The Sleeping Beauty (also performed as The Sleeping Princess) Often considered Marius Petipa’s masterpiece, The Sleeping Beauty, to music composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, was first performed...
people » Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893). Russian composer
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky composed some of the most enduringly popular masterworks of ballet music. He studied at the St Petersburg Conservatoire and worked with Nikolai Rubinstein at the Russian Musical Society, where he wrote his first symphonies and early chamber works. After travelling in Europe, he composed Swan Lake, the first of his ballets. It was premiered at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow to critical reviews, with many believing the grand scale of his scoring to be undanceable and unpalatable. However, it is this expansive melodic writing that has distinguished Tchaikovsky’s music from the almost incidental music being written for ballet during this time. Tchaikovsky considered the music to be as important to the psychological storytelling as the dancing, drawing from his extensive experience writing for the grandeur and drama of opera. The music he wrote for The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker contain some of the most universally recognised classical works in popular culture, with his ‘Garland Waltz’ from The Sleeping Beauty used by Walt Disney in his 1959 animated cartoon of the story for the song ‘Once Upon a Dream’.
Timeline Event » 1932 – The Vic-Wells Ballet dances Act II of Swan Lake
This was the first performance of classical choreography by the Vic-Wells Ballet. Swan Lake is a ballet with music by Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky with choreograhy created by Marius Petipa (Acts I and...
First performance of The Sleeping Princess by the Vic-Wells Ballet, with choreography by Marius Petipa staged by Nicholas Sergeyev, music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and designs by Nadia Benois. The...
In 1946 the Sadler’s Wells Ballet opened their first season at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, with a new production of The Sleeping Beauty. The scenery and costumes were designed by Oliver...
Timeline Event » 1950 – Sadler’s Wells Ballet dances George Balanchine’s Ballet Imperial for the first time
Originally created for American Ballet Caravan, George Balanchine’s Ballet Imperial was performed by Sadler’s Wells Ballet for the first time at the Royal Opera House in 1950. Danced to Pyotr...
The Snow Maiden was the first Anglo-Soviet collaboration in ballet, Vladimir Bourmeister being the first Soviet choreographer to work with any Western company. It was later staged by the...
In 1973, Scottish Theatre Ballet presented a new production of The Nutcracker. Using Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s score, Darrell created largely new choreography, but retained the original dances by...
John Cranko created Onegin in 1965 for his company, Stuttgart Ballet, using his star dancers Marcia Haydée and Ray Barra to create the roles of Tatiana and Onegin respectively, with Egon Madsen as...
‘I have tried to capture the atmosphere and melancholy of Anton Chekhov’s masterpiece.’ So said Kenneth MacMillan in his programme note for his 1991 ballet Winter Dreams. Inspired by...
Diaghilev – genius or promoter of self? In addition to being central or crucial to the history of ballet in the 20th Century, Diaghilev was also intimately involved with musical developments of the...
In his own training Petipa combined elements of both French and Italian traditions. From this heritage he did much not only to create the Russian school from which his great ballets flowed, but also...