Tchaikovsky Romeo
Ballet – Classic Pieces That You Have To See
The Nutcracker is a much-loved ballet that is often performed at Christmas-time, as the story is set at Christmas. With beautiful music by Tchaikovsky and a dream-like quality, The Nutcracker rates as one of the all-time favorite ballets. Versions have been staged by such greats as Rudolph Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov but the influential Marius Pepita choreographed the first version of the ballet, in December 1892.
Swan Lake is another ballet that uses the melodic music of Tchaikovsky. The ballet premiered in February 1877 at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow but the definitive version is perhaps the interpretation staged by Marius Pepita and Lev Ivanov in St Petersburg in January 1895. The plot sees Prince Siegfried meeting and falling in love with beautiful princess Odette who has been turned into a swan by an evil magician. She is only allowed into her human form at night and the love of a virgin prince is only able to break the spell. The play ends in tragedy with both characters dying but the two are beautifully reunited in the afterlife.
Tchaikovsky is considered to be the master composer for ballets and his music is the inspiration for the ballet The Sleeping Beauty. The ballet, which is based on the well-known fairytale of the same name premiered in 1892 in St Petersburg. The great Russian choreographer Marius Pepita choreographed this defining version of this much-loved classic.
The ballet of William Shakespeare’s well-known play about ill-fated lovers, Romeo and Juliet, is set to the music of Sergei Prokofiev. There have been many notable versions of this enduring ballet staged, with some of the most famous interpretations being choreographed by John Cranko and performed by the Stuttgart Ballet in 1962 and also Kenneth MacMillan’s 1965 version for The Royal Ballet.
Copplia is a quirky and comic ballet that had its premiere in Paris at the Theatre Imperial de l’Opera in May 1870. With music by Lo Delibes the story revolves around a young engaged couple called Franz and Swanhilda. Franz falls in love with Copplia a young beauty who sits on her balcony reading all day but never speaking. Swanhilda finds out that Copplia is just a doll made by an eccentric toymaker and disguises herself as Copplia with the aim of winning back the love of her fiance.
The comic ballet Cinderella premiered at the Bolshoi Theatre in November 1945 with choreography by Rostislav Zakharov. The music for Cinderella is by Sergei Prokofiev and the plotline follows the fairy story version of the orphan Cinderella, her unkind stepmother and the comical ugly sisters.
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Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture (1)
