Tcherepnin's "Le Pavillon D'armide"

[Solor]

Just a reccomendation for those who havnt heard it -

I just purchased a recording of Tcherepnin's complete music for "La Pavillon d'Armide" (I believe this means "The House of Armide"?), a ballet first mounted in 1907 @ the Mariinksy w/ none other than the great Anna Pavlova in the lead role of Armida, and then later Nijinsky danced in the ballet in its Paris staging as Armida's favourite slave. Kschessinska was supposed to have danced Armida orignally but backed out.

Its perfromed by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Shek on the label Marco Polo. Its out of print fo course but when I bought mine there were like 5 or 6 other copies available, and I got mine brand new for 20$.

Upon hearing the music I was taken aback - it is absolutely beautiful......the score has lots of French influence in it, and is colorful without over doing it, with great melody and elegant orchestration. Of course Im no musicologist but its some really good listening.

Are anyof these ballets still in the repertory anywhere? The part of either work I know of in the active rep. is a varioation from Pavillon that truns up in the Mariinksy Paquita, the one for celeste.

Edited March 8, 2006 by Solor

[Mel Johnson]

As I understand it, the Maryinsky keeps a version of the ballet as a student showpiece, but I don't know how long it's been since the main company has done it.

[Mireille]

I totally agree with you Solor, I heard the Pavillon' suite warmfully conducted by Vladimir Ziva in St-Petersburg, fell in love with the music and found the same full version afterwards... the score is so full of possibilities, I keep hoping that one day someone will rewrite a ballet on it!

[rg]

danilova staged her recollection of the pas de trois for school of am. ballet and when anne belle was making her docu about the ballerina, she was shown rehearsing one dancer in one of the solos - this is on the film that was released as 'reflections of a dancer' in 1981.

i know for a nijinsky fest. in hamburg? during baryshnikov's early years in the west an effort was made to restage some part of this ballet.

(the helpful thing about the excerpt staged by danilova is that it confirms the identity of the PAQUITA GRAND PAS solo, danced by eveteyeva and then asylmuratova (who was taught it by evteyeva), as being fokine's work from PAVILLON.

[Solor]

danilova staged her recollection of the pas de trois for school of am. ballet and when anne belle was making her docu about the ballerina, she was shown rehearsing one dancer in one of the solos - this is on the film that was released as 'reflections of a dancer' in 1981.

i know for a nijinsky fest. in hamburg? during baryshnikov's early years in the west an effort was made to restage some part of this ballet.

(the helpful thing about the excerpt staged by danilova is that it confirms the identity of the PAQUITA GRAND PAS solo, danced by eveteyeva and then asylmuratova (who was taught it by evteyeva), as being fokine's work from PAVILLON.

Theres another ballet nu Tcherepnin - "Narcisse and Echo" - out of print of course! ...I just found a used copy on Amazon and quickly snatched it up. Unfortunatly its conducted by Rozhdestvensky, who has a habit of conducting in a more "mathimatical" fashion, but being that its seems to be based on a fantastical theme, and sense "Pavillon" was so lovely, I guess I cant lose! Anybody know the history of this work??

Unfortunately the liner notes of the Pavillon recording dont say things like "pas de trois" etc....I wonder what music goes with that pas.

Edited March 9, 2006 by Solor

[rg]

both diaghilev and nijinsky literature should have various mentions of fokine's NARCISSE. frequently there are illustrations showing at least one photo of nijinsky in the title role and various bakst sketches of the costumes for the surrounding characters.

Narcisse (: Chor: Mikhail Fokin; mus: Nikolai Cherepnin; lib: Léon Bakst and Nikolai Cherepnin after Ovid; scen & cos: Léon Bakst. First perf: Monaco: Monte Carlo, Théâtre de Monte Carlo, Apr 26, 1911, Les Ballets Russes (Dyagilev).//First American perf: New York, Metropolitan Opera House, week of April 22, 1916, Les Ballets Russes (Dyagilev)

[rg]

footnote glimpse:

chapt. 1 of gennady albert's ALEXANDER PUSHKIN: MASTER TEACHER OF DANCE opens with a none-too-easy-to-follow scene in a 1967 leningrad vaganova choreographic institute class, with students observing their teachers relive, for themselves, the 'adagio from PAVILLON D'ARMIDE.

incidentally the dancer with pushkin is another teacher, lidia tiuntina (spelled TUNTINA in this passage) who was at the beginnings of her career as a dancer a member of georgi balachivadze's YOUNG BALLET.

