''Les Deux Pigeons'' is a ballet originally choreographed in two acts by

Louis Mérante Louis Alexandre Mérante (23 July 1828–Courbevoie, 17 July 1887) was a dancer and choreographer, the ''Maître de Ballet'' (First Balletmaster/Chief Choreographer) of the Paris Opera Ballet at the Salle Le Peletier until its destruction by fire i ...

to music by

André Messager André Charles Prosper Messager (; 30 December 1853 – 24 February 1929) was a French composer, organist, pianist and conductor. His compositions include eight ballets and thirty opéra comique, opéras comiques, opérettes and other stage wo ...

. The libretto by Mérante and

Henri de Régnier Henri-François-Joseph de Régnier (28 December 1864 – 23 May 1936) was a French symbolist poet, considered one of the most important of France during the early 20th century. Life and works He was born in Honfleur (Calvados) on 28 December 18 ...

is based on the fable ''

The Two Pigeons ''The Two Pigeons'' (original French title: ''Les deux pigeons'') is a fable by Jean de la Fontaine (Book IX.2) that was adapted as a ballet with music by André Messager in the 19th century and rechoreagraphed to the same music by Frederick Ashto ...

'' by

Jean de La Fontaine Jean de La Fontaine (, , ; 8 July 162113 April 1695) was a French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his ''Fables'', which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Euro ...

. The work was first performed at the

Paris Opéra The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be k ...

on 18 October 1886.Noel E & Stoullig E. ''

Les Annales du Théâtre et de la Musique ''Les Annales du Théâtre et de la Musique'' ("The Annals of Theatre and Music") was an annual French periodical which covered French dramatic and lyric theatre for 42 years, from 1875 to 1916. The volumes also covered concert series and ne ...

, 12eme édition, 1886.'' G Charpentier et Cie, Paris, 1887. The premiere cast included

Rosita Mauri ''María Isabel Amada Antonia Rosa Mauri Segura'' or ''Roseta Mauri y Segura'' (15 September 1850 – 3 December 1923) was a Spanish dancer and ballet teacher. Her year of birth has also been quoted as between 1849 and 1856. A prima ballerina of ...

as Gourouli and

Marie Sanlaville Marie Sanlaville (1847–1930) was a leading dancer with the Paris Opéra. She is particularly noted for her association with the artist Edgar Degas, who painted her often and dedicated a rare sonnet to her. Career In a career spanning the ye ...

as Pépio.

Frederick Ashton Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton (17 September 190418 August 1988) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer. He also worked as a director and choreographer in opera, film and revue. Determined to be a dancer despite the oppositi ...

later created a new ballet to Messager's music under the title ''The Two Pigeons''.

Background

The score is dedicated to

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (; 9 October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano C ...

, whose influence helped gain Messager the commission for the ballet, following three ballets which the younger composer had written for the

Folies Bergère The Folies Bergère () is a cabaret music hall, located in Paris, France. Located at 32 Rue Richer in the 9th Arrondissement, the Folies Bergère was built as an opera house by the architect Plumeret. It opened on 2 May 1869 as the Folies Trév ...

, ''Fleur d’oranger'', ''Vins de France'' and ''Odeurs et Parfums''. ''Les Deux pigeons'' was first performed on the same evening as a performance of ''

La Favorite ''La favorite'' (''The Favourite'', sometimes referred to by its Italian title: ''La favorita'') is a grand opera in four acts by Gaetano Donizetti to a French-language libretto by Alphonse Royer and Gustave Vaëz, based on the play ''Le comt ...

''. Messager introduced the ballet to London in 1906, with choreography by François Ambroisiny and a shortened score by Messager himself, who also conducted.Vaughan D. ''Frederick Ashton and his Ballets.'' A & C Black Ltd, London, 1977. He used this shortened version when the piece was revived at the Paris Opéra in 1912, and it was published as a final version. A one-act version was choreographed by Albert Aveline at the Opéra in 1919 and it was not until 1942 that the role of Pépio was finally danced by a man. The discovery of the shortened score used at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

prompted Ashton to make his own version of the ballet, set in Paris at the time of the music's composition. As the 1912 version didn't provide a return to the opening scene at the end,

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 ...

constructed a closing reconciliation scene from earlier music and a passage from Messager's operetta '' Véronique'', as well as revising the orchestration in favour of a richer sound. Ashton's version in two acts was premiered on 14 February 1961 at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...

Covent Garden, with

Lynn Seymour Lynn Seymour CBE (born 8 March 1939) is a Canadian-born retired ballerina, choreographer, and director. Early career She was born in Wainwright, Alberta, as Berta Lynn Springbett in a Canadian family of Scottish descent, and studied ballet in ...

and

Christopher Gable Christopher Michael Gable, CBE (13 March 194023 October 1998) was an English ballet dancer, choreographer and actor. Life and career Dance career Born in London, Gable studied at the Royal Ballet School, joining the Sadler's Wells Royal Ba ...

. As well as being performed regularly by the Royal Ballet touring company, the ballet has also been staged by several other dance companies around the world, including

CAPAB The Cape Performing Arts Board (CAPAB) was a South African theatre organisation based in Cape Town, serving the former Cape Province. It was one of the four state-funded performing arts councils in the four former provinces of South Africa insti ...

and

Australian Ballet The Australian Ballet is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was founded by J. C. Williamson's, J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1962, with the English-born dancer, teache ...

The plot

In the original scenario, set in 18th-century

Thessaly Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thes ...

