''Le Baiser de la fée'' (''The Fairy's Kiss'') is a

neoclassical ballet Neoclassical ballet is the style of 20th-century classical ballet exemplified by the works of George Balanchine. The term "neoclassical ballet" appears in the 1920s with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, in response to the excesses of romanti ...

in one act and four scenes composed by

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

in 1928 and revised in 1950 for

George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze;, Romanization of Georgian, : April 30, 1983) was a Georgian-American ballet choreographer, recognized as one of the most influential choreographers ...

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's fir ...

. Based on

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

's short story ''Isjomfruen'' (English: The Ice-Maiden), the work is an homage to

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popula ...

, 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 (; – 20 September 1960) was a dancer, actress, art patron and Belle Époque figure from the Russian Empire. She performed with Diaghilev's Ballets Russes from 1909 to 1911 and later formed her own company. ''Bolero (Rave ...

from 1927, the ballet was choreographed by

Bronislava Nijinska Bronislava Nijinska (; ; ; ; – February 21, 1972) was a Russian ballet dancer of Polish origin, and an innovative choreographer. She came of age in a family of traveling, professional dancers. Her own career began in Saint Petersburg. Soon ...

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). The 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 Anserme ...

: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, 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. Ea ...

choreographed his own version for

The Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded ...

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

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 ...

. 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 * Leda Anchutina * Annabelle Lyon * William Dollar

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

* Patricia McBride * Bettijane Sills * Carol Sumner * Helgi Tomasson

References

Sources

* ''

Playbill ''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for Audience, 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 ...

'', 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 cr ...

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

Gia Kourlas Gia Kourlas is an American dance critic. Since 2019, she had written as the dance critic for ''The New York Times''. Early life and education Kourlas was raised in Columbus, Ohio. She began dancing at age 5; a few years later, she switched to f ...

, 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 sign ...

, 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 ballets 1950 compositions Neoclassicism (music) Ballets by George Balanchine New York City Ballet repertory New York City Ballet Stravinsky Festival Arrangements of compositions by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Ballets to the music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Orchestral suites