[Alymer]

i know for a nijinsky fest. in hamburg? during baryshnikov's early years in the west an effort was made to restage some part of this ballet.

It was in fact the pas de trois, (which Danilova came to Hamburg to stage), and I remember that Baryshnikov's variation began with a huge, sideways jump. Additionally, many years ago I saw the Kirov in what was described as a pas de deux from Coppelia. Neither music not choreography resembled anything I'd ever heard or seen in Coppelia, and I was later told that it came from Le Pavillion d'Armide.

[rg]

interesting link from COPPELIA to PAVILLON: can you say if this pas was seen on stage by you? or on video?

if the latter, which video?

[Joseph]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00000464...v=glance&n=5174

solor- is this the version you got?

[Solor]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00000464...v=glance&n=5174

solor- is this the version you got?

Joseph - Yes, thats the only recording of the whole ballet - WONDROUS!

I also reccomend Tcherepnin's ballet "Narcisse et Echo" performed by the the Hague Orchestra and choir under the baton of Rozhdestvensy. I actually just got my CD of it yesterday, and must have listened to it at least 10 times last night. It is so beautiful! Theres is only 1 copy up for grabs on Amazon.com, heres the link, through ballettalk of course! -

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00000G4N...5Fencoding=UTF8

If you get it, just imagine the great Karsavina and Nijinsky as the leads dancing among the wondrous decor of Bakst! True art! The score itself is one continuous movement, where as "Pavillon" is in the 19th century ballet music tradition with pas, variations, etc. I cannot put into words how beautiful "Narcisse et Echo" is....Nikolai Tcherepnin really was something else when it came to melody and orchestration, and he really puts the choir to good use. The score almost sounds like it was recorded in some large cathedral or something, the music really sounds massive, as Tcherepnin uses a very large orchestra.

By the way, if anyone knows, was the original production by the Ballet Russe of "Narcisse" the only production ever of the ballet? Certainly a reconstruction of this ballet is definately in order, though I'm probably only dreaming.

Regarding the score, does anyone know just how many instruments the score uses?

Edited March 18, 2006 by Solor

[rg]

karsavina and bolm in LE PAVILLON (possibly from 1911, when the ballet was shown at a coronation gala in covent garden)

karsavina is shown as a 'friend of armide'? bolm as 'viscount de beaugency'?

[sandik]

Oooh, Karsavina!

Many thanks!!

[phenby]

As a very young man I became the friend of the composer Alexandre Tcherepnin in the late 1970's. He was the son of Nicolai Tcherepnin and himself the composer of several ballet scores. We had several discussions about his father's career and I was permitted to peruse the family archives. In addition to his work for Diaghilev Nikolai Tcherepnin wrote several other ballets, including three resounding failures for Pavlova: Dionysus (1921), Ajanta's Frescoes (1923), and Old Russian Folk Lore (1923). Besides Pavillon d'Armide and Narcisse there have been two other ballet scores of Tcherepnin recorded in the not too distant past. I'll pass on details if there's interest. Regarding the former, only the Maryinsky and Diaghilev companies had productions (there were some differences). The production of Narcisse by Diaghilev was quite a story. I don't believe it was ever produced by another company.

PHENBY

[Solor]

there have been two other ballet scores of Tcherepnin recorded in the not too distant past. I'll pass on details if there's interest. Regarding the former, only the Maryinsky and Diaghilev companies had productions (there were some differences). PHENBY

WOW!!!!! There are more works by him? And recorded? Im very interested Phenby!!! Thats extraordinary! I was just listening to Pavillon as a matter of fact, this morning while driving to IHOP (yes I know.....a ballet dancer eating at IHOP?).

Thank you much, I would love to get a hold of these other ballets on CD, which Im sure are glorious.

[phenby]

I will split the ballets into two separate replies.

Following the close of the 1909 Paris season Diaghilev decided on a new commission for the 1910. The story of how he first requested a score based on the Firebird legend from Liadov, only to pass it on to an unknown newcomer, Igor Stravinsky, is well-known. What history has missed is the existence of a third commission. Nikolai Tcherepnin was also approached to compose a Firebird ballet. Apparently the result did not meet with Diaghilev's approval. Tcherepnin salvaged the beginning of his Firebird (the only part composed ?) as a tone poem entitled Le Royaume enchante. The published score carries a scenario that largely copies the libretto of Stravinsky's version. There was never a stage production of this score.

