How did Odette turn from a good fairy into an enchanted girl? About metamorphoses of the libretto of the ballet “Swan Lake. P. Tchaikovsky "Swan Lake"

P. I. Tchaikovsky ballet " Swan Lake»

The ballet "Swan Lake" has been captivating the hearts of classical music fans for more than a century. It is considered to be the standard high art, and many world-famous dancers were proud that they had such good luck - to perform a part in this performance. "Swan Lake" without a share of exaggeration can be called the pearl of Russian classics, and P.I. Tchaikovsky - a great composer. The ballet was based on a fairy tale of the knightly era. It's trembling and beautiful story love, filled with many obstacles and trials that lie in wait for young lovers.

Characters	Description
Odette	princess turned into a white swan
Siegfried	young prince
Odile	Rothbart's daughter, the black swan
Sovereign Princess	Siegfried's mother
Rothbart	evil wizard
Benno	friend of Prince Siegfried
wolfgang	Siegfried's mentor

Maya Plisetskaya performed the part of Odette-Odile on stage for 30 years Bolshoi Theater.
In 1968 a new variety of white rose was named "Swan Lake"
In his version famous ballet, Matthew Bourne replaced all current ballerinas with male dancers for the first time, which also brought huge success and public interest. This version received a standing ovation on the stages of the USA, Greece, Israel, Turkey, Russia, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Korea, Japan, France, Germany and Ireland, and was also awarded more than 30 international awards.
The ballet "Swan Lake" first appeared to the American public at the San Francisco Ballet Theatre.
Graham Murphy's 2002 British production of Swan Lake was based on the controversial breakup between Prince Charles and Princess Diana.
The release of the production by Ivanov and Petipa in 1894 was postponed for a long time due to the death of Emperor Alexander III and the subsequent official mourning.
Literally four years before Tchaikovsky received this order, he had already composed a small ballet "The Lake of Swans" for children, which was performed under the strict guidance of the composer in 1871, at the Kamenka estate.
The work on the performance lasted about a year, and with short breaks due to the fact that the composer also composed the Third Symphony during this period.
Many admirers of Tchaikovsky's work wonder what could inspire him to write such a heartfelt and beautiful music? It is believed that this is the merit of the lake in the Cherkasy region, where swans live. The composer rested there just for several days, admiring the local nature. But in Germany they are sure that the ballet tells about Swan Lake, which is located near the city of Vossen.
Initially, prima Anna Sobeshchanskaya was chosen for the premiere in 1876, but she quarreled strongly with the composer, so this role was offered to Polina Karpakova. As it turned out, the reason for the conflict was that I was not satisfied with the absence of at least one solo in the 3rd act. dance number. There is evidence that Sobeshchanskaya even went specially to M. Petipa and asked to insert a solo to his music in this action. If the choreographer complied with her request, the composer flatly refused to insert a piece of music that was not his own. Soon Tchaikovsky offered to settle the conflict and nevertheless wrote her a solo, a little later variations were added to it.
The estimate for the premiere screening of "Swan Lake" was very small and amounted to about 6,800 rubles.
The well-known critic Herman Laroche noted after the premiere the music of the ballet, but he called everything related to the dance side “boring and poor”.
In the press, only the work of artist Karl Waltz received praise from journalists, who specially developed technology that provides the illusion of fog using steam.
The researchers suggest that the basis of the literary source may be: the fairy tale "Swan Pond", "The Stolen Veil" by Mazues, as well as an old German legend.
Lev Ivanov, while working on the production of the ballet, rethought the costumes of the dancers, removed the swan wings to free their hands, giving them the opportunity to move. He also owns the already legendary "Dance of the Little Swans" from the second act.
Laurel the best performer parts of Odette belong to Pierina Legnani, who performed all dance moves especially elegant, even 32 fouettes. For the first time in this role, she performed on stage. Mariinsky Theater.
Many residents former USSR remembered this ballet with very disturbing events in the life of the country, because during the August coup that took place in 1991, it was this performance that was broadcast on all television channels.
In everyone's favorite cartoon "Well, you wait!" (Issue 15) shows a parody of the Dance of the Little Swans. At all, classical music can often be heard in cartoons . More details can be found in a special section.

Productions

The long-awaited premiere of "Swan Lake" in February 1977 was greeted by the public rather cool, despite the tremendous work done by the entire troupe. Connoisseurs of that time even recognized this work as unsuccessful and soon it was removed from the stage. The main culprits for such an unsuccessful production were mainly choreographer Wenzel Reisinger and Polina Karpakova, who performed the part of Odette.

Almost twenty years later, the management imperial theaters again turned her attention to the work of Tchaikovsky in order to stage it in the new season of 1893-1894. So already new script The performance was designed by the famous Marius Petipa and literally immediately began work on it, together with Tchaikovsky. But sudden death composer interrupted this work, and the choreographer himself was deeply shocked by this. A student and assistant of Petipa, a year later he staged one picture from the ballet, which was very enthusiastically received by the public. After such success and the highest critical acclaim, the choreographer assigned Ivanov to work on other scenes, and Petipa himself was soon able to return to work on Swan Lake. Undoubtedly, thanks to the efforts of the two directors, the plot of the performance was incredibly enriched. Ivanov decided to introduce the White Queen of Swans, and Petipa offered to oppose Odile to her. Thus arose the "black" pas de deux from the second act.

The new premiere took place in January 1895 in St. Petersburg. It was from this moment that the ballet received well-deserved recognition both among the public and among music critics, and this version was recognized as the best.

The performance on stage caused incredible delight among the audience. Vienna Opera held in 1964. The performers of the part of Odette - Margot Fonteyn and Siegfried - Rudolf Nureyev were called for an encore eighty-nine times! It is curious that the director of the performance was Nureyev himself. In his version, all the action was focused on the prince.

The idea of staging the ballet "Swan Lake" belonged to the director of the Moscow Imperial troupe Vladimir Petrovich Begichev. He invited Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as a composer.

The plot was based on an old German legend about the beautiful princess Odette, who evil sorcerer Rothbart turned into a white swan. In ballet young prince Siegfried falls in love with the beautiful swan girl Odette and vows to be faithful to her. However, at the ball arranged by the Queen Mother for Siegfried to choose his bride, the treacherous Rothbart appears with his daughter Odile. The black swan Odile is a double and, at the same time, the antipode of Odette. Siegfried unwittingly falls under Odile's spell and proposes to her. Realizing his mistake, the prince runs to the shore of the lake to ask for forgiveness from the beautiful Odette... In the original version of the libretto, the fairy tale turns into a tragedy: Siegfried and Odette perish in the waves.

At first, Odette and Odile were completely different characters. But, while working on the music for the ballet, Tchaikovsky decided that the girls should be kind of doubles, which leads Siegfried to a tragic mistake. Then it was decided that the parts of Odette and Odile should be performed by the same ballerina.

First failures

Work on the score continued from the spring of 1875 to April 10, 1876 (this date is indicated in the score by the composer himself). However, rehearsals on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater began even before the end of composing the music, on March 23, 1876. The first director of Swan Lake was the Czech ballet master Julius Wenzel Reisinger. However, the performance, which premiered on February 20, 1877, was not successful and, after 27 performances, left the stage.

In 1880 or 1882 the Belgian choreographer Josef Gansen decided to revive the production. Despite the fact that Gansen changed the dance scenes a little, in fact, a new version"Swan Lake" differed little from the previous one. As a result, the ballet was shown only 11 times and, it would seem, forever disappeared into oblivion and oblivion.

Birth of a legend

On October 6, 1893, without waiting for the triumph of his creation, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky died in St. Petersburg. In memory of him, the St. Petersburg Imperial Troupe decided to give grand concert, consisting of fragments various works composer, including the second act of the unsuccessful ballet Swan Lake. However chief choreographer Theater Marius Petipa did not take on the staging of scenes from a deliberately failed ballet. Then this work was entrusted to his assistant Lev Ivanov.

Ivanov brilliantly coped with the task assigned to him. It was he who managed to turn "Swan Lake" into a legend. Ivanov gave the second act of the ballet a romantic sound. In addition, the choreographer decided on a step that was revolutionary for that time: he removed artificial wings from the costumes of swans and gave the movements of their hands a resemblance to the flapping of wings. At the same time, the famous "Dance of the Little Swans" appeared.

The work of Lev Ivanov made a strong impression on Marius Petipa, and he suggested that the choreographer together stage full version ballet. For new edition"Swan Lake" it was decided to rework the libretto. This work was entrusted to Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky. However, the changes in the content of the ballet were not significant, and the finale remained tragic.

On January 15, 1895, the premiere of a new version of the ballet Swan Lake took place on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. This time, the production was a triumphant success. It was the Petipa-Ivanov version that began to be considered classical and, to this day, underlies all productions of Swan Lake.

Today "Swan Lake" is considered a symbol classical ballet and does not leave the stage of the leading theaters of Russia and the world. It should also be noted that most modern ballet productions - happy ending. And this is not surprising: "Swan Lake" is beautiful fairy tale And fairy tales must end well.

In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, a royal family once lived: King Polonius, Queen Ilona and a little prince Siegfried. Somehow, in ancient times, the king went to war, and disappeared overnight. Ilona was left alone with her young son. From that time on, the queen lived only in his name, she “given herself” to him. The courtiers begged her to change her mind, advised her to stop worrying about deceased wife and think of a new king. “Gather, Your Majesty, please, quick-footed messengers, let them convene overseas princes from all over the world on Bolshaya Autumn Ball, on it you will be able to choose a new spouse - the king-ruler of our State and the father of your minor son. It is not good to keep a boy in a women's society, a male example is important to him. But Ilona was adamant: “This will never happen, my son and I don’t need anyone, we are fine with him and the two of us” ...
Years passed, Prince Siegfried grew up as a handsome and stately young man. He really wanted to show his strength and valor at times - they would rush on fleet-footed horses; go to real hunt, and to compete with a ferocious bear; swim across a wide river in winter. But every time the Queen Mother dissuaded him from these exploits, reminded him of his poor health since childhood. Only occasionally did he manage to escape to feasts with friends, although Siegfried had few friends. They were all sons of the Queen Mother's ladies-in-waiting. Random, friends, from outside, she did not allow him at all. “They will spoil my boy for me, but he is so good, clean, we are like two girlfriends to talk about everything, we can consult” ...
Sometimes the passion, as Siegfried wanted to escape from his native, so beloved, but swaddling him hand and foot, palace. Desperately he dreamed of seeing the world and showing himself. But he did not dare, it was painfully fragile mother's health, as the court healers told him.
Once, Siegfried was staying with a neighboring king. Ilona got sick right there. She fell on a bed in her bedchamber, and lay like that for almost two days, not getting up until his arrival. Although Siegfried sent her, as an obedient son, a message with a messenger: “So they say, and so, mother, I’ll be late for a short time due to state need - I want to buy water meadows, which our neighbor-king decided to sell cheaply.”

Near the royal castle there was a large and clean lake, popularly nicknamed "Swan". Every year swan couples flocked to it. In the spring, wonderful birds brought out clumsy until the time chicks, in the summer they taught them to fly, and in the fall, together with the brood, sadly left the lake, flying away to warmer climes until next year. Every time, seeing the swans on their way, Siegfried experienced some kind of indistinct sadness, an indistinct and agonizing feeling ...
Once, on a warm spring night, the prince came to the lake again. spring night was truly magical - one of those nights when we are unreasonably happy - because we are alive, because the night belongs to us, because we can freely enjoy the contemplation of scatterings of twinkling stars or the flights of silver moths in the night, enjoying the feeling of Harmony poured into broadcast.
Suddenly, Siegfried saw a swan coming ashore, which threw off its white plumage and turned into a young, beautiful girl with thick dark hair and clear, like a lake, light greenish eyes. The girl stood on the shore, looking thoughtfully at the dark lake, which seemed bottomless in the night, and suddenly began to sing. The melody was artless, but for some reason the prince's heart sank: the song was overflowing with light and joy - the joy of Being, a feeling of unreasonable happiness. Siegfried grabbed the wings of the swan and threw them high into the sky, and they melted in the sky. The girl shuddered as she saw the prince approaching her. "Who are you, beautiful stranger?" asked Siegfried. - My name is Odette, I often fly here with my friends. Why did you throw away my wings, because without them I can't fly home? - Forgive me, dear girl, but I can’t let you go, it seems to me that I have been waiting for you all my life, I can no longer live without you. Marry me.
Odette looked at the prince carefully. His eyes, full of delight and shy joy, convinced her more than any words of the sincerity of the proposal, and she gladly agreed.
Queen Ilona warmly greeted her daughter-in-law, she understood that now she would not be so worried about her son, he would settle down, would live in the palace with her and his young wife.
Prince Siegfried settled with Odette in the palace, soon a daughter was born to them, named White Spot. So they called her because on the back of the baby along the shoulder blades two round white spots were visible. Odette knew that these were the beginnings of wings and was happy for her daughter. She understood that someday her girl would fly away to other countries, where she would also meet her betrothed.
Odette was very happy, but sometimes some incomprehensible longing was mixed with her joy. She felt that for some reason the palace was pressing on her, entangling her from all sides. In addition, household chores did not often let her go to Swan Lake. Less and less often she burst out to him, less and less she wanted to sing, as before, especially under the cold, strict, unblinking gaze of Ilona, who believed that it was not proper for a married lady to sing in the open air, she was only allowed to quietly hum a lullaby to your child.
After some time, Odette noticed that Swan Lake had changed: the swans were gradually transferred to it, the hitherto purest water was covered with thick duckweed, the banks were overgrown with reeds.
Odette tried very hard to please everyone in the palace: she courted her husband, pleased the queen mother, fiddled tirelessly with her daughter, but sometimes it seemed to her that the White Spot was missing maternal love, and then she suffered from remorse. But how to be - did not know. After all, Siegfried was jealous and behaved like a boy, offended by her if she paid more attention not to him, but to their child.
In addition, although Queen Ilona generally treated Odette well, she always made it clear to her that she was the mistress of the palace: without the permission of the Queen Mother, nothing could be changed in the interior of the palace. Even the tapestries on the walls and the bed in the bedchamber of the young were selected under her vigilant supervision. Just as before, the queen mother did not allow Siegfried to leave for a long time state affairs, very reluctantly let them go with Odette to balls in neighboring kingdoms. “Children, what are you doing there, pray tell? At home, it's much quieter." Odette, on the other hand, was embarrassed to tell Ilona that she was no longer young and did not remember what desires and dreams had overwhelmed her in her youth.
Sometimes the young princess could hardly restrain herself when, under a plausible pretext, she was not allowed to invite a friend to visit or change something in the arrangement of the festive fireworks. “Sunny, you forgot that your mother is sick, but she devoted her whole life to me. You and I must take care of her,” Siegfried sometimes gently reminded her.
Gradually, Odette began to be jealous of her husband for Ilona. She felt with what respect and love he treated his mother, with what readiness he defended Ilona from Odette's "scandals" and "attacks", as the Queen Mother called the daughter-in-law's weak objections on any occasion. Over time, Odette felt something very important leave her relationship with Siegfried. She longingly recalled the times when, at the sound of her voice, or the rustle of a rustling dress, Siegfried raised his head, breaking away from any business, and rushed to meet her eagerly, hurrying to touch her or whisper something tender. Previously, when Odette briefly left for a neighboring kingdom, to her godmother Fairy of Colorful Dreams, Siegfried was bored and asked her to return as soon as possible. Now the prince's love was calm, almost brotherly. When Odette could not stand it and began to reproach him for being indifferent to her, Siegfried, in his own defense, said: “Darling, eternal love it doesn’t happen, and in general, you yourself are largely to blame, your frequent quarrels with your mother led to this, they contributed to the fact that the fire of my feelings subsided somewhat ”...
After some time, Odette noticed that the prince had changed even more. His gaze became detached, he often thought about something, freezing in one place. At night he could not fall asleep for a long time and stood at the bedroom window for a long time, peering into the Swan Lake, spread out in front of the palace.
One day, Odette heard the prince tenderly say in a dream: “Odile, dear, please don’t fly away” ... Her heart sank. Soon she noticed that the queen mother was looking at her with some anxiety, looking at her inquiringly, as if trying to find out if Odette had noticed a change in her husband and if she knew the reasons for this change.
One warm summer evening, Odette could not sleep, and she went out into the palace garden. Her feet led her to Swan Lake. Suddenly she heard the sound of wings and saw how an unfamiliar black swan threw off her plumage and turned into a lovely woman with golden hair and sparkling blue eyes. She sang and Prince Siegfried, standing on the shore, ran up to her and hugged her knees. “Odile, dear Odile, I have been waiting for you all my life. I don't live without you, I just vegetate… - And what about your wife Odette? - asked the stranger. - She is a good, faithful wife, but if you knew how she disgusted me with her care, climbs into all my affairs, she doesn’t let me decide anything on my own, and even often quarrels with my mom, they just tear me apart, these two aunts…” The stranger smiled triumphantly. - "Yes, dear, you will not envy" ... From the looseness of their treatment of each other, Odette realized that this meeting was not the first.
It was as if a knife had been pierced into Odette's heart, it became difficult for her to breathe. All the years she did not cease to love her husband, never once did her gaze fall with interest on any prince or any handsome man in their kingdom, who often willingly swirled around her. Jealousy and resentment at Siegfried's betrayal choked her. She felt an ardent desire to run to the palace, grab the White Spot in her arm and run away with her together, never to see her husband again, not to see the ill-fated Swan Lake, a witness to her misfortune.
Barely moving her legs, with dry lips, fixed eyes, Odette dragged herself to the palace. She quickly packed her things and left with White Spot for the Reserved Forest at the other end of Swan Lake. There, once with Siegfried, they built a small house, so that sometimes they would come to it when they wanted solitude, in order to take a break from the palace bustle and crowds. Odette wanted to hide even further, to fly to the other side of the world, but she could not do this - after all, once Siegfried threw her wings into the sky. They could grow new wings only when a feeling of freedom, light, joy of life again appeared in her life, along with her once lost voice. And where could this come from in her broken soul?
As time went on, Odette gradually felt that her soul was healing, the wounds were overgrown, healed, as the cracks in the birch bark, from where eager lovers draw birch sap, healed every spring. She wanted to sing again, chat with cute friends (now no one forbade her to do this!), Run and jump in a race with the White Spot, travel. One day she woke up from a strange sensation - something prevented her from sleeping on her back. In the mirror, she saw two snow-white wings and, with joy, rushed to kiss her daughter.
A few days later, Prince Siegfried drove up to the little house. He threw himself on his knees before Odette. “Forgive me, I am guilty before you. I don't know what to do... I love only you, it's like I was bewitched. When I close my eyes, all I see is Odile, I think of her continuously, but I long for you, for our past. How good we were with you, remember? I want everything to go back the way it was…”
“It won’t be like it was,” Odette said sadly, “it can only be different.
- But as?
- I don't know.
- Do you forgive me?
- I forgave you a long time ago, I love you, but I don’t want to see you anymore. I cannot live with a person who, in his sleep, lovingly pronounces not my name.
Sadly, Siegfried returned to the Queen Mother. After some time, Ilona came to Odette. “I beg you - forgive my son and return to him. This bastard just bewitched him. He does not sleep, does not eat, all the armor falls off him. To forget - every evening he drinks water infused with reeds, which knocks him down. At night, he walks around the palace and talks to himself.”
- But maybe he loves Odile?
- No, this is not love, this is an evil obsession. I remember how it was with you. Siegfried then beamed with happiness, he could not find a place for himself with joy. And now it’s all dried up, turned black, it seems to me that he won’t have much time left ... Save my boy, he is the whole meaning of my life ...
Odette's heart sank. "Like this?"
- And so. My court physician said that he was powerless, that magical love, a love spell, could bring to death.
“But maybe he doesn’t need to be saved, maybe Odile loves him?”
- Yes, what kind of love is there! She sometimes flies at night to the lake. After each meeting, Siegfried gives her another family jewel, begs her to stay longer, and she hurries to fly away, saying that she wants to remain free and not belong to anyone. I have several times asked the royal archer to watch for the witch when she arrives and shoot her with an arrow, but nothing happens, the arrows return like enchanted ones. A witch is a witch.
- But she must be afraid for his health, she sees how he suffers?
- She doesn't care, she just likes to feel her power over him, she likes that another prince is going crazy for her, in my opinion, she just collects them.
Odette went into the depths of the Forbidden Forest to the old healer, whom she once brought food from the palace. She received her kindly.
- What do you want, baby, why are you so sad?
- I'm afraid for my husband, he was bewitched by a vile witch and he may die. Help me!
- Let's see. Here's a bottle of Swan Lake for you. I drew water from it five years ago, when the water in the Lake was clear as glass. It is very useful for lovers, because so many generations of swan couples swam in the waters of the Lake, conveying their feelings to him. This water of insight. In love, purity and transparency of feelings, understanding and insight are so important, but love does not live in muddy water. Take this water. Let's drink to the prince and drink yourself. You also need to understand a lot about yourself.
Hesitantly, Siegfried took the water from Odette's hands. But, having drunk the first glass, he suddenly looked at Odette: “Odette, dear, forgive me, thank you! I now clearly saw Odile, just as clearly as you ... She is in some kind of palace, an unfamiliar young prince is kneeling in front of her. Here he puts on her finger wedding ring, and she laughs triumphantly. My God, what meanness, damned witch! What pain I caused you, I just now felt. I don't want to live, my soul hurts so much! »
- Siegfried, darling, calm down, I recently had the same pain as you. But gradually the pain passed, and I believe that it will also go away for you. Now, you won’t believe it, I’m even grateful to Odile in my own way.
???
- This story made me look at you and me differently. I understand why I lost you. All the years I fought with external enemy- by your mother, everyone tried to free herself from her influence and dictate, your palace simply choked me, and I dreamed of breaking out of it and living with you and the White Spot. But it turns out that the gratings were inside me, so I didn’t sing and my Lake felt it, swamped. So you forgot what I used to be. Therefore, Odile was able to appear in your life, another princess could have been in her place ...
- Do you think I'll get better?
- I really want it.
Six months passed, gradually the healing water began to do its job: Siegfried slowly began to gain strength, eat with appetite, sometimes began to leave the palace, even took part in a jousting tournament once. But Odile saw that his eyes were still sad; special interest. It seemed to her that their love had died forever.
First despair, then indignation, even resentment began to grow in her soul. She turned to her godmother, the Fairy of Colorful Dreams, for help. She greeted her cordially, but was in no hurry to show her sympathy, which, of course, Odette counted on.
- Mother, I'm so sorry! began Odette.
- And why are you actually offended? Have you decided that once you saved your husband - now he is all yours, with giblets, and from eternal gratitude to you will carry you in his arms for the rest of his life? Right?
That's right, - Odette looked down.
- That's just it, But in love there can be no gratitude, or rather, you cannot love out of Gratitude. This is, in general, coercion, coercion due to the need to pay for the good you have done.
- And how? Will his love for me return again? After all, he secretly takes out a medallion with a portrait of Odile and examines it. Recently, he told me that he understands what an unseemly role she played in his life. But he can’t help himself, he can’t forget her, she, like a scabies itch, has penetrated into his soul, and he can’t pick it out from there ... I’m so offended. I'm a hundred times better than her!
- And he does not appreciate you, so white and fluffy!
- Mother, do not mock me, I feel so bad!
- Honey, you reminded me of a parable about two Zen monks, who were approached by a girl with a request to carry her across the river. One suffered it, and the other was terribly angry with him for it. The first monk told him that he had simply carried the girl and left her on the shore, while his companion was still carrying her.
So, I need to leave everything as it is. Nothing to help Siegfried?
- Certainly. Sweep only the rubbish of your quarrels, omissions and insults and see what is left on the scoop, what does your heart tell you?
- My heart says - go away, take your White Spot and leave Siegfried to himself ...
- That's right, you can't lay straw all the time for him, protect and protect him from life, he must mature and make his choice himself. Only the pain of separation, the pain of parting, can wake him up, only the pain of surgery, the real cutting off, can save the sick soul.
- And what about me?
- And you look for the seeds of Love in your soul.
- To whom?
- Now it's not so important. Let the sprouts get stronger and grow, then you will understand what kind of Love you will collect...
A year has passed. Swan Lake somehow imperceptibly began to clear. Reeds no longer grew on its banks, the water in it again became clean and transparent like a tear. And in the spring, several swan pairs flew to it.
Once, in a small house in the Forbidden Forest, a loud, roaring cry was heard. Soon, a young couple began to come to Swan Lake, who were walking along the shore of the lake in a stroller with a sweetly sniffing baby in it.

