Tickets for the ballet “Esmeralda. Esmeralda. Musical Theater named after. K.S. Stanislavsky and Vl.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko Recording of Petipa's production

The ballet is based on Hugo's novel Notre Dame, but the main emphasis here is on Esmeralda - her story, her feelings, her life and death. However, Notre Dame is also present here - as scenery. Excellent solutions for various fragments of architecture and interior design. I really liked the view of Paris from the height of the Cathedral, the mosaics and gargoyles.

The story begins with the kidnapping of little Esmralda by gypsies from her mother. However, it is difficult to call it a kidnapping - the gypsies considered Gudula dead, so they took the girl so that the baby would not die. How precisely, how piercingly the pain of a mother who has lost her child is played when Gudula wakes up and realizes that her daughter is not there. Touches me to tears.

Time passes, Esmeralda grows up and one “beautiful” evening meets Phoebus. And this scene is simply charming: impressive, self-confident (I would even say arrogant) Phoebus and a gentle, fragile girl who for the first time experienced tremulous feelings for a man. How surprisingly and beautifully Esmeralda’s shyness at first is shown, timidity, naivety, indecisiveness, excitement and fear of what suddenly happened to her - a full range of feelings from confusion to falling in love. The transformation of a cheerful, mischievous and carefree gypsy into a girl in love occurs before the eyes of the viewer. I would like to directly insert a phrase from a French musical (not Notre Dame, really): Et voilà qu"elle aime...

Against its background, Fleur-de-lis looks contrasting. How different their parts are: in every movement one can see a self-confident girl who knows her status and her charm, knows how to please men and understands how to behave with them, methodically and flirtatiously attracting Phoebus to the altar. No, she didn’t seduce him - she just knew that he would be with her. And, despite the charm of the young girl, Fleur-de-Lys is a clear picture of a young lady brought up according to all the rules of etiquette of the time. She and Phoebus really suit each other - they're birds of a feather. If Esmeralda is touching in her coquetry, then Fleur-de-Lys is cutesy. The most amazing thing in all is that the character of each, tonality and individual characteristics of nature are shown exclusively with the help of plastic. She is so expressive that, it seems, even without knowing the novel, you can immediately understand what’s what.

Excellent games from all of them. I still remember with bated breath how they literally flew on stage. My thoughts involuntarily flashed: how much training do you have to do to jump like that! Especially when the jumps are synchronized. I would especially like to note the costumes: bright, elegant, colorful, creating a special atmosphere and color. May fans of “Swan Lake” forgive me, but watching the pas de deux of comrades in white robes for more than two hours is mortal melancholy, even though it is a “classic” classic. There are so many emotions in every detail, the unimaginable harmony of color, sound and movement is so breathtaking that you don’t notice how almost three hours of time fly by (the ballet runs for about 2.50, including 2 intermissions). The crowd scenes in the square were reminiscent of the ballet “Don Quixote” in its color and energy.

Here Quasimodo and Frollo wander somewhere on the periphery, playing a decisive role only at certain moments. All attention is paid to her - the beautiful Esmeralda. Don't laugh, she's really beautiful! You must be able to show this without words, but only through dance, all states of the soul. Here she is excited, graceful, airy with Phoebus, sensual, frank. But in prison, when Frollo comes to her to beg for love, she is already decisive, strong-willed and, I’m not afraid of this word, a free nature. Great prison scene! How she crawled away from Frollo, dodged his advances - to the point of trembling, so naturally. I still don’t understand how this could be woven into the ballet, but it’s possible!

The audience shouted "bravo!" and the completion of each picture was greeted with thunderous applause. When the artists took their bow, the audience applauded. And if Quasimodo was given an ovation as the people's avenger (do they still remember how the novel ended?), then when Esmeralda appeared, the hall simply roared and hummed with overwhelming feelings. She truly was amazing! So much so that I could stand in the gallery for three hours without taking my eyes off the stage (yes, I got an entrance ticket, standing, without a seat, because it was a premiere and sold out), and there were about 20 of us. It’s not that it was completely impossible to sit down, but From the extreme seats of the balcony, not the entire stage is visible, but this ballet is worth seeing it in its entirety, paying attention to every element.

Three hours of indescribable delight!
Thank you!

Caesar Pugni (1802-1870)

Libretto by Jules Perrault
Choreography by Marius Petipa
Production and new
choreographic edition
Yuri Burlaki

“Esmeralda” is a ballet written according to the canons of the romantic theater of the mid-19th century. In the early 1840s, Pugni received a commission to score a ballet based on Victor Hugo's famous novel Notre-Dame de Paris. The libretto was written by one of the most famous choreographers of the time, Jules Joseph Perrault. In the libretto and his production of Esmeralda, Perrault retained the storyline of the original source, but the social theme, so clearly expressed in Hugo, was translated into a personal drama in the ballet.

Esmeralda premiered on March 9, 1844 at the Theater Royal in London. Four years later, the ballet was staged on the stage of the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theater, two years later - in Moscow, and in 1856 - in Paris. In 1886, M. Petipa staged a new, 4-act production of the ballet with the addition of music by Riccardo Drigo. In 1935, the next version of the ballet, in three acts, nine scenes, was staged on the same stage by A. Vaganova, who attracted composer R. Gliere to work on “Esmeralda”. This version of the ballet was later performed on many other stages. Throughout the 20th century, “Esmeralda” was performed on many stages in Europe, staged by different choreographers.

Costume designer– Natalya Zemalindinova (Rostov-on-Don),

Assistant choreographer– Honored Artist of Russia Yuliana Malkhasyants (Moscow).

The Spanish dance in scene 2 of Act I, Adagio, Allegro, variation of Fleur-de-lis, coda in the Grand pas des corbeilles, pantomime of the third and fifth scenes were reconstructed by candidate of art history A. Galkin.
Variation of Esmeralda's friends from scene 1 of Act I, Adagio from scene 5 of Act III, choreographed by People's Artist of Russia Yu. Klevtsov.

Original sketches of I. Vsevolozhsky's costumes for the ballet "Esmeralda" were provided by the St. Petersburg Museum of Theater and Musical Art.

The original score by C. Pugni was restored from archival materials of the Library of the Conservatory of San Pietro a Maiella in Naples.
The original score by C. Pugni was restored by A. Troitsky.

Music of individual numbers by R. Drigo, A. Simon and fragments of the orchestral edition by R. Gliere.

ESMERALDA, gypsy
GRINGOIRE, poor poet
PHEBE DE CHATAUPERE, Captain of the Royal Fusiliers
CLAUDE FROLLO, Archdeacon of Notre Dame Cathedral
QUASIMODO, bell ringer of Notre Dame Cathedral
FLEUR-DE-LIS, bride of Phoebe
ALOISE DE GONDELORIER, mother of Fleur-de-Lys
DIANA, friend of Fleur-de-lis
BERANGE, friend of Fleur-de-Lys
CLOPIN TRULFOU, leader of a gang of vagabonds
VIGERA, Clopin's friend
Waltz of Old Paris (solo)
ESMERALDA'S FRIENDS
JOKES
JOKERS
CRIPPLES
JUDGE
EXECUTIONER
TRUMPETERS
LACKEYS
GUESTS at the Fleur-de-lis ball, Grand pas des corbeilles (Dance with baskets), Gypsies, Gypsies
GUARDS
NUNS
CHILDREN, PAGES

(Teatralnaya Square, 1)

Ballet in 3 acts
Caesar Pugni
1000-6500 rub.

Performance ESMERALDA

One hundred and fifty-five years ago, in December 1848, defying borders and customs controls, a poor, beautiful gypsy woman snuck into the Russian Empire. First, St. Petersburg fell victim to her charm, and soon Moscow could not resist. Having neither a passport nor citizenship, the young gypsy found a second homeland in Russia, which she has not changed for over a century and a half. All this time she dances in the streets and squares, encouraging herself and the audience by hitting a ringing tambourine, followed everywhere by a goat (which entered the country, by the way, without veterinary control). Despite living in cold regions for such a long time, this gypsy amazes with her youth and beauty. Her name is Esmeralda.

155 years ago, the premiere of Esmeralda, the ballet by Jules Perrot, the last masterpiece of the era of choreographic romanticism, took place on the stage of the St. Petersburg Bolshoi Theater.

The St. Petersburg "Esmeralda" had a truly legendary performing cast, which will forever remain in the annals of ballet art: Fanny Elsler - Esmeralda, Marius Petipa - Phoebus, Jules Perrot - Pierre Gringoire. The success of the performance, which became Perrault’s choreographer’s debut in Russia, is difficult to describe - all performances were sold out. The Literaturnaya Gazeta chronicler stated on January 13, 1849: “Everyone is complaining about the impossibility of getting a ticket for the ballet “Esmeralda”: as soon as you come to the vestibule of the Bolshoi Theater at six or seven o’clock, there is a crowd of footmen there before each performance, who came for tickets and left without with what! Everything is subscribed!

What was it that attracted St. Petersburg residents so much to the new performance? Of course, Jules Perrault’s talented choreographic interpretation of Victor Hugo’s famous novel “Notre Dame de Paris.” Of course, Fanny Elsler - she was the idol of Russian viewers. Of course, the love of St. Petersburg residents for animals also played a role - the goat, merrily running after Esmeralda, always enjoyed special sympathy from the audience. And the Directorate of the Imperial Theaters did not forget the four-legged artist: according to the “Case of feeding a goat purchased for the ballet Esmeralda,” as much as 10 rubles a month were allocated from the treasury for its maintenance (while the monthly salary of the person involved, the “two-legged artist,” was 14.5 rubles).
Conductor

Esmeralda, gypsy


Natalia Osipova
Anastasia Stashkevich

Pierre Gringoire, poor poet
Alexander Voytyuk
Denis Medvedev
Denis Savin

Phoebus de Chateaupert, Captain of the Royal Fusiliers
Alexander Volchkov
Dmitry Gudanov
Artem Ovcharenko
Ruslan Skvortsov

Fleur-de-Lys, Phoebe's bride
Maria Allash
Ekaterina Krysanova
Anna Nikulina

Aloyse de Gondelaurier, her mother
Ekaterina Barykina
Maria Isplatovskaya
Olga Suvorova

Diana, Beranger, friends of Fleur-de-Lys
Chinara Alizade
Victoria Osipova
Anastasia Yatsenko
Elena Andrienko
Maria Vinogradova
Anna Leonova

Albert, Florent, officers, friends of Phoebus
Karim Abdullin
Yuri Baranov
Artem Ovcharenko
Andrey Bolotin
Vadim Kurochkin
Vladislav Lantratov

Esmeralda's friends
Joo Yoon Bae
Maria Vinogradova
Ksenia Kern
Victoria Osipova
Svetlana Pavlova
Maria Prorvich
Anna Tikhomirova
Daria Khokhlova

Claude Frollo, Archdeacon of Notre Dame Cathedral
Ilya Vorontsov
Alexey Loparevich
Alexander Fadeechev

Quasimodo, bell ringer at Notre Dame Cathedral
Egor Simachev
Igor Tsvirko
Gennady Yanin

Clopin Trulfou, leader of a gang of vagabonds
Vitaly Biktimirov
Alexander Vodopetov
Georgy Geraskin

Shrew
Anna Antropova
Irina Zibrova
Yuliana Malkhasyants
Irina Semirechenskaya

Judge
Andrey Sitnikov
Alexander Fadeechev

"Waltz of Old Paris"
Anna Antropova
Anna Balukova
Maria Zharkova
Kristina Karaseva
Alexander Vodopetov
Evgeniy Golovin
Alexey Koryagin
Anton Savichev

Filled with tragic events, the formidable and revolutionary year of 1848 suddenly turned into piercing silence in the auditorium in “Esmeralda” during the performance of plastic monologues of the main characters of the ballet: Esmeralda, an unnaturally beautiful flower among the moral filth of the Parisian bottom; Gringoire, “a poor man and a poet, who cares about him?”; and the ugly Quasimodo, “reproaching fate with a feeling of the deepest despair.”

Quasimodo’s monologue in Esmeralda’s room left me indifferent: “When she leaves, he stops, kneels down on his crooked knees, kisses Esmeralda’s footprints, raises his ugly head to the sky, puts his hand to his heart and, with a feeling of the most bitter despair, seems to reproach fate: Why did she put such a distance between his ugliness and Esmeralda’s beauty?”

The monologue of Pierre Gringoire watching the torture of Esmeralda, superbly performed by Perrault himself, shocked me to the core. “His suffering at the sight of Esmeralda’s torment is unbearable. In the powerlessness of despair, he sobs bitterly with the burning tears of a man... It was hard and scary to look at his grief...” This famous acting scene pushed the boundaries of romantic art, and, in fact, was one of the first “veristic” episodes on the musical theater stage - it echoed the episode of Puccini’s “Tosca”, which appeared several decades later.

And, undoubtedly, the culmination of the performance was the execution of Esmeralda. “Imagine the contrast of the procession of fools and the procession to death; all faces are full of expectation; the colorful dresses of harlequins mix with the shiny weapons of warriors; the dark robes of monks; the blouses of the bourgeois... Fanny Elsler in a coarse wide white shirt with her hair flowing stands in the foreground, surrounded by a crowd. Her pale, emaciated face is in harmony with past suffering and impending death." “Claude Frollo approaches the condemned woman and promises to save her from death if only she agrees to surrender to him. Esmeralda listens to the proposal with horror and indignation, rejects it and points to the sky, where justice and reward await her...”

And after such a powerful emotional chord, the final scene of the ballet seemed absurd and artificial: the healed Phoebus suddenly appeared and saved Esmeralda, and the action ended with a national holiday. However, none of the Russian critics who reviewed the premiere of “Esmeralda” in 1848 wrote about the happy deliverance of the gypsy...

The St. Petersburg "Esmeralda" of 1848 was unexpectedly perceived as almost a revolutionary ballet. “Revolutionary” not in the sense that he called for the barricades (let’s not forget, 1848 was the year of European revolutions). It was a ballet rebellion - a rebellion of a proud individual for the right to remain free. But only individuals rebelled - Esmeralda, Quasimodo, Gringoire.

Their monologues gave birth to bold associations and symbolic generalizations in the minds of the audience. The associations directly led to the tyranny of Nicholas Russia, and the death of an innocent victim of medieval lawlessness was projected onto the notorious acts of the Third Section. The third department, however, did not sleep and zealously erased any political allusions from reviews of “Esmeralda” or simply prohibited articles from publication. This is exactly the fate that befell Tan’s article for St. Petersburg Vedomosti, which the vigilant censor nervously crossed out diagonally with a red pencil. The disgraced review directly and unequivocally spoke about the “screams of an innocent victim”, about the “concealment of the crime”, about the “bold accusation of the innocent”, about the “murderer who handed over a defenseless woman to be sacrificed to the inexorable judges”...

The little gypsy challenging the soulless state machine, whose only weapon is a fanatical belief in higher justice and who wins a moral victory - this theme made Esmeralda a romantic symbol of its time.

Soon, in 1850, “Esmeralda” moved to Moscow: Perrault’s ballet was staged here by Fanny Elsler. To say that Moscow fell in love with Elsler is to say nothing. Moscow idolized Elsler: no other ballerina received such audience recognition. Official balletomanes who overzealously showed signs of attention to the dancer (such as writing poems, driving a ballerina's carriage) lost their jobs and the opportunity for career growth.

Moscow filled Elsler with flowers - according to eyewitnesses, the modest bed in Esmeralda’s room turned into a luxurious bed consisting of more than 300 bouquets. The most famous gift given to the Austrian ballerina - a bracelet strewn with large diamonds and decorated with six stones, whose first letters spelled out the word "Moscow" (malachite, opal, sapphire, calcedony, venus, amethyst) - inspired Elsler to instantly improvise. During the performance, the dancer wrote on the wall of the room not “Phoebus”, but “Moscow” and, falling to her knees, bursting into tears, kissed the inscription that was dear to her. Needless to say, the entire auditorium cried along with Elsler... Such triumphs have never been repeated in the history of ballet.

Epochs, artistic movements, rulers and directors of theaters, choreographers and dancers changed. Esmeralda, this truly cosmopolitan child, kept pace with the times and changed with it.

"Esmeralda" - 1886, revived by the first Russian Phoebus Marius Petipa for the Italian Virginia Zucchi, became the canonical version that all subsequent choreographers were guided by or subverted. The performance underwent changes and alterations, “diversified” and “synchronized”; The social acuity of the characters has decreased. Thus, a motley crowd of beggars and vagabonds, “all the filth of humanity” (as defined by one of the reviews in 1848), was transformed into a homogeneous mass of ballet dancers with fashionable hairstyles; brilliant on the outside, but empty on the inside, Phoebus turned into a “daring officer”, equally gallant towards both Esmeralda and Fleur de Lys. But it was for this production that the dramatic Pas de six was composed to the music of Riccardo Drigo, performed by Esmeralda, Gringoire and four gypsies at the Fleur de Lys ball.

Esmeralda's suffering at the sight of her beloved betrothed to another woman, the bitterness of the confused Gringoire and the ecstatic joy of the gypsies, the melodramatic nature of the situation and the highest technique of classical dance - all this made Pas de six a kind of hit of the ballet, like the “white adagio” in Swan Lake. "Esmeralda" updated by Marius Petipa became the "crown" performance of Matilda Kshesinskaya. However, about how she danced this part, only behind-the-scenes legends have been preserved, telling about the “ugly short” tunics, from the point of view of the director of the Imperial Theaters; a live goat who lived legally in the famous mansion of Matilda Feliksovna; the fake jewelry that adorned the beggar gypsy, and the simple song “As I saw...” performed by the ballerina to the tune of a dramatic variation.

The twentieth century decisively intervened in the fate of the young gypsy, radically changing her fate.

The first who raised his hand to Esmeralda was Alexander Gorsky, who composed the ballet “Gudula’s Daughter” (composer A. Simon) in 1902 at the Moscow Bolshoi Theater. However, it was difficult to call the performance a ballet, especially since the choreographer defined his brainchild as a “mimodrama” (soon renamed by the artists to “past drama”). The idea was noble: to return the dance “Esmeralda” to its literary source, the daughter to the mother, the gallows to her victim. The heroine’s pedigree, abducted in childhood by gypsies, was taken out of choreographic oblivion, and the suffering of Esmeralda’s mother named Gudula was convincingly conveyed (hence the name of the new performance - “Gudula’s Daughter”). Gorsky’s script plan is comparable in thickness to a Victor Hugo novel: the chubby notebook contained pasted-on clippings from the text of the novel (an act unworthy of a true bibliophile, as Gorsky declared himself to be!), outlines of dance scenes and a scrupulous description of props and props.

As a result, the performance resembled a silent film: close-ups of the main characters, large-scale crowd scenes, statuesque characters and minimal dance solutions did not arouse the sympathy of the audience. The ballet's proximity to the "tenth muse" was considered the reason for its failure. Alexander Benois wrote indignantly: “...Gorsky made our marvelous corps de ballet go wild and act like a cinematographer,” and further: “dancing with strange sadism has been replaced by torture and lashes...”.

And who could have imagined that only a few decades later dancing would really be “replaced by torture and lashes”... In 1935, Agrippina Vaganova at the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater edited Perrot-Petipa’s Esmeralda, declaring “the liberation of classical ballet from the nonsense and vulgarity of the barbaric of the past". There was as much sympathy for Esmeralda in Agrippina Yakovlevna as in Gorsky: the poor gypsy was decisively sent to the gallows. However, 13 years later (in the midst of the struggle with the “rootless cosmopolitans”) Vaganova “came to her senses” and gave Esmeralda life. Phoebus, however, did not take part in the rescue of the young dancer: in accordance with the official attitude and ideology of Soviet choreodrama, the officer was presented as a notorious scoundrel, “a rude warrior and a vulgar dandy with the skills of barracks and drunken revelry” (as the program recommended him to the public).

In Moscow, a similar version was created by Vladimir Burmeister, and this performance continues to this day at the Musical Theater named after K.S. Stanislavsky and Vl.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko.

The Paris Opera, which resisted Perrault's ballet throughout the 19th century, became the birthplace of the most avant-garde choreography in history, Esmeralda. Roland Petit's performance can be called minimalist: the four main characters - Esmeralda, Phoebus, Quasimodo, Frollo - carry the entire ballet. And it tells not about touching romantic love, powdered with a veil of sentimentality, but about the cruelty and tragedy of the modern world, whose symbol is Quasimodo. Quasimodo in Petit's play is naive and lonely, ugly and beautiful, endowed with the gift of understanding and deprived of the opportunity to express it.

So, Esmeralda has been wandering around Russia for more than 150 years. During this time, she learned new dances - from the ancient truandaze and operetta cancan to choreographic revelations in the avant-garde style. Her performances were accompanied by music from a variety of composers - from the simple melodies of Cesar Pugni to the electronic music of Maurice Jarre.

Each era, in accordance with the prevailing taste, made amendments to the appearance of the gypsy woman. Esmeralda appeared in the modest attire of a 15th-century Parisian at the premiere in 1848. At the end of the 19th century, her dress, according to the director of the Imperial Theaters, “had become ugly shortened,” however, the then fashionable silhouette could be discerned in the shortened tunics. In the 1930s, the street dancer sported “picturesque rags” by Valentina Khodasevich, and in the 60s she shocked with a super mini from Yves Saint Laurent in the play by Roland Petit.

The times were also reflected in hairstyles: in engravings from the mid-19th century, Esmeralda's hair is braided in two long braids; photographs from the end of the last century recorded a “crow’s nest” hanging over the forehead of the prima gypsy; The hairstyle of a dancer from the Middle Ages into the 20th century is a traditional ballet “knot”.

But not only Esmeralda’s appearance reflected the eras. "Esmeralda", in each of the productions and revivals, itself became a kind of symbol of the time that brought it to the stage. The 21st century continues the mythology of “Esmeraldiana”.

Tickets for the ballet Esmeralda (Bolshoi Theater). The story that captivated the world

The contrast between the beautiful and the ugly, the beauty of the soul and human meanness, jealousy, revenge. All the feelings inherent in our sinful soul are intertwined together in this sad story, which is 150 years old. "Esmeralda" was staged on the Russian stage back in 1848. Then, for the first time, spectators could buy tickets to the ballet "Esmeralda" at the Bolshoi Theater. However, this was very difficult to do. Servants of the capital's nobility had to stand from morning to night to get their masters a pass to the world of high ballet art, and many of them left with nothing.
Since then, this production has been a constant success in all its interpretations. Eras, dancers, directors changed. Only the viewer's love for the story of beauty and the beast remained unchanged. Talented choreography, a beautiful story that inspired the composer to create wonderful music for the ballet - all these are the factors that determined the success of “Esmeralda” on the stage of the leading theaters of the world.
The brilliant Marius Petipa had a chance to dance in the role of one of the main characters - Phoebus. It was he who revived the ballet with his choreographic skills, composing several dances for his hero. At that time, spectators bought tickets for the ballet “Esmeralda” at the Bolshoi Theater not only to see with their own eyes the sensational story of love and suffering, but also to watch the work of a brilliant dancer.
What will the viewer see today when they buy tickets to the ballet “Esmeralda” at the Bolshoi Theater? A reconstructed production by Petipa, which many critics call the best edition of the famous ballet. The Bolshoi Theater returned to the very roots of choreographic art. “Esmeralda” was revived thanks to the artistic director of the theater - researcher and expert on ancient ballet Yuri Burlak. His work brings the famous ballet back to the modern audience. The story of Esmeralda, which took place a century and a half ago, is just as relevant and interesting to the general public today. Tickets for the ballet "Esmeralda" at the Bolshoi Theater are already on sale.

about the Performance

Esmeralda

The ballet “Esmeralda” at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater, created based on the famous classic Victor Hugo by Vladimir Burmeister, was first presented to the public in 1950. The debut production was successful, and now, after several decades, it is still loved by fans of theater art. A passionate atmosphere, successful shorthand solutions, perfectly honed dance, grandiose scenery and an exciting plot - all this is the ballet “Esmeralda” at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater, tickets for which can be ordered on the website of our ticket agency.

The plot of the play is based on the story of the beautiful Esmeralda, raised by gypsies who kidnapped her as a child. The girl grew up so freedom-loving and rebellious, and so beautiful. Claude Frollo, the archdeacon of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, notices her and orders the hunchback Quasimodo to kidnap the girl for him. But Esmeralda is saved by the handsome captain Phoebus, with whom she falls in love. By order of Frollo, Phoebus is killed, and Esmeralda is accused of murder and sentenced to death. Quasimodo knows about the girl’s innocence, he tries to save her, but to no avail. As a result, Quasimodo pushes the treacherous priest Froddo from the tower

"Esmeralda" is a delightful example of ballet art that will amaze and impress every theatergoer. To see this performance, you should order tickets for the ballet “Esmeralda” at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater on our website now online or by phone.

The duration of the performance is 2 hours 50 minutes (with two intermissions).

Composer Cesar Pugni, Reinhold Gliere, Sergei Vasilenko
Libretto by Vladimir Burmeister and Vasily Tikhomirov
Choreographer Vladimir Burmeister
Conductor: Vladimir Basiladze
Conductor: Anton Grishanin
Director of the revival of the production Sergei Filin
Production and costume designer Alexander Lushin
Costume designer Natalia Kirillova
Genre Ballet
Number of acts 3
Original title Esmeralda
Duration 2 hours 50 minutes (two intermissions)
Premiere date 10/14/1950
Age limit 12+

Conductor - Vladimir Basiladze, Anton Grishanin

Esmeralda - Oksana Kardash, Natalya Krapivina, Erika Mikirticheva, Natalya Somova
Phoebus - Denis Dmitriev, Sergei Manuilov, Ivan Mikhalev, Mikhail Pukhov, Georgi Smilevski
Claude Frollo - Nikita Kirillov, Georgi Smilevski
Quasimodo - Anton Domashev, Roman Malenko
Fleur de Lis - Natalia Kleimenova, Natalia Krapivina, Anastasia Pershenkova, Ksenia Ryzhkova, Natalia Somova
Gudula - Anastasia Blokhina, Yana Bolshanina, Natalya Krapivina, Anastasia Pershenkova

Artists W. Grieve, M. Koper.

Characters:

• Esmeralda, young gypsy
• Pierre Gringoire, poor poet
• Claude Frollo, syndic
• Quasimodo, the bell ringer
• Phoebus de Chateaupert, young officer
• Aloise do Gondolorie
• Fleur de Lys, her daughter, Phoebe's fiancée
• Clopin Trulfou, leader of a gang of vagabonds
• Judge, people, officers, soldiers, friends of Fleur de Lys, servants, tramps, gypsies

The action takes place in Paris in the 15th century.

1. Court of Miracles- a refuge for Parisian beggars and vagabonds. Their leader, Clopin Trulfou, sits on a barrel, observing the unbridled joy of his subjects. The poet Pierre Gringoire runs in and asks for protection from the crowd pursuing him. Since the poor fellow has nothing in his pockets except his poem, which none of the robbers needs, Clopin orders him to be hanged. The unfortunate man’s pleas for mercy are in vain; everyone just laughs at him. As a joke, the king of the tramps recalls that according to local law, any woman can save him if she agrees to take him as her husband. All the local “ladies” refuse such an “honor”; the poet is in despair. The beautiful gypsy Esmeralda appears amidst enthusiastic cries. Her heart is touched and she agrees to marry the loser. According to local customs, a clay pot is brought out, Gringoire breaks it on the floor - the marriage has taken place. The dancing resumes until the signal to put out the lights sounds. The crowd disperses. The cathedral syndic Claude Frollo, who has long been in love with the beautiful dancer, and his bell-ringer, the hunchbacked Quasimodo, decide to kidnap Esmeralda. She desperately struggles and screams. The night watch appears, led by the brilliant officer Phoebus de Chateaupert. Frollo disappears, but the soldiers catch the bell ringer. Esmeralda thanks Phoebus for saving her. He, struck by the beauty of the young girl, gives her his scarf. Seeing the soldiers beating Quasimodo, the girl asks to free him. Phoebus is generous, but hints that he deserves a kiss as a reward. Esmeralda escapes his embrace and disappears. The watch continues on its way, and Quasimodo looks after the gypsy with gratitude.

2. Esmeralda's room. She admires Phoebus's scarf and puts his name together from the letters. Sweet dreams are interrupted by the arrival of Gringoire. He looks at the beauty with admiration and hugs her tenderly. The girl recoils, and when the “husband’s” advances become more and more persistent, she draws her dagger. Esmeralda explains that she loves someone else, but only felt sorry for Pierre. However, he can stay if he agrees to dance with her in the squares. They immediately rehearse “steps for the stage”: the poet learns to accompany the gypsy woman’s dance on a tambourine. When the tired Pierre wants to go to bed, Esmeralda takes him to the next room. Frollo and Quasimodo appear. Claude begs her for love, but the gypsy points to the name of her true beloved. In a jealous rage, Frollo again tries to take her away by force, but Quasimodo helps the girl escape. Claude vows revenge on his lucky rival.

Garden in the castle of Aloyse de Gondelaurier. Her daughter Fleur de Lys is Phoebe's fiancée, and the castle is preparing for the wedding. Fleur and her friends are dancing “flower steps.” Phoebus appears and gallantly kisses the bride’s hand, but she notices that the groom is not wearing the scarf she gave her. The guests gather and the celebration begins. Phoebus dances the pas de trois with two bridesmaids. Esmeralda is also invited to entertain the guests at the celebration. With her is faithful Pierre with a guitar and tambourine. The bride asks the gypsy woman to tell fortunes, she predicts her happy marriage. Phoebus, seeing the beauty of the night, approaches her and invites the gypsy to dance with him; Esmeralda cannot refuse him. The bride intervenes, Phoebus coldly assures her of his love. Dancing with Gringoire, the girl in love shows everyone a scarf - a gift from Phoebus. Fleur snatches the scarf from the gypsy's hands, angrily reproaches the groom and falls unconscious. Gringoire protects Esmeralda from the rage of the guests. Phoebus follows them.

3. Night. A room in a tavern. Clopin brings Frollo here and shows him where to hide. Esmeralda and Phoebus arrive. The girl first reproaches the young man for being frivolous, but then her feelings take over her reason. Phoebus takes the girl into the bedroom. Tormented by jealousy, Claude rushes after them. A blow, a groan and the sound of a falling body are heard. Frollo climbs out the window, people come to the gypsy’s screams. Clopin announces that Esmeralda is guilty of the officer's murder. The girl is taken away, despite her pleas and tears.

