Auguste Vaucorbeil Vídeos
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André Messager Niedermeyer Auguste Vaucorbeil Donizetti Mauri Delibes Ashton Saint Saens Herold Richard Bonynge Saint Sulpice Welsh National Opera 1853 1875 1886 1929 1961 1995
P.S. Due to the lack of concrete scenic notes for the ballet, the individual numbers are noted in accordance with the logic of the ballet's narrative. Painting: "The delicate step" by Gaston de Latouche. History (based on materials from the Grove Dictionary of Music): Following his formal musical education at the Ecole Niedermeyer and lessons with Saint-Saans, Andre Messager +••.••(...)) succeeded Faure as the choral organist at the Saint-Sulpice before beginning a career as a stage composer at the Folies-Bergere in the late 1870s. He had by this time already composed a symphony, been awarded a prize by the Societe des auteurs, compositeurs et editeurs de musique in 1875 and written two cantatas, one of which ("Don Juan et Haydee") brought him to the attention of Auguste Vaucorbeil, the director of the Paris Opera, who subsequently made a commission to the young composer for a pastoral ballet, "Les deux pigeons" ("The two pigeons"). Messager spared no time in writing the work, though Vaucorbeil's premature death postponed the premiere of the new ballet by almost a year. "Les pigeons" received its first performance on the 18th of October, 1886, in a double bill with Donizetti's "La favorite" (an unusual combination to be sure (!)) with a respective cast of Rosita Mauri and Marie Sanlaville. Though certainly not a success on the scale of Delibes' more famous ballets, "Les deux pigeons" achieved a total of 196 performances on the stage of the Opera and has been performed occasionally in more recent times (most famously in a 1961 production by Frederick Ashton). P.S. On a side note, Messager's ballet also has the distinction of being the first ballet to be rehearsed at the Opera with piano accompaniment (instead of the traditional combination of violin and viola) Narrative: The plot, drawn from a fable by Jean de la Fontaine, could be considered slim but, considering the light nature of the score, it serves its purposes rather well: the hero, Pepio (originally a woman's part), is discontented with the company of his fiancé Gourouli; thus, when a group of gypsies visit their village, Pepio is immediately attracted both to their free lifestyle and, in particular, to the fair Djali, leaving his love behind to join in their wanderings for a few days. Gourouli's grandmother, Mikalia, advises her to follow him disguised as a gypsy. Arriving at their camp, she makes all the men fall in love with her and bribes them to make Pepio's life miserable. A storm breaks, and the gypsies disappear with Pepio's money. He returns home chastened and asking forgiveness which he, of course, receives. Music: Just like "Javotte" by Saint-Saens, "Les pigeons" is an unassuming work of uplifting lightness, written in a style which wouldn't have seemed out of place at the beginning, rather than the end, of the nineteenth century. With its handsome melodies and surprisingly refined accompaniments (one needs not go any further than the adagio of Act I with its expressive use of clear string and romantic horn lines) which make choreography a natural and seamless process, Messager's score is a perfect dancer's ballet. The music is very much in the style of Herold ("La fille mal gardee" is a clear model) and, at the same time, amazingly refreshing, making for a very fine evening at the theatre, especially if the work were combined with a more substantial piece, such as Adam's "Giselle". The highlights are often of superb quality: Act I begins with a lovingly warm argument for the lovers, mirroring two pigeons, which combines both whimsical gestures, such as a brief trio for flute, harp and horn, and flights of ardent passion, such as in the following string passage; the Act I gypsy divertissement is home to both a melting adagio for the dusky Djali and a set of wonderfully upbeat variations which ultimately develop this effective theme into a fiery czardas, complete with a racing melody and cymbals (three out of four sections of the variations are included: the moderato (1st variation), the adagio (theme), and the presto (3rd variation)); Gourouli is gifted, after a lovely entrance scene in Act II, set as a traditional combination of harp and strings, with a charming pizzicato, graced with laughing wind figures in its second half, which clearly draws on Sylvia's similarly-scored scene from Delibes' ballet; finally, the long Act II divertissement includes both an explosive Hungarian dance and a beautifully sustained andante, enchantingly contrasting the violins and the cellos. All in all, a work that deserves to be much more well-known, if only for its artlessness and charm. Recording: The 1995 Decca recording of the complete score (in its original two act version) is a charming account of the score by Richard Bonynge and the Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera. Hope you'll enjoy :).
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