The first performance of "Swan Lake" was a disaster. Herman Laroche wrote, "I must say that I had never seen a poorer presentation on the Bolshoi stage. The costumes, decor, and machines did not hide in the least the emptiness of the dances. Not a single balletomane got out of it even five minutes of pleasure." He praised the music. He wrote that Tchaikovsky was "in excellent humour ... he was fully at the height of his genius." Tchaikovsky's brother Modest wrote, "The poverty of the production, meaning the décor and costumes, the absence of outstanding performers, the Ballet Master's weakness of imagination, and, finally, the orchestra ... all of this together permitted [Tchaikovsky] with good reason to cast the blame for the failure on others." The ballet was a moderate success with theatre-goers however. It was presented 33 times between its première at the Bolshoi in 1877 and its final performance in 1883.
Tchaikovsky died on 6 November 1893. People started to take more interest in his music after his death. Lev Ivanov was the assistant Ballet Master at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. He designed new dances for Act 2. This act was presented on 1 March 1894 in a concert at the Mariinsky in memory of Tchaikovsky. Pierina Legnani danced Odette. The revised act was a great success. It was presented again with even greater success. Marius Petipa was the Ballet Master at the Mariinsky. He was impressed with the success of these two presentations. He made the decision to stage the complete ballet at the Mariinsky. He designed the dances for Acts 1 and 3 while Ivanov designed the dances for Acts 2 and 4.
Riccardo Drigo was the conductor of the Mariinsky orchestra. He dropped some numbers from the ballet. He orchestrated three piano numbers from Tchaikovsky's Op. 72. He then put them in the ballet. These three numbers were "L'Espiègle", "Valse Bluette", and "Un poco di Chopin". He then put a number into Act 3 which he may have written himself.
Tchaikovsky's brother Modest changed the ballet's story a little for the revision. He gave the ballet a happy ending. The new "Swan Lake" was presented on 27 January 1895 at the Mariinsky. Pierina Legnani danced both Odette and Odile. The ballet was a great success. This version of the ballet is the one generally seen today.
"Swan Lake" is famous for the 32 "fouettés en tournant" in Act 3. These "fouettés" are danced at the end of the "Black Swan" "pas de deux" by the ballerina playing Odile. The "pas" was an afterthought of Tchaikovsky's. It was not included in the original production. It consists of the opening adagio followed by a variation for the male dancer. This is followed by a variation for the ballerina. The whole concludes with a brisk movement for both dancers that includes the "fouettés". Pierina Legnani first danced the "fouettés" in the Mariinsky production of 1895. Ballet-goers were uncertain about the 32 "fouettés". Some thought they were just a stunt. Others found them exciting. These ballet-goers went to every performance to count the number of turns.
"Swan Lake" became known in Europe and the United States not long after the revised version was presented at the Mariinsky Theatre in 1895. It was first presented in Europe at Prague in June 1907. It was first presented in the United States at the Metropolitan Opera House in December 1911. Diaghilev's Ballets Russes presented a two-act "Swan Lake" in London in 1911. The Ballets Russes presented a one-act version in London in 1925. The complete "Swan Lake" was first presented in England by the Sadler's Wells Ballet in November 1934. Ballerinas portraying Odette include Mathilde Kchessinska, Anna Pavlova, and Margot Fonteyn. Pavel Gerdt was the Prince Siegfried of the 1895 St. Petersburg production. Nijinsky and Rudolph Nureyev have also performed Prince Siegfried.
The score used in this comparison is Tchaikovsky's score. It may be different from Riccardo Drigo's score which is usually performed today. The titles for each number are taken from the original published score. Some of the numbers are titled simply as musical indications, those that are not are translated from their original French titles.
Moderato assai — Allegro non troppo — Tempo I
"Pas de deux for Mme. Anna Sobeshchanskaya" fashioned from the original music by Léon Minkus (AKA the "Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux")
Knock-knock joke
A knock-knock joke is a type of joke told in the form of a conversation between a person knocking on a door and the person answering it. It always starts with the phrase "Knock, knock!" followed by the question "Who's there?" and ends with a punch line which usually has a pun or some other kind of word play.
The basic format is as follows:
"Joke-Teller:" "Knock Knock!"
"Joke-Hearer:" "Who's there?"
"Teller:" "[a word or phrase]"
"Hearer:" "[the word or phrase the Teller said] who?"
"Teller:" "[the punch line]"
Knock-knock jokes come from "do you know?" jokes in the 1900s and became very popular in the 1930s.
"Joke-Teller:" "Knock Knock!"
"Joke-Hearer:" "Who's There?"
"Teller:" "Police!"
"Hearer:" "Police Who?"
"Teller:" "Police let me in; it's raining."
Landsberg (district)
Landsberg (district) (German: "Landkreis Landsberg am Lech"; Bavarian: "Landkroas Landsberg am Lech"; Western variant and Swabian German: "Landgreis Landschberg am Lech") known as Landsberg am Lech, is a rural district in Upper Bavaria in the south of Bavaria, Germany. Neighbor districts are: Aichach-Friedberg, Fürstenfeldbruck Rural District, Starnberg Rural District, Weilheim-Schongau, Ostallgäu and Augsburg (district); Landsberg am Lech is the capital of Landsberg (district).
Adriaen Coorte
Adriaen Coorte (about 1665 – 1707) was a Dutch painter. He mainly painted 'still life'. He signed works between 1683 and 1707. Most of his paintings are small. His style is typical of Dutch 17th century still life painting. Other Dutch painters who lived at the same time had a different style of painting. Coorte was "one of the last practitioners of this intimate category".
Very little is known about his life. He was probably born in Middelburg and also died there. He became a pupil of Melchior d'Hondecoeter around 1680 in Amsterdam. From 1683 he seems to have returned to Middelburg, where he set up a workshop and signed his small, carefully balanced minimalist still lifes. He often painted on paper that was glued to a wooden panel. About 80 signed works by him have been catalogued, and nearly all of them follow the same pattern; small arrangements of fruits, vegetables, or shells on a stone slab, lit from above, with the dark background typical of still lifes earlier in the century. Instead of the Chinese or silver vessels favoured by his contemporaries, his tableware is very basic pottery. "Objects and light are studied intensely, and are painted with a wondrous tenderness". Neither his birth nor death date is certain, and archival evidence only exists in Middelburg for his membership in the Guild of St. Luke there from 1695 onwards, when he was fined for selling a painting without being a member of the guild. His works appear frequently in contemporary Middelburg taxation inventories