Le Papillon (ballet)
Encyclopedia
Le papillon is a "fantastic ballet
" in 2 acts, with choreography by Marie Taglioni
and music by Jacques Offenbach
to a libretto
by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges.
It was first presented by the Paris Opera Ballet
at the Salle Le Peletier on November 26, 1860 after a performance of Lucie de Lammermoor
. The principal dancers were Emma Livry
(as Farfalla/the Butterfly), Louis Mérante
(as Prince Djalma), Louise Marquet (as the Fairy Hamza), and Mme. Simon (as the Diamond Fairy).
The valse des rayons was used by Offenbach in the third act ballet for Die Rheinnixen
(1864) and parts of the score were inserted in the French version of Whittington, Le chat du diable (1893).
created an expanded staging in 4 acts for the Imperial Ballet
with Ludwig Minkus
adapting Offenbach's score. It was first presented in January 1874 at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre
in Saint Petersburg
with Ekaterina Vazem
(as Farfalla/the Butterfly), Lev Ivanov
(as Prince Djalma), Pavel Gerdt
(as Patimate), Mathil'da Madaeva (as the Fairy Hamza), and Lubov Radina (as the Diamond Fairy). Petipa added a variation
to the Grand pas des papillons to a waltz by Luigi Venzano especially for Ekaterina Vazem – this variation became known as the Pas Vazem, and was much celebrated among the balletomanes of Saint Petersburg.
The original ballet was revived in a reconstruction by Pierre Lacotte at the Rome Opera in 1982.
Resting from a hunt Prince Djalma and his entourage enter. Everyone enjoys the food and wine, although the tutor thinks Farfalla that is the once kidnapped princess.
The prince dances a mazurka with the maid and thanks her with a kiss. The tipsy Hamza is teased by the others and flies into a rage, lures Farfalla into a box and using her magic stick, when the box opens again, a beautiful butterfly emerges. Butterflies flutter into the room from doors, windows and even the chimney before being chased out by Hamza.
After the Prince and his entourage have left Hamza's castle they reach a forest clearing, where shortly the butterflies fly in. When one of the butterflies is pinned to a tree by the prince, it suddenly turns into a crying girl. It falls to the ground unconscious and on inspection appears to be the prince’s dance partner of earlier. But it recovers and re-joins the others.
Hamza now arrives in the clearing with her gardener. With her magic stick she locates her maid among the butterflies and tries to catch her in a net. But leaving her magic wand unattended for a moment her gardener Patimate tries to help Farfalla. He touches
his mistress with the wand and she is frozen on the spot, upon which the butterflies hasten to capture Hamza in the net. Meanwhile Patimate tells Djalma about Farfalla’s real identity. However, he forgets to take the magic wand and a leprechaun steals in grabs it and rushes away.
The prince carries the fairy off to his uncle’s palace.
Act 2 opens at the palace of the emir Ismaël, where the happy Djalma and Farfalla arrive in a golden carriage. It emerges that Farfalla is in fact his daughter and can marry his nephew Djalma.
However, when the prince tries to embrace his love Farfalla reminds him how not long before he wanted to impale a butterfly to a tree. Djalma tries again to kiss her, but Hamza, lurking nearby throws herself between them and obtains the kiss meant for Farfalla.
The spell works for Hamza and she is turned into a beautiful young girl. Prince Djalma is confused to see the two beautiful women. He courts the rejuvenated fairy, hoping to make Farfalla throws herself into his arms, but Hamza flies into a rage and sends the prince into a magnetic sleep, while Farfalla is changed back into a butterfuly. The palace of the Emir is transformed into a park.
The last tableau, in grandiose gardens, has Djalma awakening and finds himself surrounded by a swarm of butterflies, including his beloved Farfalla.
Hamza enters with her four sisters boasting of her exploits, and secretly dreaming of marrying the prince. In rehearsal for such an event she summons a band of golden harps, and a torch carrier. Farfalla is attracted by the glow of the torch, but in touching the lamp she burns her wings and the charm fades: she retakes her human form and collapses into the arms of the prince. Hamza's sisters break the magic stick and together transform the Hamza into a statue. The wedding with Djalma now has no more obstacles and the young couple can wed in the fairy palace which appears in the gardens.
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
" in 2 acts, with choreography by Marie Taglioni
Marie Taglioni
Marie Taglioni was a famous Italian/Swedish ballerina of the Romantic ballet era, a central figure in the history of European dance.-Biography:...
and music by Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
to a libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges.
It was first presented by the Paris Opera Ballet
Paris Opera Ballet
The Paris Opera Ballet is the oldest national ballet company in the world, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it...
at the Salle Le Peletier on November 26, 1860 after a performance of Lucie de Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....
. The principal dancers were Emma Livry
Emma Livry
Emma Livry was one of the last ballerinas of the Romantic ballet era and a protégée of Marie Taglioni...
(as Farfalla/the Butterfly), Louis Mérante
Louis Mérante
Louis Alexandre Mérante was a dancer and choreographer, the Maître de Ballet of the Paris Opera Ballet at the Salle Le Peletier until its destruction by fire in 1873, and subsequently the first Ballet Master at the company's new Palais Garnier, which opened in 1875...
(as Prince Djalma), Louise Marquet (as the Fairy Hamza), and Mme. Simon (as the Diamond Fairy).
The valse des rayons was used by Offenbach in the third act ballet for Die Rheinnixen
Die Rheinnixen
Die Rheinnixen is a romantic opera in four acts by Jacques Offenbach. The original libretto by Charles-Louis-Etienne Nuitter was translated into German by Alfred von Wolzogen....
(1864) and parts of the score were inserted in the French version of Whittington, Le chat du diable (1893).
Revivals/restagings
Marius PetipaMarius Petipa
Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa was a French ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. Petipa is considered to be the most influential ballet master and choreographer of ballet that has ever lived....
created an expanded staging in 4 acts for the Imperial Ballet
Mariinsky Ballet
The Mariinsky Ballet is a classical ballet company based at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in the 18th century and originally known as the Imperial Russian Ballet, the Mariinsky Ballet is one of the world's leading ballet companies...
with Ludwig Minkus
Ludwig Minkus
Ludwig Minkus a.k.a. Léon Fyodorovich Minkus was an Austrian composer of ballet music, a violin virtuoso and teacher.Minkus is most noted for the music he composed while serving as Ballet Composer of the St...
adapting Offenbach's score. It was first presented in January 1874 at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre
Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre
The Saint Petersburg Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre was a theatre in Saint Petersburg.- History :It was built in 1783 to Antonio Rinaldi's Neoclassical design as the Kamenny Theatre. It was rebuilt in 1802 and renamed the Bolshoi, but burned down in 1811. The building was restored in 1818, and...
in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
with Ekaterina Vazem
Ekaterina Vazem
Ekaterina Vazem was a Russian prima ballerina. She was made famous for first dancing the role of Nikiya in 1877 Marius Petipa's ballet, La Bayadère...
(as Farfalla/the Butterfly), Lev Ivanov
Lev Ivanov
Lev Ivanovich Ivanov was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer and later, Second Balletmaster of the Imperial Ballet....
(as Prince Djalma), Pavel Gerdt
Pavel Gerdt
Pavel Andreyevich Gerdt, also known as Paul Gerdt , was the Premier Danseur Noble of the Imperial Ballet, the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, and the Mariinsky Theatre for 56 years, making his debut in 1860, and retiring in 1916...
