of you! I just love these ballets and the sweet late-Imperial Drigo works, in general…ever since I saw the NYCB (Martins ) ver of Magic Flute.

[li tai po]

Hi Jeanette,

 

I have sought answers to your questions and I need to correct some significant errors in my description above, which your erudition has already detected.  I am an unworthy messenger, but don't shoot me. 

 

It has been difficult tracking people down, because The Romance of the Rosebud is the centrepiece of a much larger ballet festival at the Academy, involving other institutions, so everyone seems to be either impossibly busy or recovering from exhaustion.

 

First of all you are quite correct that the Stepanov notation for this ballet has not survived, so Vassily Medvedev's production is a re-imagining of the choreography.

 

I understand that Drigo's orchestral scores are held in the library of the Mariinsky Theatre and that they may not be available currently for wider academic study.  When Drigo retired and returned from Russia to Italy, he took a number of piano scores with him.  The production team tracked down these scores to a library in Italy and a Kazakh composer selected music from the scores and orchestrated the selections for this performance.    So once again, you were absolutely spot on with your impressive Drigo knowledge, although I am advised by someone, who danced in The Awakening of Flora, that no music from that ballet was used for The Romance of the Rosebud.

 

The original costume designs by Ivan Vsevolozhky are in the Theatre Museum in St. Petersburg and these were used to create the costumes - so it was a considerable undertaking by the Academy.  I am not sure about the provenance of the backcloth.

 

Apparently your comments have been seen, translated and read in Kazakhstan - and your final paragraph was particularly appreciated.

[Jeannette]

Belated thanks for all of this information, Li Tai Po! I’m glad that I didn’t offend the artistic team in Kazakhstan with my questions because, at the end of the day, it was a grand achievement. A unique work of art.

 

So the (beautiful) score of this production is indeed a pastiche of various other Drigo works. The selections are superb; kudos to the Kazakh arranger/orchestrator!

 

By the way, the Mariinsky’s Flora’s Awakening (Sergei Vikharev’s recon) includes a large-scaled-corps galop that commences with three fauns playing their pipes, before waves of nymphs begin to enter. It’s that galop that we hear in the Kazakh Romance of the Rosebud. Let me see if I can find it on YouTube…here it is. The dance begins at about the 36.30-minute mark. (I love it! Hard to get it out of my head.)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h7eAalYlREY

 

[Jeannette]

Correction: In the above-linked Flora film, the galop with fauns and nymphs begins at the 39.30 mark (not 36.30). That’s the tune that is used in the Kazakh Rosebud, though slightly altered. A clever re-orchestration  but definitely there, to my ears.