Ballet "Sleeping Beauty" - a summary, description and interesting facts
P. I. Tchaikovsky wrote music for only three ballets. But all of them are masterpieces and are included in the repertoire of theaters around the world. We will consider a summary of the ballet "Sleeping Beauty".
Creation of a work
Having finished the Fifth Symphony and the opera The Enchantress and reflecting on the idea of The Queen of Spades, Pyotr Ilyich received an order from the head of the directorate of the imperial theaters, I. A. Vsevolzhsky, to create a ballet. Initially, the composer was offered a choice of two themes: "Salambo" and "Ondine". However, Tchaikovsky himself refused the first, and the libretto of the second was considered unsuccessful. At the end of 1888 (December), Marius Ivanovich Petipa gave Pyotr Ilyich the libretto of the ballet The Sleeping Beauty. The summary, musical, sketchy, the composer already had: a prologue, the first and second acts. It was only January 1889. The third act and apotheosis were composed in the spring and summer, also during a trip to Paris, Marseille, Constantinople, Tiflis and Moscow. In August, rehearsals were already underway, and at the same time the composer was finishing the instrumentation of the ballet. During this time, Tchaikovsky and Petipa met frequently, making changes and refinements. The score of The Sleeping Beauty reflects the maturity of Pyotr Ilyich. It has a general solidity, careful development of situations, pictures and images.
Performance staging
M. Petipa, who had an outstanding artistic imagination, developed each number, having thought through its duration, rhythm and character. The well-known theater designer M. I. Bocharov made sketches of the scenery, and Vsevolzhsky himself, in addition to writing the libretto together with Petipa, also drew sketches for the costumes. The performance must be incredibly beautiful and historically accurate - this was achieved by all the participants.
The premiere took place in St. Petersburg during the Christmas holidays in 1890, on January 3. The celebratory performance drew mixed reactions. Some of the critics considered the ballet too deep (and just wanted to have fun). The public gave their answer. He expressed himself not in a storm of applause, but in 100 percent fees and in a full house at every performance. The talent of the choreographer, his high demands on the actors and brilliant music merged into a single whole. On the stage, the audience saw an incredibly beautiful and deeply thought-out performance. It was a joint creation of two geniuses: the ballet "Sleeping Beauty". A summary follows below.
Characters
- King Florestan and his wife, their daughter Aurora.
- Pretenders for the hand of the princess - princes: Fortune, Cherie, Fleur de Poix, Sharman.
- The head butler is Catalabutte.
- Prince Desire and his mentor Galifron.
- Good fairies: Fleur de Farin, Lilac Fairy, Violante, Canary Fairy, Breadcrumb Fairy. Spirits that make up the retinue of fairies.
- Evil powerful terrible fairy Carabosse with her retinue.
- Ladies and lords, hunters and hunters, pages, lackeys, bodyguards.
Prologue
We begin to present a summary of the ballet "Sleeping Beauty". In the front hall of the palace of King Florestan, celebrations begin in honor of the christening of the little princess. The invited ladies and gentlemen line up in beautiful groups according to the instructions of the stewards. Everyone is waiting for the appearance of the royal couple and invited fairies. To the solemn sounds of fanfare, the king and queen enter the hall. Behind them the nannies of the wet nurse carry the cradle of the princess. After that, they announce that the fairies have arrived.
The last is the Lilac Fairy - the main goddaughter of the princess. Gifts are prepared for each of them. At this time, news arrives, and the forgotten, uninvited fairy Carabosse appears. She's terrible. Her wagon is dragged by vile rats.
The butler throws himself at her feet, begging for forgiveness. Carabosse with an evil laugh pulls out his hair, the rats quickly eat them. She announces that her gift is an eternal sleep, into which the lovely princess will plunge, pricking her finger. Everyone is horrified. But here the Lilac Fairy appears, who has not yet presented her gift. She bends over the cradle and promises that a handsome prince will appear who will wake up the young girl with a kiss, and she will live joyfully and happily.
First action
The princess has a birthday. She is 16 years old. Holidays everywhere. The villagers dance, dance and have fun in the king's park. 4 princes have arrived, who are eager for the girl to choose a groom from among them. Accompanied by ladies-in-waiting with bouquets of flowers and wreaths, Princess Aurora runs in. The princes are shocked by her unearthly beauty. With half-childish playful grace, the girl begins to dance. The princes join her.
This is a light, airy variation in the Sleeping Beauty ballet. The summary should be continued by the fact that the princess suddenly notices an old woman sitting in a corner. She holds a spinning wheel and a spindle and beats time with them. The princess flies up to her, grabs the spindle and, holding it like a scepter, begins to joyfully spin around in the dance again. The four princes cannot stop admiring this spectacle. Suddenly she freezes and looks at her hand, on which blood flows: a sharp spindle pricked her. How will the plot of the Sleeping Beauty ballet continue? The summary may describe that the princess begins to thrash about, and then falls dead. Father, mother and princes rush to her. But then the old woman throws off her cloak, and the terrible fairy Carabosse appears in front of everyone in all her enormous growth. She laughs at the general grief and confusion. The princes rush towards her with swords, but Carabosse disappears in fire and smoke. From the depths of the scene, the light begins to glow, growing, a magic fountain. The Lilac Fairy emerges from its jets.