Marina Vladimova, 2011

PROLOGUE

Ancient park. Princess Odette is sad. Suddenly, a stranger appears, accompanied by a retinue. This is Rothbart the Evil Genius. He proposes marriage to the princess, but Odette rejects him. Rothbart turns her into a white swan.

STEP ONE

Picture one

Garden in front of the castle of the sovereign princess. Prince Siegfried is having fun with his friends: funny dances of the jester are replaced by dances of girls and their gentlemen.

The sovereign princess is interested in which of the girls Siegfried fell in love with. But while the prince is fascinated by a life full of careless entertainment. He can't answer his mother. The sovereign princess retires.

The fun continues. But now it ceases to interest Siegfried. After the cup dance, the prince asks his friends to leave him alone. He is sad. His gaze is attracted by a flying flock of swans. Siegfried takes the crossbow and follows them.

Picture two

Lake Shore. The swans lead Siegfried into a dense forest thicket, where the ruins of an old castle rise around a dark lake. His attention is attracted by the beautiful White Swan turning into a girl. This is Princess Odette. She reveals to Siegfried the secret of the spell gravitating over her: an evil wizard turned her into a swan, and only at night, near these rocks, she again becomes a girl. Siegfried is touched by Odette's mournful story and is ready to kill the sorcerer. But this does not dispel evil spells. Only the selfless love of a young man who has never sworn love to anyone can remove the evil spell from her. Siegfried, overcome by a feeling of love for Odette, gives her an oath of eternal fidelity.

The Evil Genius suddenly appears and separates Odette and Siegfried. But Siegfried is confident in the strength and immutability of his feelings: he will free Odette from the power of the sorcerer.

ACT TWO

Picture three

Solemn ball in a luxurious castle. Princesses gather for the feast different countries. Among them, Siegfried must choose his bride. However, he coldly turns away from them: the prince is full of memories of the beautiful Odette.

An unknown guest appears. This is Evil Genius. He came to the ball with his daughter Odile, who bears a striking resemblance to Odette. Odile charms the prince, and Siegfried announces to his mother his decision to marry her. The sorcerer triumphs. Now the oath is broken and Odette will die. With an evil laugh, the Evil Genius points to a magical vision - the quivering image of Odette.

Siegfried realizes that he has been deceived and in desperation rushes to the swan lake.

Picture Four

Lake Shore. Gloomy disturbing night. Odette is shocked: now her hope of release is lost. Siegfried runs in. He did not break the oath: there, in the castle, in Odile, he saw his Odette - his love confession was addressed to her.

The evil genius, in a rage, summons the forces of nature against the lovers: a storm begins, lightning flashes. But now nothing can break the young pure love and separate Odette and Siegfried. Then the Evil Genius himself enters into combat with the prince - and dies. His spell is broken.

Odette turns into a girl and, together with Siegfried, joyfully meets the first rays of the rising sun.

Storyteller and explorer

The prototype of the Swan Lake interested me for a long time. It was based on a certain German legend, but it was not possible to find a single fairy tale that completely coincides with the libretto. The prototypes that inspired Tchaikovsky for ballet were called Russian folk tale"The White Duck" and "The Stolen Veil" in the retelling of Johann Museus.

