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Music: Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Libretto by Yuri Grigorovich after scenario by Vladimir Begichev and Vasily Geltser
Choreography: Yuri Grigorovich
Including scenes in choreography by Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov and Alexander Gorsky
Designer: Simon Virsaladze
Music Director: Pavel SOROKIN
Lighting Designer: Mikhail Sokolov
Artistic Director of The Bolshoi Ballet: Makhar Vaziev
About the performance
Swan Lake, the first Tchaikovsky’s ballet, was commissioned by the Bolshoi Theatre. Here, on the 20th of February (old style) 1877 the world premiere in the staging by Julius Wenzel Reisinger took place, and already in 1880, the next approach to stage it was made by Joseph Hansen.
However, the real and uninterrupted stage life of the score, that led Swan Lake into the circle of masterpieces, started in St Petersburg, just after the composer died prematurely. On the 17th of February 1894, as part of a memorial production in the memory of P.I. Tchaikovsky, which was organized by the directorate of the Imperial Theatres, the second act in the choreography by L. Ivanov was performed.
A year later, on the 15th of January 1895, at the Mariinsky Theatre, the premiere was held in a full and renewed version of the ballet. It was headed by Marius Petipa. The production of dances belonged to him and Ivanov (besides the second act, which already existed, the latter created the whole fourth act and two pieces for the palace ball in the third act). The conductor of the St Petersburg ballet, Riccardo Drigo, prepared a new version of the score in accordance with Petipa’s plan. The composer’s brother, dramaturg and librettist Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky, reworked the anonymous script, written in 1877. Based on circumstantial evidence, he suggested that the original libretto had been written by the manager of the Moscow Imperial Theatres, Vladimir Begichev, and dancer Vasily Geltser.
Traditionally, they are cited as the script writers of Swan Lake. The part of Odette-Odile at the premiere was danced by an Italian ballerina Pierina Legnani and the part of Prince Siegfried by Pavel Gerdt.
In 1901, the ballet returned to the stage of the Bolshoi Theatre. In general, Alexander Gorsky based his production on the version by the Mariinsky Theatre with relatively few changes until that point. For the following twenty years, the ballet master of the Bolshoi Theatre Gorsky would approach Swan Lake three more times, taking it further and further away from the version by Petipa and Ivanov. That version of Swan Lake had a happy ending. Odetta and Siegfried were united and the evil powers were destroyed. In 1922, Gorsky revived the previous version, having included the finds from the 1920 production (the part of the Fool and the dance of masks at the ball).
In 1937, a former student of Gorsky, Asaf Messerer staged anew the fourth act of the ballet. He created the final scene, that has become canonized: Siegfried fought Rothbart and pulled off the evil wizard’s wing. Rothbart died, Odette and her friends were freed from his power. The production by Gorsky-Messerer was performed by Marina Semyonova, Galina Ulanova, Maya Plisetskaya… That version found the final form in 1956, prior to the first tour of the Bolshoi Theatre to London. A new set was created from the sketches by Simon Virsaladze.
In 1969, before another tour to London, Yuri Grigorovich staged his version of Swan Lake. The foundation for the production was a seriously reconsidered dramatic concept. Grigorovich imagined the events of the ballet as reflections of the internal struggles within the soul of Prince Siegfried. The wizard Rothbart became the Evil Genius, the dark alter ego of the protagonist. The scenes by the lake appeared as a world within his dream. In the finale the White Swan, that was embodied by Odette, was reduced to dust and the prince was left alone, surrounded by emptiness. The composition changed in accordance with the new interpretation. The ballet had two acts and the action shifted from the palace to the lake without any intervals. A significant part of the choreography was recreated.
After the dress rehearsal that took place in the summer of 1969, the premiere was postponed. Grigorovich was required to return to the traditional structure of four scenes, a positive outcome and to abolish the theme of the “double” Siegfried and Rothbart. On the 25
th of December, a "corrected" production was shown to the audience. For the coming decades, the ballet master gradually returned the excluded dramatic novelties (except for the finale). In 1996, a radically renewed version was suggested by Vladimir Vasiliev. Since 2001,
Swan Lake has been performed in Grigorovich’s new version, where the ideas he was unable to realize in 1969, are present, including the tragic ending.
*Please note that cast is subject to change.
Act I
Scene 1
In an old German castle, Prince Siegfried’s birthday is being celebrated; today he comes of age. He is congratulated by his mother — the Princess Mother, friends and courtiers. In a majestic ceremony, Siegfried is made a knight. From this day on, duty and valor will be the guiding principles of his life.
The last toasts are pronounced in his honor and young girls of his age try to attract his attention, but Siegfried is overcome by emotions of a different kind. He dreams of a pure and ideal love. The festivities draw to an end and the guests depart, leaving the Prince alone with his thoughts in the gathering dusk. Night falls. Siegfried becomes aware of a shadow at his side, as if some mysterious force were beckoning to him. It is the Evil Genius — or Fate itself — who has come to reveal some disturbing secrets to the Prince. Submitting to the powerful pull of his invisible companion’s presence and filled with anxious foreboding, Siegfried succumbs to the ideal world of his dreams...
Scene 2
Lured by the Evil Genius, Siegfried finds himself on the banks of a mysterious lake. In the shimmering patches of moonlight on the water, visions of bewitched swan maidens rise up before him. Siegfried catches sight of Odette, the most beautiful of the maidens. He is spellbound, deeply struck by her beauty. At long last, he has found his romantic ideal of love. He swears to Odette that he will love her forever and be faithful to her.
Act II
Scene 3
Prospective brides-to-be are arriving at the Princess Mother’s castle. The Prince must choose one of them to be his wife. But Siegfried can think of nothing but Odette and his meeting with her. He dances in an offhand manner with the noble-born maidens. Not one of them can compare with his ideal.
Suddenly, a mysterious knight arrives at the ball, accompanied by a ravishingly beautiful young girl and a suite of black swans. It is the Evil Genius and Odile, Odette’s double. Struck by their resemblance, Siegfried hurries towards Odile. The Evil Genius is putting the Prince’s sentiments to the test. Siegfried is enchanted by the perfidious Odile, who manages to disarm him of all his doubts. He announces Odile to be his chosen bride.
At this very moment, the throne room is plunged into darkness, and a vision of the beautiful Odette appears before the assembled company. Siegfried realizes that he has become a plaything in the hands of Fate. Hoping to atone for his betrayal, he rushes in despair after the receding image of the white swan.
Scene 4
Night falls. A deep gloom hangs over the lake. Odette brings the tragic news: the Prince has broken his vow of faithfulness to her. Siegfried’s conscience is deeply troubled; he hurries towards Odette, begging for her forgiveness. Odette forgives the youth, but she is no longer mistress of her own fate.
The Evil Genius summons up a storm which disperses and plays havoc with the heroes of our tale, making it impossible for them to unite. Made weak by his single combat with Fate, Siegfried tries in vain to hold on to the vanishing image of Odette. As dawn breaks, he finds himself alone on the empty banks of the lake of his dreams.
Pavel Sorokin
Pavel Sorokin graduated from the Central Music School in 1980 and entered the Moscow Conservatoire (the piano section, Lev Naumov's class). At the same time, he started to study conducting in Yuri Simonov's class. In 1983, he joined the Bolshoi Theatre as ballet accompanist
In 1987-1989, he studied conducting at the Paris Conservatoire in Jean-Sebastian Berrault's class. In the summer of 1989, he took part in the Tanglewood Festival with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
At the end of his studies in Paris, having been given an excellent certificate, he joined the Bolshoi Theatre as conductor. At the Bolshoi Theatre as conductor he has mounted the operatic production of Tchaikovsky's Iolanta (1997), ballet productions of Prokofiev's Prodigal Son and Stravinsky's Petrushka (1991), Adolphe Adam's Le Corsaire (1992, 1994), Lovenskjold's La Sylphide (1994), Balda to music by Shostakovich (1999), Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake (2001), Arif Melikov's A Legend of Love (2002 and 2014), Glazunov’s Raymonda (2003), Shostakovich's The Bright Stream (2003) and Bolt (2005), Carmen Suite to music by Bizet and Shchedrin (2005), Asafiev's The Flames of Paris (2008), Dream of Dream to music by Rachmaninov (2012), Stravinsky's Apollon Musagète (2012), Jewels to music by Faure, Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky (2012), Classical Symphony to music by Prokofiev (2012), La Bayadere by Minkus (2013), Onegin to music by Tchaikovsky (2013), Lady of the Camellias to music by Chopin (2014), Don Quixote by Minkus (2016), Anyuta to music by V.Gavrilin (2022) and The Sleeping Beauty (2024)
He was assistant to Mstislav Rostropovich on the 1996 production of Khovanshchina. The conductor's repertoire includes the following, among others, operas Ivan Susanin, The Oprichnik, The Maid of Orleans, Eugene Onegin, The Queen of Spades, Prince Igor, The Tsar’s Bride, Mozart and Salieri, The Golden Cockerel, Khovanshchina, Boris Godunov, Francesca da Rimini, Betrothal in a Monastery, The Gambler, War and Peace, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, La Traviata, Un Ballo in Maschera, Macbeth, Nabucco, Carmen; ballets Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, Spartacus, The Golden Age, Giselle, Chopiniana, Schnittke's Sketches, as well as symphonic works.
