I. Vaganova

Materials Relating to M. Petipa's Ballets

Among the valuable materials in music holdings, it is necessary to mention A.K. Glazunov's outlines, scores and claviers to M.  Petipa's ballets «Raymonda» (1896, 1897), «Les Ruses D'Amour, Or The Trial Of Damis» (1898) and «The Seasons» (1900, 1923). The score of the Entrance of the Swans from the second act of the «Swan Lake» have survived as well. Also notable is P. Tchaikovsky's score of the panorama of the ballet «The Sleeping Beauty» (Arrangement for the orchestra of folk instruments, autographed by V. Savinsky).

The pictorial materials include designs of costumes by theater artists Aleksandr Shervashidze (1867 - 1968) and Tatyana Bruni (1902 – 2001) to three ballets by M. Petipa. The premiere of the fantastic ballet «The Talisman» was held in 1889. A. Shervashidze's sketches date back to 1909, when M. Petipa had already left the service, but many of his ballets did not quit the stage of the Mariinsky Theater for a long time. Eight works have been survived from the artist's collection. The most interesting among them is the design of the costume for M. Kshesinskaya who danced the party of Ella.

The second ballet revived by Petipa for the Imperial Bolshoi Theatre (called the Mariinsky Theatre since 1860) after his arrival in Russia was «Satanilla, or Love and Hell» by Joseph Mazilier. It was first performed in 1848 in St. Petersburg. The ballet «Don Quixote» based on the novel «Don Quixote de la Mancha» by Miguel de Cervantes, was premiered by the Bolshoi Ballet in 1869 at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. The archive of the prima ballerina of the Kirov Ballet (the name of the Mariinsky Theatre from 1935 to 1992) Natalia Dudinskaya and her husband principal dancer and ballet master Konstantin Sergeyev includes seven Tatyana Bruni's designs of costumes for these ballets.

Among remarkable printed materials is a poster of the Gala Evening marking the 100th anniversary of the St. Petersburg Bolshoi Theater, which was celebrated in 1883. After the performance of the national anthem of the Russian Empire «God Save the Tsar!» and scenes «O, time!» from the opera «Orpheus», there was shown a fantastic ballet «Midsummer Night's Dream» by M. Petipa.

Also noteworthy are the programmes of ballets: «Zoraia, a Moor in Spain» (1883), «Coppelia» (1884), «La femme capricieuse (Wayward Wife)» (1885), and «Esmeralda» (1886). The ballet «Zoraia» was originally choreographed by Marius Petipa. Other ballets belonged to other choreographers and were revivals of the ballet master M. Petipa, this fact was mentioned strictly in the programme of each performance.

Petipa created not only ballets, but also dances in operas: «Caucasian Captive» (1883), «Nero» (1884), «Fenella & raquo; (1887). In the opera «The King of Lahore» (1881), Petipa staged not only dances, but also a fantastic ballet in the third act.