''The Beauty of Lebanon, or The Mountain Spirit'' (french: link=no, La Belle du Liban, ou L'Esprit des montagnes; russian: Ливанская красавица, или Горный дух) 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 three acts and seven scenes, with choreography by

Marius Petipa Marius Ivanovich Petipa (russian: Мариус Иванович Петипа), born Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa (11 March 1818), was a French ballet dancer, pedagogue and choreographer. Petipa is one of the most influential ballet masters an ...

and music by

Cesare Pugni Cesare Pugni (; russian: Цезарь Пуни, Cezar' Puni; 31 May 1802 in Genoa – ) was an Italian composer of ballet music, a pianist and a violinist. In his early career he composed operas, symphonies, and various other forms of orche ...

Libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

by E. Rappoport and Marius Petipa. The ballet was first presented by 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 ...

on December 12/24 ( Julian/

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...

dates), 1863 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 ...

St. Petersburg, Russia 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

Mariia Surovshchikova-Petipa Mariia Sergeyevna Surovshchikova-Petipa (27 February 1836 – 16 March 1882) was prima ballerina to the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres and wife of the noted choreographer Marius Petipa. Life Mariia Sergeyevna Surovshchikova was born in St ...

(as the Mountain Spirit) and

Timofei Stukolkin Timofei Alekseyevich Stukolkin (russian: Тимофей Алексеевич Стуколкин; , the village Kozmino of Simbirsk province - , Saint Petersburg) was a Russian ballet dancer. ''Oxford Dictionary of Dance'' called him "one of the gr ...

(as Beshir).

References

Ballets by Marius Petipa Ballets by Cesare Pugni 1863 ballet premieres Ballets premiered at the Bolshoi Theatre, Saint Petersburg {{ballet-stub

See also

References