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Tchaikovsky's Ballets: Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker
Tchaikovsky's Ballets combines a detailed and thorough analysis of the music of Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and Nutcracker with descriptions of the first productions of these works in Imperial Russia. A background chapter on the ballet audience, the collaboration of composer and balletmaster,
and Moscow of the 1860's leads into an account of the first production of Swan Lake in 1877. A discussion of theater reforms initiated by the Director of the Imperial Theaters prepares the reader for a study of the still-famous 1890 St. Petersburg production of Sleeping Beauty . Wiley then explains
how the Nutcracker , produced just two years after Sleeping Beauty , was seen in a much less favorable light than it is now. Separate chapters are devoted to the music of each ballet and translations of published libretti, choreographer's instructions to the composer, and the balletmaster's plans for
Sleeping Beauty and the Nutcracker are reproduced in appendices.
and Moscow of the 1860's leads into an account of the first production of Swan Lake in 1877. A discussion of theater reforms initiated by the Director of the Imperial Theaters prepares the reader for a study of the still-famous 1890 St. Petersburg production of Sleeping Beauty . Wiley then explains
how the Nutcracker , produced just two years after Sleeping Beauty , was seen in a much less favorable light than it is now. Separate chapters are devoted to the music of each ballet and translations of published libretti, choreographer's instructions to the composer, and the balletmaster's plans for
Sleeping Beauty and the Nutcracker are reproduced in appendices.
- GenresMusic
444 pages, Hardcover
First published March 7, 1985
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 7, 2021
Wiley's book about Tchaikovsky's ballets is a treasure of historical research, but it has an unusual structure.We need to get some time to get through some remarks about La Bayadere etc before this book is getting interesting.
Don't miss the libretto section in the ending of the book!
If you want to know about the original Swan Lake 1877 production, you can get to know a lot about the story, the dancers and certain circumstances, based on newspaper articles and holographs. So, we do actually a lot about this very first Swan Lake, in which Odette was supposed to be a swan maiden fairy instead of the enchanted princess as in the 1895 revival. Of course, we shouldn't restage the premiere (which was messing around with T. score), but it could be another attempt apart from the current trend with dreams and illusions. We get also some insights in Tchaikovsky's music, dealing with patterns and tonality characterization. However, Wiley's book is not so much helpful with speculating about sources and authorship of the libretto. It was very interesting for me to get to know about the fairy tale The stolen veil, and also about the opera Le lac des fees and the ballet La Fille du Danube (Wiley does not include the plot, so we might look it up by ourselves)- what a pity, that so many romantic works are lost! Swan Lake is a deeply romantic ballet, full of love and (dark) passion, themes such as fun vs duty, freedom vs obligation (that's my impression. No one else as the perfectly romantic Peter could have done it, in my opinion).
The background of Sleeping Beauty and the Nutcracker is also interesting, but for me, the Swan Lake mystery is the most fascinating!
Wiley's book is not easy to read, but it is very interesting for everyone who loves ballet history!
Don't miss the libretto section in the ending of the book!
If you want to know about the original Swan Lake 1877 production, you can get to know a lot about the story, the dancers and certain circumstances, based on newspaper articles and holographs. So, we do actually a lot about this very first Swan Lake, in which Odette was supposed to be a swan maiden fairy instead of the enchanted princess as in the 1895 revival. Of course, we shouldn't restage the premiere (which was messing around with T. score), but it could be another attempt apart from the current trend with dreams and illusions. We get also some insights in Tchaikovsky's music, dealing with patterns and tonality characterization. However, Wiley's book is not so much helpful with speculating about sources and authorship of the libretto. It was very interesting for me to get to know about the fairy tale The stolen veil, and also about the opera Le lac des fees and the ballet La Fille du Danube (Wiley does not include the plot, so we might look it up by ourselves)- what a pity, that so many romantic works are lost! Swan Lake is a deeply romantic ballet, full of love and (dark) passion, themes such as fun vs duty, freedom vs obligation (that's my impression. No one else as the perfectly romantic Peter could have done it, in my opinion).
The background of Sleeping Beauty and the Nutcracker is also interesting, but for me, the Swan Lake mystery is the most fascinating!
Wiley's book is not easy to read, but it is very interesting for everyone who loves ballet history!
July 22, 2015
I must confess that I habitually finish every book I start, but not this one. The book was a recording on my digital recorder and the reader included not only the text of the book but the footnotes as he read. It just got way too tedious for me. I did learn some good and disappointing things about Tchaikovsky.
July 15, 2013
Essential stuff to anyone interested in ballet, music and theatre.
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April 25, 2015good book
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews