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Bolshoi Ballet Sleeping Beauty Chronology


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In the Raymonda folder I posted a chronology (apparantly imcomplete) from a book I have The Authorised Book of the Bolshoi Raymonda, by Yuri Grigorovich (translated, quite poorly, into English). I also have the Sleeping Beauty book in this series and was asked to post the chronology of Bolshoi productions--as the book lists them--as well. So here it is (for whatever reason it's more detailed than Raymonda's ):

1 January 17, 1899 - December 28, 1902

Conductor: A Arends

Choreography: M Petipa

Transfer of the ballet from St Petersburg to Moscow - A Gorsky

Designers: K Waltz (Machinery), A Geltzer (panorama), I Savitsky, I Smirnov, P Lebedev, P Sergeyev

47 Performances

2 December 19, 1904 - January 26, 1919

Conductor: Ye Plotnikov

Choreography: A Gorsky

Original scenery used

71 Performances

3 May 25, 1924 - June 6, 1934

Conductor: Yu Faier

Choreography: A Gorsky

Revived by V Tikhomirov

Designer: A Geltzer

107 Performances

4 December 20, 1936 - January 9, 1945

Conductor: Yu Faier

Choreography: A Messerer, A Chekrygin

Production directed by B Mordvinov

Designer: I Rabinovich

71 Performances

5 April 9, 1952 - February 7, 1958

Conductor: Yu Faier

Choreography: A Messerer, M Gabovich

Designer: M Obolensky

Costumes by L Silich

61 Performances

6 December 7, 1963 - May 5, 1971

Conductor: B Khaikan

Production by M Petipa

New edition by Yuri Grigorovich

Designer: S Virsaladze

59 Performances

7 May 31, 1973 (still in repertoire)

Conductor: A Kopylov

Choreography: M Petipa

Ballet revived and edited by Yu Grigorovich

Designer: S Virsaladze

The book, like the Raymonda book (there were at least 3 others I don't have for other full length ballets is interesting but with faults. Half of it is a beautifully photographed run through of the full ballet, the other half are a series of essays about the composer, the original production, later Bolshoi productions and then Grigorovich's staging. For Beauty they talk about Grigorovich's first staging which is interesting--in the 60s he had decided that all mime should be cut and only the "glorious dances" of Petipa used so most of the openign and closing scenes of each act were nearly completely cut and the panorama and growth of the forest were shown through dance--and Virsaladze designs a symbolic abstract backdrop all in white. Grigorovich admits that it was a foolish mistake to cut those parts and he didn't understand the ballet.

of course then it describes the new production repeatedly as the most glorious, true to Petipa and Tchaikovsky's original intentions yet modern, etc, etc, version of the ballet every done ANYWHERE. It's full of glowing praise (I actually liek the Bolshoi production for some reason--flaws and all but the praise in the text is a bit amusing)

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