Music: Frederic Chopin (piano works orchestrated
by Alexandre Glazunov, Igor Stravinsky, Anatole Liadov,
Nicolas Sokolov and Sergei Taneyev).
Choreography: Michel Fokine .
Sets and costumes: Alexandre Benois.
Premiere: on June 2, 1909 by the Ballets
Russes in Paris (Théâtre du Châtelet).
Dancers at the premiere: Tamara Karsavina, Vaslaw Nijinsky, Anna Pavlova, Alexandra Baldina.
Fokine had already done several
previous versions of this ballet (called Chopiniana)
earlier in Saint-Petersburg at the Maryinsky Theatre.
The first version, premiered on Feb 23, 1907
(with Anna Pavlova, Vera Fokina, and Anatole Oboukhoff),
only included 5 piano pieces by Chopin (Polonaise in A major,
Op. 40, no. 1, Nocturne in F major, Op. 15, no. 1,
Mazurka in C sharp minor, Op. 50, no. 3, Valse
in C Sharp minor, Op. 64, no. 2, Tarantella in A flat
major, Op. 43)
A second version (much closer
to the final one) was premiered
on Mar 21, 1908, with Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina,
Olga Preobrajenska and Vaslaw Nijinsky. It included
the Polonaise in A major, the Nocturne in A flat
major (Op. 32, no. 2), the Valse in G Flat major
(Op. 70, no. 1), the Mazurka in D major (Op. 33, no. 2),
the Mazurka in C major (Op. 67, no. 3),
the Prelude in A major (Op. 28, no. 7),
the Valse in C sharp minor (Op. 64, no. 2),
and the Grande Valse in E flat major
(Op. 18, no. 1). Now, in the performances by Western
companies, the Prelude in A major is often substituted
to the Polonaise in A major at the beginning;
in the Kirov production, the variation of the premier
danseur usually includes another Mazurka
in C major (Op. 67, no. 3).
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