One recording (excellent) came out some years back:

album title: The Enchanted Kingdom

Mikhail Pletnev & Russian National Orchestra

Deutsche Grammophone DG 447 084-2

contents

Tcherepnin: Prelude pour La Princesse lointaine, Op. 4 symphonic poem

Tcherepnin: Le Royaume enchante, Op. 39

Rimsky-Korsakov: Le Coq d'or: suite

Liadov: Baba-Yaga, Op. 56

Liadov: Le lac enchante, Op. 62

Liadov: Kikimora, Op. 63

By the way, the three pieces by Liadov were used in Massine's Contes Russes produced by the Ballets Russes around 1916. Diaghilev was determined to have his Liadov ballet.

Phenby

[Solor]

Thank you for this very valueable info.....is that recording only excerts? I know Ill shock the living you know what out of my fellow ballet talkers, but I have never liked Stravinsky. But of course I LOVE "Sacre du Pritemps".

Liadov worked for the Imperial Ballet - He orchestrated the Deldevez score for "Paquita" for the original Russian staging, as the manuscript was delayed from Paris, and all that was available was a piano reduction. I think he was also a rehearsal violinist?

[phenby]

In his twenty years of ballet and opera productions Diaghilev only rejected a commissioned score a handful of times. Tcherepnin heads the list as having produced two such scores.

In the early seasons Diaghilev had a secretary/advisor by the name of M. D. Calvocoressi, a young French music critic. Calvocoressi met a young, unknown composer (I forget the name) who had written a ballet score on his own entitled La masque de la mort rouge (The Mask of Red Death after Edgar Allen Poe). Calvocoressi passed the score along to Diaghilev who wasn't interested in the music but found the story an interesting idea for a ballet. Diaghilev approached Stravinsky on the subject but was rejected. So he turned to ... Nikolai Tcherepnin.

In 1913, when Tcherepnin composed his ballet, Fokine had been dismissed and Nijinsky was now choreographer of the Ballets Russes. But Nijinsky was very slow and couldn't be counted upon to produce four new ballets every season. So for the 1913 season Adolph Bolm and Boris Romanov, two dancers in the company, were given their first opportunities to choreograph (both went on to long careers as choreographers). Tcherepnin's La masque de la mort rouge was schedualed for the 1914 season, but since Nijinsky was already overextended with preparations for two other ballets, Diaghilev assigned Tcherepnin's ballet to a guest choreographer: Alexander Gorsky. Then the rupture between Nijinsky and Diaghilev occured. As a result, Fokine came back to the Ballets Russes for the 1914 season and took charge of all new choreography. La masque de la mort rouge and Gorsky were scrapped. Tcherepnin's ballet was produced by another company in St Petersburg in 1916 (I don't know the details).

After the Russian Revolution the orchestral score of Tcherepnin's ballet could not be located. So Tcherepnin reorchestrated parts of his work in the form of a suite. This work was titled: Le Destin, trois fragments symphoniques sur une nouvelle d'Edgar Poe, Op. 59.

A recording was issued on CD a few years back

OLYMPIA OCD 640

Alexander Rudin & Musical Viva Orchestra

Nikolai Tcherepnin: Le Destin, Three Symphonic Fragments on a Ballad by Poe, Op. 59

Alexander Tcherepnin: Divertimento, Op. 90

Ivan Tcherepnin: Double Concerto

The suite covers about one-third the orignal ballet score. Diffuse music but VERY atmospheric!

Phenby

[dkeary]

I worked with Madame Danilova while a student at SAB, and I was part of the cast for the Workshop performance in 1979. I am also part of Anne Belle's film and featured in it during rehearsals. The ballet Le Pavillon d'Armide is rich in its history and the score is beautiful. During the Ballet Russe reunion in New Orleans a few years back, two dancers performed the variations. The ballerina's variation was quite similar to what Danilova taught, almost identical. The male variation was not the same. However, Madame Doubrovska was at many of the rehearsals and she helped Danilova since she was in the original production in Paris. I asked Doubrovska about that and here is what she said, almost perfect quote as I remember it: "Well, I was very young and my part was that of a page. I was responsible for holding the big plume over the royality as they watched Karsavina and Nijinsky. When Nijinsky came on for his variation, he was standing upstage left, he went plie, and he flew across the stage. It was so magnificient that I dropped the plume on top of the royal ensemble." And then she smiled as she told the story.

David Keary

[dkeary]

i know for a nijinsky fest. in hamburg? during baryshnikov's early years in the west an effort was made to restage some part of this ballet.

It was in fact the pas de trois, (which Danilova came to Hamburg to stage), and I remember that Baryshnikov's variation began with a huge, sideways jump. Additionally, many years ago I saw the Kirov in what was described as a pas de deux from Coppelia. Neither music not choreography resembled anything I'd ever heard or seen in Coppelia, and I was later told that it came from Le Pavillion d'Armide.

This is correct, the jump was to the side, it actually could have been on the diaganol from what Doubrovska told me. There are a couple of books on Nijinsky that discusses the variation, I'll have to look for them in my library, but it describes the choreography.

[leonid17]

As a very young man I became the friend of the composer Alexandre Tcherepnin in the late 1970's. He was the son of Nicolai Tcherepnin and himself the composer of several ballet scores. We had several discussions about his father's career and I was permitted to peruse the family archives. In addition to his work for Diaghilev Nikolai Tcherepnin wrote several other ballets, including three resounding failures for Pavlova: Dionysus (1921), Ajanta's Frescoes (1923), and Old Russian Folk Lore (1923). Besides Pavillon d'Armide and Narcisse there have been two other ballet scores of Tcherepnin recorded in the not too distant past. I'll pass on details if there's interest. Regarding the former, only the Maryinsky and Diaghilev companies had productions (there were some differences). The production of Narcisse by Diaghilev was quite a story. I don't believe it was ever produced by another company.

PHENBY

Narcisse was staged on the 28th May 1918 at the Aquarium Theatre Moscow by Laurent Novikov

designed by I.S. Fedotov with Novikov as Narcisse and Yelena Mikhailovna Adamovich as Echo.

Kasyan Goleizovksky Choregraphed a solo to music from this ballet which has been danced by Vasiliev, Malakhov, Tsiskaridze and Gennadi Yanin among others.

[leonid17]

As I understand it, the Maryinsky keeps a version of the ballet as a student showpiece, but I don't know how long it's been since the main company has done it.

The version you refer to, originates from the revival of Fokine's ballet staged by Lopukhov and Chekryiugin on the 6th May 1923 at the Petrograd Theatre of Opera*(Mariinskly/Kirov Theatre).

[leonid17]

both diaghilev and nijinsky literature should have various mentions of fokine's NARCISSE. frequently there are illustrations showing at least one photo of nijinsky in the title role and various bakst sketches of the costumes for the surrounding characters.

Narcisse (: Chor: Mikhail Fokin; mus: Nikolai Cherepnin; lib: Léon Bakst and Nikolai Cherepnin after Ovid; scen & cos: Léon Bakst. First perf: Monaco: Monte Carlo, Théâtre de Monte Carlo, Apr 26, 1911, Les Ballets Russes (Dyagilev).//First American perf: New York, Metropolitan Opera House, week of April 22, 1916, Les Ballets Russes (Dyagilev)

The 'Animated Gobelin' scene from this ballet was first given on the 15th April 1907. The ballet was subsequently performed in its entirety at the Mariinsky Theatre on the 25th November, 25 1907. The first western performance took place at the Chatelet Theatre on the 15th May 1909. As I have mentioned elsewhere it was again revived in Russia in 1923.

[missvjc420]

Perhaps Gina Ness will share some of her memories of learning some material from this ballet; she spoke of learning it on another thread, either here or on BT4D. I would love to hear of this or be able to learn the choreography myself. I love to hear stories of dances handed down, it's one of the most beautiful things about the world of ballet.

[Anthony_NYC]

More and more stuff is actually staying in print nowadays, it's just you have to figure out what form it's in and where to find it, which can be quite a challenge!

The Marco Polo recording of "Pavillon d'Armide" is actually still available, via Naxos Music Library, a subscription streaming service. If you're in the U.S., it's possible you have access to this at home compliments of your library (check your library's website or give them a call).

The recording of "Narcisse et Echo" came out on Chandos. That label now sells everything in its catalog online as a download. Here's a direct link to the Tcherepnin.

It's a big orchestra for "Pavillon":

3 flutes (3rd doubling on piccolo)

2 oboes

1 English horn

2 clarinets

1 bass clarinet

2 bassoons

1 contrabassoon

4 horns

3 trumpets

3 trombones

1 tuba

timpani

percussion (cymbals, triangle, bass drum, snare drum, side drum, glockenspiel, xylophone)

2 harps

celesta

The usual complement of strings

You can rent the performance materials for this and lots of other Nikolai Tcherepnin pieces from C.F. Peters.