Bank of the Seine. To the right is the prison, with the towers of Notre Dame Cathedral visible in the distance. Esmeralda is taken to prison by a squad of archers led by Claude Frollo. Pierre hears a death sentence - the gypsy woman is to be hanged for murder. The poet calls on the crowd to intervene, but they have no time for him. The procession of the king of jesters begins. The tramps bring in Quasimodo. The crowd is cheering. Only Frollo is dissatisfied; he tears off the “royal” clothes from the bell ringer. Esmeralda is led out of the prison gates to execution. She says goodbye to Pierre and asks that her beloved’s scarf be placed in the grave with her. Frollo offers the girl life if she gives him her heart. The gypsy curses him, and Frollo responds by ordering the execution to be accelerated. Suddenly Phoebus appears, whose wound turned out to be non-fatal. He accuses the priest of attempted murder. Seeing that Esmeralda and Phoebus are unharmed and happy, Claude madly rushes with a dagger at the gypsy, but Quasimodo intercepts the weapon and plunges it into his master's chest. General rejoicing, the celebration resumes.

The ballet “Esmeralda”, having seen the stage light in London, toured all European stages except the French ones, and found a home in Russia, surviving here to this day. It became the aesthetic manifesto of the choreographer Jules Perrault (1810-1892), one of the pillars of romantic ballet. In this ballet, the boiling of human passions against the backdrop of real life was contrasted with the unearthly romance of La Sylphide and Giselle. The basis of the performance was not so much the novel “Notre Dame de Paris” by another classic of romanticism, Victor Hugo, but rather the script for the opera of the same name written by the writer (1835, composer Louise Bertin). However, the volume and realism of the main images of the ballet are the merit of the choreographer. The London performance featured excellent performers: Carlotta Grisi - Esmeralda, Arthur Saint-Leon - Phoebus and Perrault himself in the role of Gringoire. The image of the poet absorbed the personality and fate of the choreographer, who was not distinguished by physical beauty. In the scene where Esmeralda teaches dancing to a clueless loser, Perrault was ironic about his life: he once composed the role of Giselle for his beloved blonde Carlotta, and now she is a recognized star, and he, alas, is an almost abandoned husband.

Already in the first scene of “The Waltz of Old Paris,” it was not smart Spaniards or gypsies who danced, but a crowd of ragged people. Next, the image of Gringoire was exhibited, in which the nobility of a misunderstood poetic soul emerged through the mask of a jester. Esmeralda appeared against the backdrop of cripples and vagabonds as the ideal image of beauty and talent. In subsequent productions of Esmeralda, Perrault modified the scene at Fleur de Lys. Phoebus lost his dance number, but a magnificent example of a meaningful "pas d" action appeared." Gringoire stopped Esmeralda, who was trying to run away from the wedding, with a blow of a tambourine. The subsequent dance of the gypsy introduced tragic notes into her image and for many ballerinas became the emotional center of the ballet. In the final In the act, the crowd lived in poetic disorder in the pantomime scenes and became an exemplary corps de ballet in the dance episodes, however, even here the happy ending of the heroes’ fate was almost obligatory at that time. A concession to the clerical spectators was the transformation of Claude Frollo from a priest only into a syndic. , that is, the civil elder of the cathedral community.

The author of the music for “Esmeralda,” the Italian Cesar Pugni, wrote more than 300 ballet scores during his life. He collaborated with Perrault in London, followed him to Russia and remained here until the end of his days, serving as a full-time composer for the ballet of the Imperial Theaters. In his time, in ballet performances, medleys compiled by the conductor from separate ready-made numbers and excerpts were replaced by simple, but specially written scores according to the choreographer’s plan. The music of Puni (or, as it is now sometimes written, Punyi) is distinguished by its melody and danceability, sometimes conveying the required national flavor.

Perrault himself brought “Esmeralda” to St. Petersburg in 1848. Fanny Elsler's participation in the play made the title role more dramatic. For another visiting celebrity, Virginia Zucchi, in 1885, updated the ballet by Marius Petipa, making it four acts. In the scene at the ball, a “pas de six” appears to the music of R. Drigo, where the dance of Esmeralda and Pierre is accompanied by four gypsies. Since 1899, at the Mariinsky Theater, ballet has become the favorite performance of Matilda Kshesinskaya, who keeps two goats for him at her dacha (one participates with the mistress in the second film, the second is in reserve).

The famous St. Petersburg ballerina of the second half of the nineteenth century, Ekaterina Vazem, recalled in her later years: “All of Perrault’s ballets differed sharply from the works of other contemporary and subsequent choreographers in the predominance of the dramatic side in them over the dance side. Perrault, who always composed the programs for his ballets himself, was a great master at inventing spectacular stage situations that captivated and at times even shocked the audience. There were relatively few dances in his ballets, much less than in performances of later origin. At the same time, when composing these dances, the choreographer was concerned not so much with giving the performers a more winning number, but with ensuring that the dance numbers complement and develop the dramatic action.”

It is no coincidence that in the early 1930s, the new stage of Russian ballet chose the work of Jules Perrot as its banner. In 1935, Agrippina Vaganova at the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater, based on the choreography of Perrot and Petipa, staged “a social drama about the Paris of fanatical clergy, hypocritical nobility and a cheerful, rebellious street crowd.” Frollo is given back the title of archdeacon of the cathedral, Phoebus becomes a deceitful and insidious seducer, and Esmeralda is taken away to execution in the finale. Puni's music had been arranged earlier, in 1926, by Reinhold Gliere for the production of Esmeralda at the Moscow Bolshoi Theater (choreographer Vasily Tikhomirov).

The Vaganova edition, unlike the previous ones, focused not only on the performer of the main role. Tatyana Vecheslova did not disappoint the viewer's expectations, appearing as a charming, freedom-loving gypsy. But next to them were Galina Ulanova and Vakhtang Chabukiani, for whom the duet of Diana and Actaeon, based on Petipa’s choreography, was composed in the ball scene. The performance, changing performers, was held at the Kirov Theater until the mid-1950s.

In 1981, another Leningrad theater - the Maly Theater of Opera and Ballet - offered its own version of Perrot-Petipa's production. Choreographer Nikolai Boyarchikov was advised by Tatyana Vecheslova and Pyotr Gusev. Having lasted more than 250 performances, this example of romantic ballet still graces the theater's extensive classical repertoire.

A. Degen, I. Stupnikov

History of creation

In the early 1840s, Pugni received a commission for ballet music based on the famous novel by the French romantic Victor Hugo (1802-1885) “Notre Dame de Paris” (1831). The libretto was written by one of the most famous choreographers of the time, Jules Joseph Perrault (1810-1892). Perrault, who was born in France and from childhood performed in theaters on Parisian boulevards (according to other sources - in circuses) as a grotesque dancer, made his debut in classical dance in London in 1830, but was not successful due to his unfavorable appearance. In 1843, he was appointed to the position of choreographer at the Royal Theater in London, and his first action was to invite Pugni as the author of the music. Already in 1843, he staged Pugni's ballet Ondine, after which work began on Esmeralda.

In the libretto of Esmeralda, Perrault retained the storyline of the original source, but the social theme, so clearly expressed in Hugo, was translated into a personal drama in the ballet. The most striking contrast of the novel has faded: the ugly, but capable of strong feelings and generous actions of the rootless foundling Quasimodo to the beautiful, empty and frivolous officer Phoebus de Chateaupert. Claude Frollo, the ominous hero of the novel, who occupies one of the central places in it, turned from a church minister into a syndic. The theme related to Esmeralda’s mother, who lost her child and recognized her stolen daughter in Esmeralda, whom she hated, immediately before the girl’s execution, also disappeared. Moreover: the choreographer replaced the tragic ending with a happy one, and Phoebus turned into a traditional ballet hero-lover. “The tragic must - alas! “have a successful outcome, otherwise the ballet composer will suffer the fate of Euripides,” Perrault said bitterly. “We are left with only fairy tales.”

Nevertheless, it was Hugo’s romantic poetics that largely determined the principles of choreographic expressiveness. For Perrault, modern literature, theater and painting were the main sources of inspiration. “The ballet conceived by Perrault differs sharply from other works of that time,” writes Yu. Slonimsky. “The active melodramatic action, picturesque portraits of the main characters, a motley and expressive crowd of representatives of the lower social classes, and the sharply defined interests of the characters made Perrault’s Esmeralda unprecedented in the multicoloredness of its choreographic paintings.” Ballet dance numbers complement and develop the dramatic action. Mass dance numbers play an important role, becoming an important element of the action. The ballet clearly shows the intensity of passions and acute conflicts. Dramatic and comedic elements are mixed, giving rise to the versatility of drama. Contemporaries recognized Perrault as the creator of a previously unprecedented genre: “He was the first to have the honor of inventing the so-called “Pas d" action” and the idea of ​​​​introducing into the very dances, which usually constitute only the frame of the ballet, the goal, content, facial expressions. Perrault was the first to comprehend all these “Pas de trios” ", "Pas de quatre", "Pas de cinque" - the most boring and at the same time almost necessary part of the ballet,” wrote one of the Russian reviewers.

Esmeralda premiered on March 9, 1844 at the Theater Royal in London. Four years later, the ballet was staged on the stage of the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theater, two years later - in Moscow, and in 1856 - in Paris. After the composer's death, in 1886, M. Petipa (1818-1910) staged a new, four-act production based on Perrault's choreography with the addition of Drigo's music. In 1935, the next version of the ballet, in three acts, nine scenes, was staged on the same stage by A. Vaganova, who attracted composer R. Gliere to work on “Esmeralda”. This version of the ballet was later performed on many other stages. Throughout the 20th century, “Esmeralda” was performed on many stages in Europe, staged by different choreographers. In Leningrad, on the stage of the Maly Opera Theater, the ballet was revived in Perrault's original version.

Music

“Esmeralda” is a ballet written according to the canons of the romantic theater of the mid-19th century. His music is not original, although it is marked by historical and national flavor. It is convenient for dancing, reflects situations, but at the same time does not carry bright and deep characteristics of the characters.

L. Mikheeva

Photo by Damir Yusupov / Bolshoi Theater