She consoles her parents and promises that everyone will sleep for a hundred years, and she will protect their peace. Everyone returns to the castle, carrying Aurora away on a stretcher. After the wave of the magic wand, all people freeze, and the castle is quickly surrounded by impenetrable thickets of lilacs. A retinue of a fairy appears, to which she orders everyone to strictly watch so that no one can disturb Aurora's peace.
Second act
A century has already passed. Prince Desire on the hunt. First, the courtiers appear to the sound of horns, and then the prince himself. Everyone is tired and sat down to rest, but then girls come out who want to become the wife of the prince. The dance of the duchesses begins, then the marquis, then the princesses and, finally, the baroness. Desiree's heart is silent. Nobody liked him. He asks everyone to leave, as he wants to rest alone. Suddenly, a fantastically beautiful boat appears on the river. From it comes the godmother of the royal son - the Lilac Fairy. The intriguing summary of Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty continues. The Fairy learns that the prince's heart is free and shows him the shadow of Princess Aurora, all pink in the setting sun. She, dancing, then passionately, then languidly, all the time eludes the prince.
A charming girl appears every time in the place where the prince does not expect to see her: either on the river, or swaying on the branches of trees, or located among the flowers. Desiree is completely fascinated - that's his dream. But suddenly she disappears. The son of the king rushes to the godmother and begs her to take him to this divine creature. They sit in a mother-of-pearl boat and float down the river.
Night descends, and the moon illuminates their path with a mysterious silvery light. Finally, the enchanted castle becomes visible. The thick fog above him is gradually dissipating. Everything is asleep, even the fire in the fireplace. With a kiss on the forehead, Desire awakens Aurora. The king and queen and courtiers wake up with her. This is not the end of P. I. Tchaikovsky's ballet The Sleeping Beauty. The prince begs the king to give him a wife as beautiful as the dawn, daughter. The father joins their hands - such is fate.
Last action
On the square in front of the palace of King Florestan, guests from all the fairy tales of Charles Perrault gather for the wedding. The King and the Queen, the bride and the groom, the fairies of jewels: Sapphire, Silver, Gold, Diamonds march out.
Under a slow solemn polonaise, all the guests pass in the dance - the characters of fairy tales:
- Blue beard with his wife.
- The Marquis of Carabas with his Puss in Boots.
- Beauty "Donkey skin" with the prince.
- A golden-haired girl with a royal son.
- Beast and beauty.
- Cinderella with the prince.
- Princess Florina with a youth bewitched into the Blue Bird.
- Little Red Riding Hood with Wolf.
- Rike-tuft, who became handsome, with the princess, whom he endowed with intelligence.
- Boy with a finger with brothers.
- The ogre and his wife.
- Villainess Carabosse on a wagon drawn by rats.
- Four good fairies with retinues.
Each pair of characters has its own original musical and choreographic episode.
They are all bright and expressive. It ends with the waltz of the newlyweds, the theme of the Lilac fairy sounds in the music.
Then a general dance begins, which turns into an apotheosis - a thanksgiving dithyramb to the fairies, built by Tchaikovsky on the old song "Once upon a time there was Henry IV." The ballet "Sleeping Beauty", the content of which we have told, ends with a general stormy whirlwind. But to get the full impression of a magnificent fairy tale, it must be seen on stage.
Ballet "Sleeping Beauty": a summary for children
Toddlers from the age of six should be introduced to the wonderful synthesis of music, movements, costumes and scenery. Since the heroes of the ballet do not talk, parents must explain to the kids what is happening on the stage by reading the libretto or outlining our retelling of the ballet. Children who are already studying at a music school have heard individual numbers from ballet music. They study it in music literature lessons.
Tchaikovsky, ballet "Sleeping Beauty": analysis
Mountains of materials are devoted to the analysis of the work. Boris Asafiev expounded it especially deeply. We will limit ourselves to briefly saying that the plot is built on the opposition of good and evil. The good beginning triumphantly defeats the evil that the fairy Carabosse embodies. The enchantingly beautiful ballet, the composer's masterpiece, captures the viewer's attention from the first moments.
The profound music of P. I. Tchaikovsky brought about a complete reform in ballet art. It not only accompanies the movements of the dancers, but forces the performer to think over the smallest details of the character of his character and convey this to the viewer. The lyrics of the ballet are distinguished by special light romance and festivity.
- Inspired by the libretto, the composer made his first entries in the Russky Vestnik magazine.
- The premiere of the extravaganza was very expensive due to the scenery and costumes. All historical information related to the 17th century was taken into account.
- Emperor Nicholas II attended the dress rehearsal with his family.
- The most famous melody (B-flat major with deviations in F major) from the ballet is a waltz on the theme of the Lilac Fairy, transparent and gentle, from the first act. It involves not only adult dancers, but also children from the choreographic school.