Les Deux Pigeons (ballet)
Les Deux Pigeons | |
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Paris Opéra |
Les Deux Pigeons is a ballet originally choreographed in two acts by
Frederick Ashton later created a new ballet to Messager's music under the title The Two Pigeons.
Background
The score is dedicated to
Messager introduced the ballet to London in 1906, with choreography by François Ambroisiny and a shortened score by Messager himself, who also conducted.[2] He used this shortened version when the piece was revived at the Paris Opéra in 1912,[3] and it was published as a final version. A one-act version was choreographed by Albert Aveline at the Opéra in 1919 and it was not until 1942 that the role of Pépio was finally danced by a man.
The discovery of the shortened score used at Covent Garden prompted Ashton to make his own version of the ballet, set in Paris at the time of the music's composition. As the 1912 version didn't provide a return to the opening scene at the end, John Lanchbery constructed a closing reconciliation scene from earlier music and a passage from Messager's operetta Véronique, as well as revising the orchestration in favour of a richer sound.
Ashton's version in two acts was premiered on 14 February 1961 at the
The plot
In the original scenario, set in 18th-century
Ashton's version of the ballet is set in Paris at the time of the music's composition with anonymous leading roles (Young Man and Young Girl). At the start, a French painter is revealed trying to paint a restless model, his lover, who is sitting on an ornate cast-iron chair. The session is interrupted by the entry of the model's friends and his responsiveness to other female company underlines his restless spirit. A troupe of gypsies that he sees through the garret window, misunderstanding a gesture of his, now crowd in and a quarrel develops over possession of the chair between the model and a hot-blooded Carmen with whom the painter is flirting. Perceiving that they are not welcome, the gypsy leader leaves the studio and the painter dashes off to join them, bewitched by their unfamiliar and seemingly exotic lifestyle. However, his intrusion into their community is resented and he is thrown out of the encampment. Returning to the lover he had left behind, they are reconciled and sit together on the ornate chair that has dominated the room.[5]
Two live pigeons are used to represent the lovers; they have a theme of their own in the music. Seen together during the first act, while the artist and his lover dance together, the young man's dissatisfaction and temporary desertion of the girl are represented by one pigeon flying alone off stage before the interval. The painter's return in the next act is prompted by a pigeon coming to land on his shoulder. When the lovers are reunited both pigeons perch above them on the chair.
Premiere cast list:[1]
- Gourouli – Rosita Mauri
- Pépio – Marie Sanlaville
- Gertrude – Mlle Montaubry
- Djali – Mlle Hirsch
- Reine des Tziganes – Mlle Monnier
- Zarifa – M. Pluque
- Franca-Trippa – M. de Soria
- Un tzigane – Louis Mérante
- Le capitaine – M. Ajas
- Un serviteur – M. Ponçot
Recordings
In 1991 at the Brangwyn Hall, Swansea, the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera conducted by Richard Bonynge were recorded by Decca in Messager's 1906 score.[6] John Lanchbery recorded his version of the ballet music for EMI in 1984 with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.
A suite of movements from the ballet (Entrée des tziganes, Scène et pas de deux des pigeons, Thème et variations, Danse hongroise, Finale) has been recorded several times, for example by the Orchestre du
References
- ^ Les Annales du Théâtre et de la Musique, 12eme édition, 1886. G Charpentier et Cie, Paris, 1887.
- ^ a b Vaughan D. Frederick Ashton and his Ballets. A & C Black Ltd, London, 1977.
- ^ Le Ménéstrel Musique et Théatres 4228 – 6 Avril 1912. Review by Arthur Pougin for 30 March 1912.
- ^ Canyameres, Ferran; Iglésies, Josep (15 December 1971). "La Dansarina Roseta Mauri: (1850-1923) Volum II". Ferran Canyameres i Casamada.
- ^ hotcappuccino (17 May 2010). "classic ballet The Two pigeons - Yuhui Choe & Kenta Kura". Youtube.com. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
- ^ Stuart, Philip. "Decca Classical, 1929-2009"]. Centre for the History and Analysis of Recorded Music, July 2009, accessed 20 December 2022.
- ^ Beulah24 (27 February 2011). "Messager Les Deux Pigeons Orchestra of the Opéra-Comique, Paris conductor Richard Blareau". Youtube.com. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
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: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "International Barre Teacher Training and Instructor Certification". Online Barre Certification and Teacher Training. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
External links
- Media related to Les Deux Pigeons (ballet) at Wikimedia Commons