(as Patimate), Mathil'da Madaeva (as the Fairy Hamza), and Lubov Radina (as the Diamond Fairy). Petipa added a variation
Variation (ballet)
Variation or Classical Variation in ballet is a solo dance. As with an Aria in opera, which allows the singer to demonstrate his or her interpretive skills, the variation in ballet has the same function...
to the Grand pas des papillons to a waltz by Luigi Venzano especially for Ekaterina Vazem – this variation became known as the Pas Vazem, and was much celebrated among the balletomanes of Saint Petersburg.
The original ballet was revived in a reconstruction by Pierre Lacotte at the Rome Opera in 1982.
Synopsis
After the Prelude, the first tableau of Act 1 opens with the evil old fairy Hamza treating her servant roughly. Hamza once abducted the Emir's daughter Farfalla who now serves as her maid. Looking in the mirror Hamza wishes only to become young again, but to do this she must be kissed by a young prince.Resting from a hunt Prince Djalma and his entourage enter. Everyone enjoys the food and wine, although the tutor thinks Farfalla that is the once kidnapped princess.
The prince dances a mazurka with the maid and thanks her with a kiss. The tipsy Hamza is teased by the others and flies into a rage, lures Farfalla into a box and using her magic stick, when the box opens again, a beautiful butterfly emerges. Butterflies flutter into the room from doors, windows and even the chimney before being chased out by Hamza.
After the Prince and his entourage have left Hamza's castle they reach a forest clearing, where shortly the butterflies fly in. When one of the butterflies is pinned to a tree by the prince, it suddenly turns into a crying girl. It falls to the ground unconscious and on inspection appears to be the prince’s dance partner of earlier. But it recovers and re-joins the others.
Hamza now arrives in the clearing with her gardener. With her magic stick she locates her maid among the butterflies and tries to catch her in a net. But leaving her magic wand unattended for a moment her gardener Patimate tries to help Farfalla. He touches
his mistress with the wand and she is frozen on the spot, upon which the butterflies hasten to capture Hamza in the net. Meanwhile Patimate tells Djalma about Farfalla’s real identity. However, he forgets to take the magic wand and a leprechaun steals in grabs it and rushes away.
The prince carries the fairy off to his uncle’s palace.
Act 2 opens at the palace of the emir Ismaël, where the happy Djalma and Farfalla arrive in a golden carriage. It emerges that Farfalla is in fact his daughter and can marry his nephew Djalma.
However, when the prince tries to embrace his love Farfalla reminds him how not long before he wanted to impale a butterfly to a tree. Djalma tries again to kiss her, but Hamza, lurking nearby throws herself between them and obtains the kiss meant for Farfalla.
The spell works for Hamza and she is turned into a beautiful young girl. Prince Djalma is confused to see the two beautiful women. He courts the rejuvenated fairy, hoping to make Farfalla throws herself into his arms, but Hamza flies into a rage and sends the prince into a magnetic sleep, while Farfalla is changed back into a butterfuly. The palace of the Emir is transformed into a park.
The last tableau, in grandiose gardens, has Djalma awakening and finds himself surrounded by a swarm of butterflies, including his beloved Farfalla.
Hamza enters with her four sisters boasting of her exploits, and secretly dreaming of marrying the prince. In rehearsal for such an event she summons a band of golden harps, and a torch carrier. Farfalla is attracted by the glow of the torch, but in touching the lamp she burns her wings and the charm fades: she retakes her human form and collapses into the arms of the prince. Hamza's sisters break the magic stick and together transform the Hamza into a statue. The wedding with Djalma now has no more obstacles and the young couple can wed in the fairy palace which appears in the gardens.
Recordings
- Offenbach, Jacques: Le papillon, London Symphony OrchestraLondon Symphony OrchestraThe London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
, Richard BonyngeRichard BonyngeRichard Alan Bonynge, AO, CBE is an Australian conductor and pianist.Bonynge was born in Sydney and educated at Sydney Boys High School before studying piano at the Royal College of Music in London. He gave up his music scholarship, continuing his private piano studies, and became a coach for...
, DeccaDecca RecordsDecca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
SXL 6588