This
month on Clef Notes we are looking at music and dance. Last time, we gave a
brief background on ballet and looked at Tchaikovsky’s classic, Swan Lake. Today, let’s look at another
classic that the Cincinnati Ballet will perform during their upcoming
season—Delibes’ Coppélia.
Delibes’
Coppélia premiered in 1870 in Paris
in collaboration with choreographer Arthur Saint-León. Based on E.T.A.
Hoffman’s The Sandman, the story
tells of a doctor who becomes obsessed with his mechanical doll invention.
Unlike Hoffman’s tale, the ballet is a comedy, providing a good laugh as
audiences watch as young Franz falls in love with the doctor’s mechanical doll
creation and his lover Swanhilda works to coax him back. In Saint-León’s
original choreography, a woman played the part of Franz. This was changed in a
later version with Coppélia undergoing
many interpretations over the years.
The
ballet and Delibes’ music were a success at the premiere and the ballet has
remained a favorite in the repertoire ever since. Below you can watch a
performance of Coppélia. Listen for
the folk dances Delibes uses in Act I, including a mazurka and a czardas! This
was quite revolutionary at the time Delibes composed the ballet, so much that
many composers to follow used some type of national dance in their work.
