03 March 2019 (Sun), 12:00 World famous Mariinsky Ballet and Opera - established 1783 - Stars of the Stars Classical Ballet One-Act Ballets: "The Seasons" Choreography by Konstantin Keihel. "Le Reveil de Flore" Choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov.
Schedule for One-Act Ballets: "The Seasons" Choreography by Konstantin Keihel. "Le Reveil de Flore" Choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. 2022
Conductor: Alexei Repnikov Dancer: Yekaterina Chebykina Dancer: Roman Belyakov
Choreography: Marius Petipa Choreography: Lev Ivanov
Orchestra: Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra Ballet company: Mariinsky (Kirov) Ballet
A rare gem of a ballet: The Awakening of Flora, or, as it was originally known: Le Reveil de Flore.
Now performed only in Russia, the one-act ballet is one of Marius Petipa's beautiful contributions to the repertoire.
"The Seasons"
Credits
Music by Alexander Glazunov Choreography by Konstantin Keikhel
Musical Director: Valery Gergiev Designer: Sergey Illarionov Lighting Designer: Konstantin Binkin Video Designer: Maria Feodoridi, Maxim Malovichko Librettist: Natalia Chumina
Premiere: 11 March 2018, Mariinsky Theatre
Age category 6+
"Le Reveil de Flore"
Credits
Music by Riccardo Drigo Choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov (1894) Set design: Mikhail Bocharov Costumes: Yevgeny Ponomarev
(revival of the 1894 production) The revival team: Conductor: Pavel Bubelnikov Choreography staged: Sergei Vikharev Sets reproduced: Mikhail Shishliannikov Costumes reproduced: Irina Korovina Lighting: Vladimir Lukasevich
SYNOPSIS
Scene 1. Danse de Diane. Night. Flore and her nymphs are in a deep sleep; Diane, the Goddess of the Night, guards their peace. As dawn approaches there is a freshness in the air. Diane hides in the clouds. Scene 2. Entrée d’Aquilon, Danse de la rosée. Aquilon storms over the stage; his sudden appearance awakes the sleeping maidens and makes them seek refuge among the leafage. The appearance of the cool dew brings despair to Flore and she begs Aurore to come to their assistance. Scene 3. Arrivée d’Aurore, Valse. Aurore comforts Flore with tender caresses and declares that she will be followed by the God of the Day – Apollon, who will put an end to their sufferings. Scene 4. Entrée d’Apollon, Zéphyr, Cupidon et les Amours, Pas d’action. As the radiant Apollon appears everything comes to life. Enchanted by the beauty of the Goddess of Flowers, he kisses her. At the summons of the God of the Day, the light and gentle breeze Zéphyr flies into the embrace of Flore, his beloved. “You must be his friend,” Apollon tells her, “That is the will of the gods.” All are delighted. Cupidon, the Amours and Nymphs rejoice at the lovers’ happiness. Scene 5. Arrivée de Mercure, Ganymède et Hébé. Mercure, the messenger of the gods, announces the arrival of Ganymède. Flore and Zéphyr bring forth a cup of nectar and declare that Jupiter will grant them eternal youth. Scene 6. Cortège, Grand pas. Procession. Bacchus and Ariadne’s chariot, accompanied by maenads, satyrs, fauns and sylphs. Apotheosis. Olympia. Jupiter, Juno, Neptune, Vulcan, Minerva, Ceres, Mars, Pluto, Proserpina and Venus all appear.
Content printed after the Annual of the Imperial Theatres for 1893–1894.
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
The score of the ballet Le Réveil de Flore has been revived from the manuscript by Riccardo Drigo preserved at the Mariinsky Theatre Central Music Library. The choreographic text of Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov has been revived from the records of Nikolai Sergeyev, executed in the Stepanov Notation System housed at the Harvard Theatre Collection and from violin répétiteurs retained at the Mariinsky Theatre Central Music Library. The sets and costumes have been reconstructed from photos and sketches by Mikhail Bocharov and Yevgeny Ponomarev from the archives of the St Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music. The costumes have been reconstructed from sketches by Yevgeny Ponomarev from the archives of the St Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music.
History The Awakening of Flora was created and staged as part of the celebrations at Peterhof Palace for the wedding of the Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, daughter of Tsar Alexander III, to the Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich on the 6th August [O.S. 25th July] 1894. The ballet was later transferred to the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre, where it had its Imperial Theatre première on the 14th January [O.S. 2nd January] 1895 with the original cast members from the Peterhof première. This performance was part of a farewell benefit performance for the ballerina Maria Anderson, who had sadly been forced into early retirement after sustaining burn injuries in an accident that occurred during a rehearsal for Cinderella, in which her costume caught alight on an ironing device.
In the original theatre programme, the choreography for The Awakening of Flora was erroneously credited as having been a joint effort between Petipa and Lev Ivanov. When a review in the Saint Petersburg Gazette also credited the choreography to both Petipa and Ivanov, Petipa responded to this matter with the following letter to correct the newspaper:
In no. 201 of your much respected newspaper, a not fully accurate communication was reported about the production of the ballet Le Réveil de Flore. The programme of the ballet was created by L. I. Ivanov and me together, (but) the production of the dances and the mise-en-scène belong exclusively to me; Mr. L. I. Ivanov had no part in them.
After the outbreak of the Russian Revolution, The Awakening of Flora was performed for the final time by the Imperial Ballet in 1919. The ballet was first introduced to the west by Anna Pavlova when, in 1914, she utilised Drigo’s score to create a 30-minute abridgement of the full-length ballet for her company that was choreographed by Ivan Clustine. Pavlova’s staging of The Awakening of Flora enjoyed a very successful première in London on the 12th October 1914 and among those who attended the première was Queen Alexandra of Denmark, Queen consort of the United Kingdom and wife of Edward VII. In 1974, the great Australian conductor, Richard Bonygne conducted the music for Pavlova’s abridged edition for his LP Homage to Pavlova, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. To date, this remains the only available recording of any of Drigo’s score for The Awakening of Flora.
Following the development of the Stepanov notation system, The Awakening of Flora became one of the first ballets to be notated in this new method. It was notated shortly after its 1894 première and is part of the Sergeyev Collection.
In 2007, Sergei Vikharev mounted a reconstruction of The Awakening of Flora for the Mariinsky Ballet. The reconstruction premièred on the 12th April 2007 at the Mariinsky Theatre as part of the VII International Ballet Festival. Unlike Vikharev’s reconstruction of The Sleeping Beauty and his production of La Bayadère, his reconstruction of The Awakening of Flora was a success in Saint Petersburg and even won the 2007 Golden Mask Award.
Premiere: 12 April 2007, Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg Premiere at the Mariinsky Theatre: 20 January 1895 The premiere of the revival at the Mariinsky Theatre: 12 April 2007
Running time: 1 hour
Age category 12+
Schedule for One-Act Ballets: "The Seasons" Choreography by Konstantin Keihel. "Le Reveil de Flore" Choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. 2022
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