"Swan Lake", a fairy tale narrated by Margot Fonteyn, with illustrations by Trine Shart-Heeman

But in these tales, as they say, everything was not so. In "Swan Lake" tragic story Odette, the swan queen, who was turned into a swan and is pursued by the evil sorcerer Rothbart, the owner of the swan lake. The Swan Queen meets Prince Siegfried, who swears eternal love to her and this should save Odette from evil spells. But before the wedding, it does not come. The prudent Rothbart comes to the prince’s ball with his daughter Odile, whom the prince either takes for Odette, or simply forgets about her when he sees a new beauty, but as a result, Siegfried almost calls the impostor his bride, and Odette, who has seen everything, runs to the lake in tears . Siegfried catches up to her and begs for forgiveness. And then there are several options. Siegfried decides to atone for his guilt with his own death, thereby proving his loyalty and removing the spell from Odette, but she cannot live without him, and both heroes are swallowed up by the lake. In another rarer variant, Siegfried challenges and defeats Rothbart, and Odette is saved.

"Swan Lake", illustration by Trina Shart-Heeman

In "White Duck" - closest to the libretto - we are talking about the princess turned into a duck by an evil sorceress while the prince is away. The sorceress replaces the lawful spouse with herself and lives happily ever after, until the duck brings out the kids and, when the sorceress tries to kill them, the lawful father finds out the truth and saves everyone. The plot where the husband lives with a witch pretending to be his wife is quite common. AND main topic in such tales - disobedience, because the princess runs into a transformation, because she violates her husband's prohibition, for example, not to leave the tower in his absence. However, in "Swan Lake" this theme goes away, and the condemnation of adultery and the inability to keep one's word comes to the fore.

white duck- illustration by Ivan Bilibin.

In The Stolen Veil by Museus, the story is reversed. Main character in it is a man - a soldier of the Swabian army Friedbert (the name is consonant with Siegfried). The heroine is a princess, a descendant of Leda, who can turn into a swan by own will. Enticed by her beauty, Friedbert takes possession of her magic veil, and without confessing to the girl in this, pretends that he wants to help her in every possible way. His calculation is simple. He was going to achieve a situation, as Lyudmila said in "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears": "He loves me, he cannot imagine life without a child, and he will also ask for forgiveness." The matter really goes to the wedding, but just before the wedding, the hero’s ingenuous mother accidentally gives Callista her coverlet and the girl realizes that she has been cruelly deceived all this time. She throws on a veil and flies away, and the unlucky swan catcher has no choice but to go looking for her. For unfulfilled passion and guilt are terrible driving force. Of course, Friedbert finds his sweetheart, moreover, dying of love. For decency, she tried to drive away the deceiver, but he knew what to say and, of course, justified his trickery with love for her. What follows is a happy reunion of a not particularly noble and, frankly, not particularly noble hero with a princess who generously showers him with all the blessings.

The stolen veil, woodcuts - R. Jordan

I don't like this story. It was written in the 18th century in too sweet courtly language, in a gallant spirit, and therefore adultery, condemned in Swan Lake, blooms and smells here in full, just like the idea of "love will write everything off." And she does write off gigantic amounts of deceit. The characters are simply amazing. That the enterprising Friedbert, that the imaginary monk Beno, that the Beautiful Zoya is the sensual mother of Callista. The main character, of course, is the first gallant, but if we discard this, then the bottom line will be - a deceiver, a deserter, an imaginary hermit and just a resourceful guy who, under the guise of holy relics, sells his rags and the staff of another hermit, and also attributed to himself a noble pedigree to marry Callista. I would say that he is an exemplary businessman. The knight is like the moon to him, and Siegfried, seduced by Odile, is just an angel in front of him. Love here justifies the imaginary monasticism that Beno accepts, dreaming of only one thing - to see Zoya the swan again and take away her wings. Friedbert justifies all his actions with love. Beautiful Zoe justifies her craving for a visiting knight with love, and Callisto, of course, turns out to be Beno's daughter, and not her legal daddy. I do not recommend reading to children, and adults will be bored.

I want to say that in Russian fairy tales the plot of stolen wings is also found. I would even have decided that he served as the basis for the Museus fairy tale, but our Ivan Tsarevichs acted more honestly, in any case, the sea princess fell in love, knowing who he was and what he was capable of. So the transformation into a ballet benefited the plot. In the form of "Swan Lake" he became simpler, but more romantic and started talking about eternal values fidelity, sacrifice and love, which gives strength and saves from wiles. That, apparently, is worth it.