Chopeniana

Chopenian ( FR. Les Sylphides , La Sylphides) - Mikhail Fokin's ballet, staged on piano works by Frederic Chopin , orchestrated by A. K. Glazunov and M. Keller , then S. I. Taneev , A. K. Lyadov , N. N Cherepnin and Gershwin .

Chopeniana
Les sylphides
A. Benoit. Set design for the ballet La Sylphide, 1909.
Composer	Frederic Chopin
Choreographer	Mikhail Fokin
Orchestration	Alexander Glazunov
Set design	Alexandre Benois
First production	1907 , Mariinsky Theater 1909 , Russian ballet of Diaghilev

Chopin

Fokine

	Polonaise in A Major (Op. 40 no.1 A-dur)
	Overture
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	Waltz. Op. 64 no.2 cis-moll
	performed by I.Ya. Paderevsky , 1917
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	Mazurka in D Major (Op. 33, no.2. D-Dur)
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	Grande valse brillante
	Code
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	Waltz performed by Rachmaninov
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The premiere took place on February 10, 1907 at a charity performance at the Mariinsky Theater and was dedicated to the memory of Frederic Chopin. The costumes were made according to the sketches of L. Bakst .

The romantic lyrical plotless ballet was distinguished by Fokine's impeccable taste. One pose in a flowing balance poured into another, as if drawing an ideal picture of a single mesmerizing action.

Mikhail Fokin supplemented his original plan with new musical numbers.

The first edition . The Chopiniana Suite, in memory of F. Chopin (performance on February 10, 1907 ) consisted of five piano pieces by Chopin, orchestrated by A. K. Glazunov. Conductor R. Drigo :

1. Polonaise in A Major (Op. 40 no.1 A-dur): ballet dancers performed
2. Nocturne in F Major (Op 15 no.1 F-dur): Chopin - A.D. Bulgakov , Muse - A.P. Urakova
3. Mazurka C sharp minor (Op 50 no.3 Cis-moll): Yu. N. Sedova , P.A. Gerdt
4. Waltz in C Sharp Minor (Op. 64 no.2 Cis-moll ( Seventh Waltz ): A.P. Pavlova , M.K. Obukhov
5. Tarantella in A Flat Major (Op. 43. As-Dur): V.P. Fokina , A.V. Shiryaev

Second edition of the play: “Romantic Dreams” , of eight plays in the orchestra of A. K. Glazunov and M. F. Keller .

For the overture, Fokine chose the polonaise in A Major, at the last bars of which a smoothly sliding curtain opened a frozen ballet picture in front of the audience's delighted gaze. With the first chords of the nocturne, the corps de ballet opened like a rosebud: the ballerinas gently sank into the plie , and the soloist went out to the middle of the stage.

In this version, the performance was shown at a charity evening at the Mariinsky Theater on March 8, 1907, entitled "Ballet to the music of Chopin . " That evening there were also the ballets Egyptian Nights (Cleopatra) and The Armida Pavilion with T. P. Karsavina, V. F. Nizhinsky and B. F. Nizhinsky .

Performers: O. I. Preobrazhenskaya , A. P. Pavlova, T. P. Karsavina , V. F. Nizhinsky .

• Overture: Polonaise in A Major (Op. 40 no.1 A-dur)

1. Nocturne in A Flat Major (Op. 32, no.2. As-Dur) ^{lento. 4/4}
2. Waltz in G Flat Major (Op. 70, no.1. Ges-Dur)
3. Mazurka in D Major (Op. 33, no.2. D-Dur)
4. Mazurka in C Major (Op. 67, no.3. C-Dur)
5. Prelude in A Major (Op. 28, no.7. A-Dur) ^Andantino
6. Waltz in C Sharp Minor (Op. 64 no.2 Cis-moll)
7. Grande valse brillante in E Flat Major (Op. 18, Es-dur)

Sympathy V. Svetlova belonged to Ms. Pavlova, and no matter how Karsavin danced, he wrote in the "Exchange News":

Ms. Pavlova 2nd, and here, was imbued with style to a much fuller extent than Ms. Preobrazhenskaya and Karsavina [1]

L. Kozlyaninov, on the contrary, followed the dance of Ms. Karsavina:

In the performance of Karsavina, elegiac daydreaming, replaced by a rapture of joy, evoked a performance created by music [2]

Further, the editorial staff changed insignificantly, on April 6, 1908, the play was titled “Grand Pas to Chopin’s Music” , and on February 19, 1909, “Chopeniana” was written on the poster.

On June 2, 1909 , in the Russian Diaghilev seasons at the Chatelet Theater in Paris, the premiere of "Chopenians" was called "La Sylphides" ( French Les Sylphides ) with the participation of Tamara Karsavina, Anna Pavlova, Alexandra Baldina and Vaclav Nizhinsky. Costumes Leon Bakst painted on the lithographs of Maria Taglioni in La Sylphide ^[3] .

In addition to the finished orchestras by A.K. Glazunov, the Grande valse brillante transferred to a large orchestra and arranged by George Gershwin, the remaining piano pieces by Frederic Chopin were orchestrated by S.I. Taneev, A.K. Lyadov and N.N. Cherepnin.

The following performances took place in Covent Garden on June 14, 1911 and in New York at the Century Theater on January 20, 1916 , with the participation of Alexandra Baldina. April 14, 1916 - performance of Les Sylphides with the participation of Nizhinsky at the Metropolitan Opera . The next edition is in the orchestration of Vittorio Rieti , scenography of Prince A. K. Shervashidze and the costumes of Alexander Benois, in this version the performance was shown during a tour of Latin America (1943-1946) by Original Ballet Russe ^[4] .

On February 4, 1923, the last edition of Fokin was resumed in Petrograd, on May 16, 1928, A. Ya. Vaganova updated Chopiniana for the Leningrad Choreographic School , the performance was on the stage of the Opera and Ballet Theater (graduation performance by G. S. Ulanova ). The scenery was designed by Orest Allegri .

On January 24, 1932, the Bolshoi Theater staged the Fokin version of the play, conducted by Yu. F. Fire ; performers V.P. Vasilieva , T.V. Vasilieva, A.I. Abramova , G.P. Dobrynin, N.A. Kapustin , T.V. Lazarevich, A.N. Ermolaev . After the war, on January 11, 1946, L. M. Lavrovsky resumed the performance “according to Fokine” on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater.