''Le Baiser de la fée'' (''The Fairy's Kiss'') is a neoclassical ballet in one act and four scenes composed by

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...

in 1928 and revised in 1950 for

George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; ka, გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 (O. S. January 9) – April 30, 1983) was ...

and the

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company ...

. Based on

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consist ...

's short story ''Isjomfruen'' (English:

The Ice-Maiden "The Ice-Maiden" ("Iisjomfruen", or "Isjomfruen" in contemporary Danish) is an 1861 literary fairy tale by the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen. The first English translation was published by King and Baird in 1863. The story, set in Switze ...

), the work is an homage to

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

, for the 35th anniversary of the composer's death. Stravinsky elaborated several melodies from early piano pieces and songs by Tchaikovsky in his score. A commission by

Ida Rubinstein Ida Lvovna Rubinstein (russian: И́да Льво́вна Рубинште́йн; – 20 September 1960) was a Russian dancer, actress, art patron and Belle Époque figure. She performed with Diaghilev's Ballets Russes from 1909 to 1911 an ...

from 1927, the ballet was choreographed by

Bronislava Nijinska Bronislava Nijinska (; pl, Bronisława Niżyńska ; russian: Бронисла́ва Фоми́нична Нижи́нская, Bronisláva Fomínična Nižínskaja; be, Браніслава Ніжынская, Branislava Nižynskaja; – Febr ...

and premiered in Paris on 27 November 1928. In his conversations with

Robert Craft Robert Lawson Craft (October 20, 1923 – November 10, 2015) was an American conductor and writer. He is best known for his intimate professional relationship with Igor Stravinsky, on which Craft drew in producing numerous recordings and books. ...

, Stravinsky did not specify which Tchaikovsky pieces he drew upon, but "Danses suisses" quotes one of the more easily identifiable Tchaikovsky themes, the "Humoresque" from Two Pieces, Opus 10 (1871). However, musicologist David Drew provided several musical sources in his liner notes for the 1963 Decca recording of the ballet by

Ernest Ansermet Ernest Alexandre Ansermet (; 11 November 1883 – 20 February 1969)"Ansermet, Ernest" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 435. was a Swiss conductor. Biography Ansermet ...

:Drew, David (1963) Liner notes. New York, Decca Record Company. STS 15228. * ''Scene I: Andante.'' Figures from Op. 19 No. 4 and the Barcarolle 'Juin' from Op. 37 bis * ''Vivace agitato.'' Figure from Op. 54 No. 7 * ''Scene II: Tempo giusto.'' ''Humoresque'' Op. 10 No. 2 and ''Reverie du Soir,'' Op. 19 No. 1 * ''Valse.'' ''Natha-Valse,'' Op. 51 No. 4 * ''Scene III: Allegretto grazioso.'' ''Scherzo humoresque'' Op. 19 No. 2 * ''Doppio movimento.'' ''Feuillet d'Album'' Op. 19 No. 3 * ''Pas de deux.'' ''Nocturne,'' Op. 19 No. 4, Più mosso section * ''Scene—Andante non tanto.'' ''None but the lonely heart,'' Op. 6 No. 6 "In addition to the above, Robert Craft—joint author with Stravinsky of ''Expositions and Developments,'' the composer's third volume of autobiographical musings—supplies the following titles:" * ''Scherzo à la Russe,'' Op. 1 No. 1 for piano * ''Painfully and Sweetly,'' Op. 6 No. 3 for voice and piano * ''The Mujik plays the harmonica,'' Op. 39 No. 12 for piano * ''In the Village,'' Op. 40 No. 7 for piano * ''Danse russe,'' Op. 40 No. 10 for piano * ''Salon valse,'' Op. 31 No. 1 for piano * ''Lullaby on a storm (Berceuse),'' Op. 54 No. 10 for voice and piano * ''Serenade,'' Op. 63 No. 6 for voice and piano In 1937, Balanchine made a full-length ballet for his

American Ballet The American Ballet was the first professional ballet company George Balanchine created in the United States. The company was founded with the help of Lincoln Kirstein and Edward Warburg, managed by Alexander Merovitch and populated by students of ...

, which premiered on 27 April, at the Old Metropolitan Opera House, New York City. His 1950 version premiered on 28 November, at City Center of Music and Drama, New York, at which time it was presented under the English translation of the title, ''The Fairy's Kiss'' (the original French title is now more commonly used by English-speakers). In 1960

Kenneth MacMillan Sir Kenneth MacMillan (11 December 192929 October 1992) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer who was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977, and its principal choreographer from 1977 until his death. E ...

choreographed his own version for The Royal Ballet.

Divertimento from ''Le Baiser de la fée''

The Divertimento from ''Le Baiser de la fée'' is a concert suite for orchestra based on music from the ballet. Stravinsky arranged it in collaboration with

Samuel Dushkin Samuel Dushkin (December 13, 1891 – June 24, 1976) was an American violinist, composer, and pedagogue of Polish birth and Jewish origin. Dushkin was born in Suwałki, Poland. He studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, as well as with Leopold ...

in 1934 and revised it in 1949. It has four movements: In 1932

and the composer produced a version for violin and piano, using the same title. Another episode from the ballet was arranged for violin and piano by Dushkin with the title Ballad. However, the latter only received the composer’s assent in 1947 after the French violinist Jeanne Gautier put forward an arrangement. Balanchine created an entirely new work for the City Ballet's Stravinsky Festival, using excerpts from the concert suite and the original ballet. The premiere took place on 21 June 1972, at the

New York State Theater The David H. Koch Theater is a theater for ballet, modern and other forms of dance, part of the Lincoln Center, at the intersection of Columbus Avenue and 63rd Street in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Original ...

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...

. In 1974, Balanchine incorporated Tchaikovsky's " None but the Lonely Heart" for a new ''pas de deux''.

Original casts

American Ballet

* Kathryn Mullowny *

Gisella Caccialanza Gisella Caccialanza (September 17, 1914 – July 16, 1998) was an American prima ballerina and teacher who danced in theater, opera and film productions. She studied ballet under Italian teacher Giovanni Rosi, and then with ballet dancer Enrico C ...

Leda Anchutina Leda may refer to: Mythology * Leda (mythology), queen of Sparta and mother of Helen of Troy in Greek mythology Places * Leda, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia * Leda makeshift settlement, Bangladesh, a refugee camp ...

Annabelle Lyon Annabelle Lyon ( New York City, January 8, 1916 – November 4, 2011, Mansfield, Massachusetts) was an American ballerina. She was a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre. She was raised in Memphis, where her father Max ran a chain o ...

William Dollar William Dollar (April 20, 1907 – February 28, 1986) was an American dancer, ballet master, choreographer, and teacher. As one of the first American ''danseurs nobles'', he performed with numerous companies, including the Philadelphia Opera Ballet ...

New York City Ballet: Divertimento from ''Le Baiser de la fée''

Patricia McBride Patricia McBride (born August 23, 1942 in Teaneck, New Jersey) is a ballerina who spent nearly 30 years dancing with the New York City Ballet. McBride joined the New York City Ballet in 1959. She became a principal in 1961, becoming the company's ...

* Bettijane Sills * Carol Sumner * Helgi Tomasson

References

Sources

* ''

Playbill ''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the show's p ...

'', New York City Ballet, Friday, June 20, 2008 * ''Repertory Week'', New York City Ballet, Spring Season, 2008 repertory, week 8

Reviews

NY Times by

Alastair Macaulay Alastair Macaulay is an English writer and dance critic. He was the chief dance critic for '' The New York Times'' from 2007 until he retired in 2018. He was previously chief dance critic at '' The Times'' and Literary Supplement and chief theater ...

, February 9, 2008
NY Times by
Jennifer Dunning, May 30, 2006
NY Times by
Gia Kourlas, May 30, 2005
NY Times by

Anna Kisselgoff Anna Kisselgoff (born 12 January 1938) is a dance critic and cultural news reporter for ''The New York Times''. She began at the ''Times'' as a dance critic and cultural news reporter in 1968, and became its Chief Dance Critic in 1977, a role she h ...

, November 23, 1987
NY Times by

, June 13, 1981
NY Times by

, November 20, 1979
NY Times by

, February 4, 1974
NY Times by

Clive Barnes Clive Alexander Barnes (13 May 1927 – 19 November 2008) was an English writer and critic. From 1965 to 1977, he was the dance and theater critic for ''The New York Times'', and, from 1978 until his death, '' The New York Post.'' Barnes had sig ...

, June 22, 1972
NY Times by
John Martin, November 26, 1951
Sunday New York Times
by John Martin, May 30, 1937
Sunday NY Times by
John Martin, May 2, 1937
NY Times by
John Martin, April 28, 1937

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baiser de la fee, Le Ballets by Igor Stravinsky 1928 compositions Ballets by Bronislava Nijinska 1928 ballet premieres 1950 compositions Neoclassicism (music) Ballets by George Balanchine New York City Ballet repertory New York City Ballet Stravinsky Festival