From 2000-2002, Pavel Sorokin was chief conductor of the Radio and Television State Symphony Orchestra.
From 2003-2007, he was chief conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of Russia.
In 2007-2022, guest conductor at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. Participated in the Tanglewood Music Festival, held by the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO).
His discography includes recordings of the works by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and Grieg with the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Moscow State Philharmonic, and the Radio and Television State Symphony Orchestra. He is a recipient of the Paradise Award by the Novosibirsk Branch of the Union of Theatre Workers of the Russian Federation (2022) and Saint Petersburg Government Art and Culture Prize (2024).
The Bolshoi Ballet
The internationally renowned Bolshoi Ballet is among the oldest and worldwide acclaimed ballet classical companies. The first ballets to be produced were by French and Italian ballet masters such as Filippo Beccari, the Morelli brothers and Jean Lamiral. Before long, however, young Russian choreographers such as Adam Glushkovsky took over, concentrating on ballets with Russian themes. From 1820-1830 the company developed in the French tradition under the influence of Felicite-Virginie Hullin-Sor and Fanny Elssler who familiarised the Moscow public with works of Jules Perrot and other masterpieces of romantic ballet.
By mid-19th century, Bolshoi Ballet developed its own, so-called Moscow Style, with the emphasis on acting. Marius Petipa's Don Quixote that received its premiere in Moscow on 26 December 1869 became a signature production of the Moscow Company, a work that, infringing all Imperial Theatres traditions, was transferred from Moscow to Petersburg, not the other way around.
Today the chef-d’oeuvres of classical ballet, such as Giselle, La Sylphide, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, La Bayadère, Don Quixote, Raymonda, Le Corsaire, Coppélia, as well as 20th century’s masterpieces by Yuri Grigorovich, Mikhail Fokine, George Balanchine, Pierre Lacotte, John Neumeier, Alberto Alonso occupy a leading place in the Bolshoi Ballet repertoire.
The Bolshoi has also produced a number of specially commissioned ballets, including works by Yuri Possokhov, Vyacheslav Samodurov, Edward Clug among others.
Nowadays Bolshoi dancers, Svetlana Zakharova, Ekaterina Krysanova, Anna Nikulina, Anastasia Stashkevich, Evgenia Obraztsova, Alyona Kovalyova, Eleonora Sevenard, Elizaveta Kokoreva, Yulia Stepanova, Eva Sergeyenkova, Vladislav Lantratov, Artem Ovcharenko, Semyon Chudin, Vyacheslav Lopatin, Denis Rodkin, Denis Savin, Artemy Belyakov, Igor Tsvirko, Egor Gerashchenko, Dmitri Smilevsky and others ensure that the Bolshoi's standards are held as high as ever.
Makhar Vaziev, former ballet director of the Mariinsky Theatre and the Teatro alla Scala, was appointed Ballet Director of the Bolshoi in 2016.
Beijing Symphony Orchestra
The Beijing Symphony Orchestra was founded in October 1977. In the 1990s, the Beijing Symphony Orchestra underwent a significant reform and reorganization under the leadership of artistic director TAN Lihua. The orchestra has held annual musical events for over ten years, with 90-100 concerts given each year. Starting with the classics, the orchestra has performed nearly 1,000 musical works, including operatic music, symphonic music, chamber music and contemporary music. It has cooperated with world-renowned maestros, instrumentalists and famous international orchestras to expand its repertoire. The Forbidden City Concert Hall, situated in the imperial garden, belongs to the Beijing Symphony Orchestra.
The orchestra has worked with many famous orchestras and top musicians, such as the Berliner Philharmoniker, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; famous virtuosos include maestro Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Yevgeny Svetlanov, Christoph Eschenbach, Lawrence Foster, Thomas Sandrine, Andrew Davis, Leif Segerstam and Pavel Kogan; piano virtuosos include Lazar Berman, JustusFrantz , Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Tzimon Barto; violin virtuosos Vadim Repin, Midori Gotō, Lin Cho-Liang, Christophe Barratier and Sergey Krylov; cello virtuosos include Mischa Maisky, Lloyd Webber and Corona Crainey; viola virtuoso Yuri Bashmet; trumpeter Garber Portotzky; singers José Carreras and Jennifer Larmore.
