Ts. Puni ballet "Esmeralda": content, video, interesting facts

Ts. Puni ballet "Esmeralda"

Caesar Puni's ballet Esmeralda was created based on the famous work of Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo. Libretto author J. Perrot is a famous choreographer. The ballet plot has undergone significant changes compared to the original source, the choreographer categorically did not accept the tragic end of the work, so he decided to change it, leaving all the main characters alive and giving Esmeralda long-awaited happiness. In addition, he decided to abandon the acute social overtones, highlighting the line of love. It is noteworthy that when J. Perrot worked on the plot, he did not rely on the work of V. Hugo itself. Basically, he used the libretto, which was created by the great writer for the opera Esmeralda, naturally with his own changes.

Summary of the ballet Puni "Esmeralda" and a lot of interesting facts about this piece read on our page.

Summary

All events unfold at the end of the XV century. The Courtyard of Miracles is a place in Paris where tramps, thieves and beggars gather. It was there, the beautiful Esmeralda rescues the poor poet Pierre Gringoire from execution and according to the laws of this place, they now have to get married. The girl herself is haunted by Claude Frollo and Quasimodo in love with her. He is trying in every way to achieve the location of a beautiful woman, but all in vain. From the persecution of the persistent suitor her rescues Captain Phoebe de Chateauret with his patrol. Now this brave officer is captivated by the beauty of Esmeralda, however, he has a bride Fleur de Lys. They already have a wedding date, but the appearance of a young gypsy suddenly violates all their plans.

Claude Frollo can not calm down and be smiled with refusal, he is again trying to get the heart of his beloved, only by deception. He sees that Esmeralda is in love with Phoebus and suddenly attacks him, having thrust a dagger into the captain's chest. Guilty of all this, he exposes the unfortunate girl, who has a salvation from the inevitable penalty - to be with Frollo. Esmeralda refuses to do this and suddenly Phoebus rescued, her lover, who only received a serious injury, suddenly appears. Quasimodo, hopelessly loving Esmeralda, rescues her from Frollo and kills him. Now nothing bothers the happiness of the beautiful woman and Captain Phoebe.

A photo:

Interesting Facts

• An interesting case is connected with one premiere of Esmeralda in Russia. The second production in our country took place already in Moscow and was a resounding success. After the performance, the enthusiastic audience presented the lead singer Fanny Elsler with a precious gift. It was a silver case with a massive bracelet, which had six precious large stones. On each of them there were letters that formed the word Moscow. The ballerina also thanked the generous fans in the second act, where the beautiful Esmeralda thinks of her beloved Phoebe and writes his initials on the wall, clearly scribbling “Moscow” in Russian letters. This amazing evening events did not end there. Enthusiastic fans decided to take the ballet dancer's carriage on themselves, freeing the horses. For this frivolous act, the editor of Moscow Gazette has been dismissed from his post. Thus, this premiere left an indelible mark on the lives of many art lovers.
• To date, the full version of the play is staged only in Russia, some countries of Eastern Europe and New Jersey (USA), in other countries individual numbers are successfully performed.
• The premiere of the ballet took place in the Royal (London) Theater of Her Majesty in March 1844 and was great. This was the second successful ballet Perrault and Pugni, the first - "Ondine".
• In 1982, UNESCO approved the proposal of Peter Gusev, director of the 1949 version, to approve World Dance Day. This holiday is celebrated on April 29th.
• Italian Virginia Zucchi, who performed the role of Esmeralda in the 1886 production, conquered the great K.S. Stanislavsky his game. Subsequently, he called her the best mimic actress and noted the extraordinary acting skills.
• The long-awaited TV version of the ballet appeared in the editorial board of Boyarchikov.
• Another joint work of Pugni and Perrot is the ballet Ondine, which also later became quite popular.
• The creative heritage of Pugni includes 321 ballets. This was largely due to his service. In 1851, Puni received an invitation to St. Petersburg to compose ballet music for the imperial theaters. Here he met and began to work closely with Marius Petipa.
• Roman Hugo became the basis for other ballets. In 1902, A. Gorsky presented the play "The daughter of Gudula" by composer A. Simon on the Moscow stage. Already in 1965, Roland Petit staged his ballet with Maurice Jarre, on the same plot. In addition, based on the novel Hugo A. Dargomyzhsky at the same time created his opera Esmeralda.
• It is noteworthy that the play Esmeralda is Perro's only work that has reached our days in the choreography of the author himself, albeit with minor edits by Marius Petipa.

History of creation

In 1840, Caesar Pugni received an interesting proposal to compose music for a ballet based on Victor Hugo’s recently published Notre Dame de Paris. The libretto was created by J. Perrot, who at that time became famous as one of the most famous choreographers.

Of course, the original source has undergone changes, and the main line of opposition of Quasimodo and Phoebe de Châtereau was smoothed out. The theme of Esmeralda’s mother is completely absent from the ballet. Despite all the changes, the principles of choreographic expressiveness were defined by the romantic poetics of the author of the novel.

Productions

The ballet premiere was successfully held on March 9, 1844 in London. The leading roles were performed by famous dancers of that time. In the role of Esmeralda acted K. Grisy, Phoebe de Châtereau - A. Saint-Leon, and Gringoire - J. Perrot himself. In 1844, the public of St. Petersburg was able to evaluate the work of Pugni. The main part in this performance was performed by Fanny Elsler.

In 1850, the production took place in Moscow. The premiere at the Moscow Bolshoi Theater created a real sensation with the public. It was decided to leave the performance for several years in the repertoire.

In 1886, the ballet returned to St. Petersburg, only now in the editorial office of the "first Russian Phoebus" Marius Petipa, who had become the main choreographer by this time. Virginia Zucchi sang Esmeralda's part.

Another edition of the play appeared in 1935 in Russia, when the Soviet choreographer Agrippina Vaganova presented her version of the ballet.

In 1950, the ballet was revived again, thanks to the composer Gliere, who re-orchestrated the Pune's score and added the music of Sergei Vasilenko. Libretto was written by V. Burmeister and V. Tikhomirov.

Ballet returned to the Bolshoi Theater in 2009, thanks to the efforts of choreographer Yuri Burlaka and choreographer Vasily Medvedev. In their work, they tried to restore the image of a great historical ballet. Burlaki and Medvedev tried to keep the choreography of Perrot, Marius Petipa, but also made their own changes.

Unlike many other works, the ballet Esmeralda has a happy stage fate, it has been staged in various theaters many times and has always had incredible success.

Watch the ballet "Esmeralda":

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