''Le papillon'' (''The Butterfly'') is a 'fantastic

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

' in two acts (four scenes) of 1860, with choreography by

Marie Taglioni Marie Taglioni, Comtesse de Voisins (23 April 1804 – 22 April 1884) was a Swedish-born ballet dancer of the Romantic ballet era partially of Italian descent, a central figure in the history of European dance. She spent most of her life in t ...

and music by

Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ' ...

to a libretto by

Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges (7 November 1799 – 23 December 1875) was a French playwright, who was born and died in Paris. He was one of the most prolific librettists of the 19th century, often working in collaboration with others. Sa ...

Performance history

''Le papillon'' was first presented by the

Paris Opera Ballet The Paris Opera Ballet () is a French ballet company that is an integral part of the Paris Opera. It is the oldest national ballet company, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it. It is still regarded a ...

at the

Salle Le Peletier The Salle Le Peletier or Lepeletier (sometimes referred to as the Salle de la rue Le Peletier or the Opéra Le Peletier) was the home of the Paris Opera from 1821 until the building was destroyed by fire in 1873. The theatre was designed and con ...

on November 26, 1860 after a performance of ''

Lucie de Lammermoor ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' () is a (tragic opera) in three acts by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian-language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's 1819 historical novel ''The Bride of Lammermoor''. ...

''. The principal dancers were

Emma Livry Emma Livry (born as Jeanne Emma Emarot or Emma Marie Emarot; 24 September 1842 – 26 July 1863) was a French ballerina who was one of the last ballerinas of the Romantic ballet era and a protégée of Marie Taglioni. She died from complica ...

(Farfalla/the Butterfly), Louis Mérante (Prince Djalma), Louise Marquet (Fairy Hamza), and Mme. Simon (Diamond Fairy). The premiere and second performance were attended by Napoléon III.David Dougill. Le Papillon. About the House, Vol.5 No.10, Christmas 1979, p6-8. The ''Valse des rayons'' from the second scene of Act 1 was re-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 Whittington may refer to: Places * Whittington, Victoria, Australia * Whittington, Illinois, United States England * Old Whittington, Derbyshire * New Whittington, Derbyshire * Whittington Moor, Derbyshire * Whittington, Gloucestershire * Whit ...

'', ''Le Chat du diable'' (1893).Yon, Jean-Claude. ''Jacques Offenbach.'' Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 2000. The solo for Le docteur Miracle "Eh! oui, je vous entends !" in the Antonia act of ''

Les Contes d'Hoffmann ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died in ...

'' originated as a Bohémiana in ''Le papillon''. Keck, Jean-Christophe. "Guide d'Écoute." In: ''Avant-Scène Opéra 235, Les Contes d’Hoffmann.'' Paris, 2006, p52. The ''Valse des rayons'' also became an Apache Dance at the

Moulin Rouge Moulin Rouge (, ; ) is a cabaret in Paris, on Boulevard de Clichy, at Place Blanche, the intersection of, and terminus of Rue Blanche. In 1889, the Moulin Rouge was co-founded by Charles Zidler and Joseph Oller, who also owned the Paris Ol ...

in Paris, and was used in the musical

Showboat A showboat, or show boat, was a floating theater that traveled along the waterways of the United States, especially along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, to bring culture and entertainment to the inhabitants of river frontiers. Showboats were a ...

in 1927 as part of the Trocadero scene. Marius Petipa created an expanded staging in four acts for the

Imperial Ballet The Mariinsky Ballet (russian: Балет Мариинского театра) is the resident classical ballet company of the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in the 18th century and originally known as the Imperial Russ ...

with

Ludwig Minkus Ludwig Minkus (russian: link=no, Людвиг Минкус), also known as Léon Fyodorovich Minkus (23 March 1826, Vienna – 7 December 1917, Vienna), was a Jewish-Austrian composer of ballet music, a violin virtuoso and teacher. Minkus is no ...

adapting Offenbach's score. It was first presented in January 1874 at the

Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre The Saint Petersburg Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre (The Big Stone Theatre of Saint Petersburg, russian: Большой Каменный Театр) was a theatre in Saint Petersburg. It was built in 1783 to Antonio Rinaldi's Neoclassical ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

with

Ekaterina Vazem Yekaterina Ottovna Vazem (born Matilda Vazem; russian: Екатери́на Отто́вна Ва́зем; 25 January 1848, Moscow – 14 December 1937, Leningrad) aka Ekaterina Vazemwas a Russian prima ballerina and instructor, whose most noted ...

(Farfalla/the Butterfly),

Lev Ivanov Lev Ivanovich Ivanov (russian: link=no, Лев Ива́нович Ива́нов; 2 March 1834, Moscow – 24 December 1901, Saint Petersburg) was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer and later, Second Balletmaster of the Imperial Ballet. ...

(Prince Djalma),

Pavel Gerdt Pavel Andreyevich Gerdt (russian: Па́вел Андре́евич Ге́рдт), also known as Paul Gerdt (near Saint Petersburg, Russia, 22 November 1844 – Vamaloki, Finland, 12 August 1917), was the ''Premier Danseur Noble'' of the Imperial ...

(Patimate), Mathil'da Madaeva (Fairy Hamza), and Lubov Radina (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. Having begun work on reconstruction of the original with the second act pas de deux for Paris in 1977 (partnered by Dominique Khalfouni) based on contemporary critical accounts, the full ballet was revived by

Pierre Lacotte Pierre Lacotte (born 4 April 1932) is a French ballet dancer and choreographer who specialised in the reconstruction of lost choreographies of romantic ballets. His mother was an affirmed musician and he manifested very early his interest for da ...

at the Rome Opera in 1982. The score was used for a ballet entitled ''Utopia'' directed by

Elsa-Marianne von Rosen Elsa-Marianne von Rosen (21 April 1924 – 7 September 2014) was a Swedish ballet dancer, choreographer and actress. She performed all over Scandinavia. She acted between 1939 and 1970. She appeared in the television series '' Tales of Hans An ...

for the Gothenburg ballet company in 1974. Having decided against making his own version of the full ballet, Frederick Ashton selected pieces from the score for a pas de deux entitled ''Scène dansante'', first performed by

Merle Park Dame Merle Park (born 8 October 1937) is a British ballet dancer and teacher, now retired. As a prima ballerina with the Royal Ballet during the 1960s and 1970s, she was known for "brilliance of execution and virtuoso technique" as well as for h ...

and David Wall in

Aldeburgh Aldeburgh ( ) is a coastal town in the county of Suffolk, England. Located to the north of the River Alde. Its estimated population was 2,276 in 2019. It was home to the composer Benjamin Britten and remains the centre of the international Alde ...

in 1975 and then at a charity gala at the

Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiv ...

London in 1977.

Ronald Hynd Ronald Hynd (born 22 April 1931) is an English choreographer, and in his youth was a ballet dancer. In the Royal Ballet in the late 1940s he began to dance with Annette Page, whom he later married. Page died on 4 December 2017. They have a daugh ...

prepared a production for

Houston Ballet Houston Ballet, operated by Houston Ballet Foundation, is a professional ballet company based in Houston, Texas. The company, consisting of 59 dancers, produces over 85 performances per year. History Tatiana Semenova (1955–1967) Houston dev ...

with his own adapted scenario and the score re-orchestrated by

John Lanchbery John Arthur Lanchbery OBE (15 May 1923 – 27 February 2003) was an English-Australian composer and conductor, famous for his ballet arrangements. He served as the Principal Conductor of the Royal Ballet from 1959 to 1972, Principal Conductor ...

, which premiered on 8 February 1979 and was also danced by the Johannesburg company

PACT A pact, from Latin ''pactum'' ("something agreed upon"), is a formal agreement between two or more parties. In international relations, pacts are usually between two or more sovereign states. In domestic politics, pacts are usually between two or ...

. It entered the repertoire of the

Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) is one of the five major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside The Royal Ballet, the English National Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish Ballet. Founded as the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, the compa ...

in Leeds on 7 February 1980. Described as Hynd's tribute to Emma Livry, the plot was pared down and reset in Persia with many of the transformations and comic situations retained. But, compared to the original 1860 material, the score is largely altered by Lanchberry who integrates his own composition inside the main musical corpus, while changing the numbers order and deleting a lot of the original Offenbach's score.

Synopsis

The ballet is set in

Circassia Circassia (; also known as Cherkessia in some sources; ady, Адыгэ Хэку, Адыгей, lit=, translit=Adıgə Xəku, Adıgey; ; ota, چرکسستان, Çerkezistan; ) was a country and a historical region in the along the northeast ...

. 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 and eligible to marry, 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 crutch, 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. Le_Papillon_-Louise_Marquet

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 crutch 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 butterfly. The palace of the Emir is transformed into a park. The last tableau, in grandiose gardens, has Djalma awakening, and he 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. As a 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 regains her human form and collapses into the arms of the prince. Hamza's sisters then break the magic crutch and together transform Hamza into a statue. The wedding with Djalma now has no more obstacles and the young couple can marry in the fairy palace which appears in the gardens.

Recordings

*Offenbach: ''Le papillon'' (highlights);

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...

conducted by Richard Bonynge,

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

SXL 6588, recorded at the

Kingsway Hall The Kingsway Hall in Holborn, London, was the base of the West London Mission (WLM) of the Methodist Church, and eventually became one of the most important recording venues for classical music and film music. It was built in 1912 and demolished ...

in January 1972. *Offenbach: ''Le papillon'' (three extracts - music arranged and re-orchestrated by John Lanchberry);

WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln The WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne (German: WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln) is a German radio orchestra based in Cologne, where the orchestra mainly performs at two concert halls: the WDR Funkhaus Wallrafplatz and the Kölner Philharmonie. Histo ...

conducted by Pinchas Steinberg, Capriccio, recorded 1986, released 2010. *Offenbach - Hommage mécanique - Malibran CDRG 214 ; includes a 30-minute suite for barrel organ based on ''Le Papillon'' in addition to rare music from operas (''La Diva, La Marocaine'')

References

---- * {{DEFAULTSORT:Papillon, Le Ballets by Marius Petipa Ballets by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges Ballets by Jacques Offenbach Ballets by Marie Taglioni Ballets by Ludwig Minkus 1860 ballet premieres Ballets premiered at the Paris Opera Ballet