, the hero Pépio (danced then by a woman) is discontented with life at home and with the company of his fiancée Gourouli. Their relationship is symbolised by their ''

pas de deux In ballet, a pas de deux (French language, French, literally "step of two") is a dance duet in which two dancers, typically a male and a female, perform ballet steps together. The pas de deux is characteristic of classical ballet and can be fo ...

'' at the start in imitation of two pigeons they have been observing, quarrelling with small irritated movements of the head and then coming together to make up. When a group of gypsies visit their village, Pépio is seduced by the energetic czardas that they dance and flirts with the dusky Djali, eventually leaving his love behind to join in their wanderings. Gourouli's grandmother advises her to follow him disguised as a gypsy, thus providing the ballerina with a dual role. In the first act she had appeared in a pink wig; in the scene at the camp Rosita Mauri danced with her own long black hair unbound and streaming about her. By such means, this elemental Gourouli makes all the men fall in love with her, and she bribes one of them to make Pépio's life miserable. When a storm breaks, the gypsies rob Pépio and flee. He returns home chastened and must ask for forgiveness. Ashton's version of the ballet is set in Paris at the time of the music's composition with anonymous leading roles (Young Man and Young Girl). At the start, a French painter is revealed trying to paint a restless model, his lover, who is sitting on an ornate cast-iron chair. The session is interrupted by the entry of the model's friends and his responsiveness to other female company underlines his restless spirit. A troupe of gypsies that he sees through the garret window, misunderstanding a gesture of his, now crowd in and a quarrel develops over possession of the chair between the model and a hot-blooded Carmen with whom the painter is flirting. Perceiving that they are not welcome, the gypsy leader leaves the studio and the painter dashes off to join them, bewitched by their unfamiliar and seemingly exotic lifestyle. However, his intrusion into their community is resented and he is thrown out of the encampment. Returning to the lover he had left behind, they are reconciled and sit together on the ornate chair that has dominated the room. Two live pigeons are used to represent the lovers; they have a theme of their own in the music. Seen together during the first act, while the artist and his lover dance together, the young man's dissatisfaction and temporary desertion of the girl are represented by one pigeon flying alone off stage before the interval. The painter's return in the next act is prompted by a pigeon coming to land on his shoulder. When the lovers are reunited both pigeons perch above them on the chair. Premiere cast list: * Gourouli –

* Pépio –

* Gertrude – Mlle Montaubry * Djali – Mlle Hirsch * Reine des Tziganes – Mlle Monnier * Zarifa – M. Pluque * Franca-Trippa – M. de Soria * Un tzigane –

* Le capitaine – M. Ajas * Un serviteur – M. Ponçot

Recordings

In 1991 at the

Brangwyn Hall , former_names = , alternate_names = , image = Brangwyn hall.jpg , alt = , caption = Brangwyn Hall entrance , map_type = , altitude = , building_type ...

, Swansea, the Orchestra of

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) ( cy, Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru) is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales; it gave its first performances in 1946. It began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its ...

conducted by

Richard Bonynge Richard Alan Bonynge ( ) (born 29 September 1930) is an Australian conductor and pianist. He is the widower of Australian dramatic coloratura soprano Dame Joan Sutherland. Bonynge conducted virtually all of Sutherland's operatic performances ...

were recorded by Decca in Messager's 1906 score. John Lanchbery recorded his version of the ballet music for EMI in 1984 with the

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an English orchestra, founded in 1893 and originally based in Bournemouth. With a remit to serve the South and South West of England, the BSO is administratively based in the adjacent town of Poole, s ...

. A suite of movements from the ballet (''Entrée des tziganes'', ''Scène et pas de deux des pigeons'', ''Thème et variations'', ''Danse hongroise'', ''Finale'') has been recorded several times, for example by the Orchestre du Théâtre des Champs-Elysées conducted by

Paul Bonneau Paul Bonneau (14 September 1918 – 8 July 1995) was a French conductor, composer and arranger, whose career was mainly in the field of light music and films. Career Born in Moret-sur-Loing in 1918, Paul Bonneau studied music at the Conservat ...

(Ducretet Thomson – 255 C 087),

Orchestre Colonne The Colonne Orchestra is a French symphony orchestra, founded in 1873 by the violinist and conductor Édouard Colonne. History While leader of the Opéra de Paris orchestra, Édouard Colonne was engaged by the publisher Georges Hartmann to lead a ...

conducted by

Jean Fournet Jean Fournet (14 April 1913 – 3 November 2008) was a French flautist and conductor. Fournet was born in Rouen in 1913. His father was a flutist who gave him some instruction on the flute and music theory. Fournet was then trained at the Con ...

(Pathe PDT135, 1947), the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden conducted by

Hugo Rignold Hugo Henry Rignold (15 May 1905 – 30 May 1976) was an English conductor and violinist, who is best remembered as musical director of the Royal Ballet (1957–1960) and conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1960–1968). Aft ...

(HMV, C3778-9, 1948), the orchestra of the

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief rival, the Comédie-Italienne ...

, Paris conducted by Richard Blareau (Decca, LX3093, 1952) and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House by

Charles Mackerras Mackerras in 2005 Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras (; 1925 2010) was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was long associated with the Eng ...

(HMV, CLP1195, 1958).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deux Pigeons, Les Ballets by Louis Mérante 1886 ballet premieres Ballets premiered at the Paris Opera Ballet Ballets by Frederick Ashton Ballets created for The Royal Ballet Compositions by André Messager