Faust ballets are a set of ballets, choreographed between the 18th and 20th centuries, based on the legend of
Faust
Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540).
The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads ...
. As early as 1723, London-based
John Rich
John Rich (born January 7, 1974) is an American country music singer-songwriter. From 1992 to 1998, he was a member of the country music band Lonestar, in which he played bass guitar and alternated with Richie McDonald as lead vocalist. After d ...
put on a Faust-inspired
ballet pantomime called ''The Necromancer'' at the
Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre
Lisle's Tennis Court was a building off Portugal Street in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London. Originally built as a real tennis court, it was used as a playhouse during two periods, 1661–1674 and 1695–1705. During the early period, ...
. In the 19th century several productions took Faust as their subject matter including
August Bournonville
August Bournonville (21 August 1805 – 30 November 1879) was a Danish ballet master and choreographer. He was the son of Antoine Bournonville, a dancer and choreographer trained under the French choreographer, Jean Georges Noverre, and the nep ...
s 1832 production ''Faust'' for the
Royal Danish Ballet
The Royal Danish Ballet is an internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Danish Theatre in Kongens Nytorv, Copenhagen, Denmark. It is one of the oldest ballet companies in the world and originates from 1748, when the Ro ...
.
In 1833,
Andre Deshayes ''Faust'' premiered in London with music by
Adolphe Adam
Adolphe Charles Adam (; 24 July 1803 – 3 May 1856) was a French composer, teacher and music critic. A prolific composer for the theatre, he is best known today for his ballets ''Giselle'' (1841) and '' Le corsaire'' (1856), his operas ''Le pos ...
.
On 12 February 1848, a Faust ballet premiered at the
Ballet of the Teatro alla Scala
The La Scala Theatre Ballet ( it, Corpo di ballo del Teatro alla Scala) is the resident classical ballet company at La Scala in Milan, Italy. One of the oldest and most renowned ballet companies in the world, the company pre-dates the theatre, ...
in
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
. This version featured choreography and libretto by
Jules Perrot
Jules-Joseph Perrot (18 August 1810 – 29 August 1892) was a dancer and choreographer who later became Ballet Master of the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia. He created some of the most famous ballets of the 19th century including ...
and music by
Giacomo Panizza
Giacomo Panizza (27 March 1804 – 1 May 1860) was a conductor at La Scala, Milan for 13 years, during which time he composed two operas and thirteen ballets.
Ballets
;Teatro alla Scala, Milan
* 16 March 1847 – ' (with dances composed by Gio ...
,
Michael Andrew Costa, and
Niccolò Bajetti
Faust ballets are a set of ballets, choreographed between the 18th and 20th centuries, based on the legend of Faust. As early as 1723, London-based John Rich put on a Faust-inspired ballet pantomime called ''The Necromancer'' at the Lincoln's I ...
, with
Fanny Elssler
Fanny Elssler (born Franziska Elßler; 23 June 181027 November 1884) was an Austrian ballerina of the Romantic Period.
Life and career
She was born in Gumpendorf, a neighborhood of Vienna. Her father Johann Florian Elssler was a second ge ...
(as Marguerite), Perrot (as Mephistophelis), Effisio Catte (as Faust), and Ekaterina Costantini (as Bambo, Queen of the Demons). Perrot revived the ballet three times between 1848 and 1854, the last featuring a revised score 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 ...
. In 1867,
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 ...
revived this version again for 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
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 ...
, using the revised Pugni score.
In 1852
Paul Taglioni, brother of
Maria 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 th ...
(the first ballerina to dance ''
en pointe
Pointe technique ( ) is the part of classical ballet technique that concerns ''pointe work'', in which a ballet dancer supports all body weight on the tips of fully extended feet within pointe shoes. A dancer is said to be ''en pointe'' () whe ...
''), choreographed ''Satanella oder Metamorphosen'' with music by composed by
Peter Ludwig Hertel
Peter Ludwig Hertel (21 April 1817 – 13 June 1899) was a German composer of dance music and Ballet (music), ballet music. He is best known as the composer of the ballet ''La fille mal gardée''. He also composed the music for the Faust ballet ' ...
. A few years later,
Julius Reisinger
Julius Wentsel Reisinger (1828 – 1893) was a Czech ballet choreographer. He created more than twenty works on various European stages and directed the Moscow company of the Bolshoi Theatre. Reisinger choreographed the first stage production ...
s ''Mephistophelia'' premiered in
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
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, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
and
Meyer Lutz
Wilhelm Meyer Lutz (19 May 1829 – 31 January 1903) was a German-born British composer and conductor who is best known for light music, musical theatre and burlesques of well-known works.
Emigrating to the UK at the age of 19, Lutz started as ...
composed the score for
Joseph Lanner
Joseph Franz Karl Lanner (12 April 1801 – 14 April 1843) was an Austrian dance music composer and dance orchestra conductor. He is best remembered as one of the earliest Viennese composers to reform the waltz from a simple peasant dance to s ...
s 1895 production.
The trend continued into the 20th century with ballets created by Remislav Remislavsky, Heiner Luipart and female choreographer
Nina Kirsanova
Nina Kirsanova (1898 – 3 February 1989) was one of the most important ballet artists in Belgrade, who distinguished herself as a lead principal dancer, choreographer, head of ballet and ballet teacher. She also spent time as a nurse, archaeologi ...
based on an unstaged 19th century
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 ...
Der Doktor Faust, written by
Heinrich Heine
Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was a German poet, writer and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of '' Lied ...
.
Romantic composer
Berliozs ''La Damnation de Faust'' was staged by French choreographer
Maurice Béjart
Maurice Béjart (; 1 January 1927 – 22 November 2007) was a French-born dancer, choreographer and opera director who ran the Béjart Ballet Lausanne in Switzerland. He developed a popular expressionistic form of modern ballet, talking vast th ...
for 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 ...
in 1964). Béjarts 1975 production ''Notre Faust'' was set to
Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
s ''B minor Mass''.
Béjart himself danced in ''Notre Faust'' at its New York City premiere in 1977.
References
{{Faust, state=collapsed
Faust
Works based on the Faust legend
Ballets based on literature
Ballets by Jules Perrot
Ballets by Marius Petipa
Ballets by Giacomo Panizza
Ballets by Michael Costa (conductor)
Ballets by Niccolò Bajetti
1848 ballet premieres
Ballets premiered at the La Scala Theatre