Maestro Eschenbach said, “The Beijing Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra with high professional qualities. Their extremely strong musical apprehensiveness and performance style have impressed me deeply." Over the past decades, Beijing Symphony Orchestra made many achievements, one of which is its first international commercial tour in 2001. By far, the orchestra has given commercial performances worldwide for years.
The Beijing Symphony Orchestra shows special preference to contemporary Chinese music compositions. It has planned, participated in, commissioned and premiered new works by most of the contemporary Chinese composers, and it has premiered nearly 200 works. Since 2007, the orchestra has released eight record albums globally with EMI Records, a world-famous music label founded over a century ago.
The Beijing Symphony Orchestra has taken part in many large-scale international cultural exchange activities, and made several visits to Germany, the UK, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Czech, Poland, Croatia, Hungary, Turkey, Slovenia, Serbia, South Korea, the USA, Canada and Montenegro. In 2001-2017, the orchestra toured Europe for eight times and won high praise from the European critics. In 2013, the orchestra made its debut in America during a two-week tour to Mexico and the USA. The Washington Post gave it a banner headline: “The Beijing Symphony Orchestra starts an Upsurge of Classical.” In February 2017, the orchestra gave a classic symphony concert at the Kennedy Center, receiving high acclaim from the audiences. It gave virtuoso performances at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto and National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Canada, kicking off celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the founding of Canada. The joint performance given by the Beijing Symphony Orchestra, Ottawa Symphony Orchestra and Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra was the first one to be given by the three orchestras together after the founding of Canada, which is of great historical significance. In September the same year, Beijing held the second 16+1 Summit of China and CEE Capitals Mayors in Podgorica, Montenegro as well as the “Beijing Day” Event in Belgrade, Serbia. Deputy Party Secretary and Acting Mayor of Beijing CHEN Jining attended the activities with a government delegation. The Beijing Symphony Orchestra gave a symphony concert under the theme, “Tour of Friendship” at the Podgorica National Theatre and Belgrade Sava Central Theatre respectively. The orchestra signed a memorandum of understanding with the Montenegro Symphony Orchestra and Serbia Belgrade Symphony Orchestra, entering into a specified relationship with them. Also, a symphony orchestra league was formed by Beijing with its international sister cities, enriching the connotations of the second 16+1 Summit of China and CEE Capitals Mayors and “Beijing Day” Event in Belgrade, Serbia, and achieving substantial results in cooperation.
In 1994, the Beijing Symphony Orchestra started devoting itself to popularizing symphonic music on a large scale in military camps, factories and mines, schools and communities in Beijing as well as Chinese concert halls and institutions of higher education. Over the past 20 years, the orchestra has held nearly 1,000 concerts for symphony popularization for millions of spectators of different professions and ages in school canteens and halls, factories and communities, as well as at opera houses and concert halls in Beijing, Shanghai and other major cities. In the 2014 season, it gave the opening concert on campus. In 2016, it initiated an activity titled, “Capital Civic Hall” and performed “symphonic music for common people”, introducing classical music into capital citizens’ daily life.
As the 2019 season is now on, all members of the Beijing Symphony Orchestra are writing a more brilliant artistic chapter with full passion in high spirits.
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*The cast, programme, or other performance details are subject to change and shall be based on the live performance. In the event of major adjustments - such as changes to the performance date or lead cast - please refer to the official announcements issued by the NCPA and follow the relevant procedures as instructed.
*The NCPA opens 90 minutes before performances, and 60 minutes before art education lectures and similar events. Auditorium entry begins 45 minutes before performances. For all performances and events, the Northern entrance serves as the sole public entrance. Please ensure that ticket scanning and security screening are completed prior to entry, and allow sufficient time to avoid delays.
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*All attendees are requested to observe proper performance etiquette. Please keep quiet and remain seated throughout the entire performance. Mobile phones should be turned off or set to silent mode, and calls should not be made in the auditorium. Photography, audio, or video recording of the performance is strictly prohibited without prior permission. The use of flashlights, including phone flashlights, is not allowed.
*After the performance, please exit the auditoriums in an orderly manner. Loitering is discouraged.
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