Tag: Vietnam National Opera and Ballet

In a Persian Market

26/02/2019

The story “In a Persian Market” is a piece of light classical music for orchestra with optional chorus by the English composer, conductor and pianist Albert Ketèbey who composed it in 1920. Subtitled Intermezzo Scene, it was published in 1921.Originally, it evoked exotic images of camel-drivers, jugglers, and snake-charmers. When it was first published in a version for piano, it was advertised as an “educational novelty.”

A synopsis of scenes by the composer mentions a caravan arriving, beggars, a princess carried by servants, jugglers, snake-charmers, and a caliph. After the princess and the caliph have left, a muezzin calls to prayer from a minaret. The caravan continues its journey, and the market becomes silent. The duration is around six minutes.

An opening march shares “exotic” intervals, A – B – flat – E, with the composer’s orientalintermezzo Wonga, used for the play Ye Gods in 1916. A chorus of beggars sings: ” Baksheesh, baksheesh Allah”; passers-by sing “Empshi” (“get away”). A romantic theme portrays the princess, similar to Stravinsky’s Firebird. Trumpets announce the caliph. The concluding section “Call to prayer” of 22 measures was added later.

The music was first announced in Musical Opinion in January 1921 as a piano piece, in a section “Educational novelties”. Half a year later, Bosworth printed the orchestral version.

In a Persian Market has been regarded as a work of orchestral impressionsm. The work has been used as theatre music for comic oriental scenes, used in sketches by Morecambe and Wise, and by The Two Ronnies, and also in schools as theatrical repertory.

The music: Arranger, sometime trumpeter and trombonist, and the leader of a band during the swing era, Larry Clinton recalled “In a Persian Market” from his childhood. But when he pondered how to approach this tune in the late 1930s, he had been immersed in the music of the swing era for several years. First, he wrote arrangements for the very successful Casa Loma band, then for Tommy Dorsey’s band, which in the late 1930s was a quite capable swing unit that played a wide variety of music. Clinton scored a number of hits for TD, including “The Dipsy Doodle,” and “Satan Takes a Holiday.” Bunny Berigan made a memorable recording of Clinton’s “A Study in Brown” in 1937. In late 1937, Clinton began leading his own band.

 

https://youtu.be/9G4zHEVOtNk

History of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake

17/01/2019

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s  Swan Lake was composed in 1875 after he received a commission from Vladimir Petrovich Begichev, the intendant of Moscow’s Russian Imperial Theatres. The ballet’s content is based on a Russian folktale, and over the course of two acts, tells the story of a princess turned into a swan. On March 4, 1877, Swan Lake premiered at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre.

The Original Production of Swan Lake

Much is unknown about the original production of Swan Lake – no notes, techniques, or instructions concerning the ballet were written down. What little information that could be found exists in a handful of letters and memos. Like The Nutcracker, Swan Lake was unsuccessful after its first year of performance. Conductors, dancers, and audiences alike thought Tchaikovsky’s music was far too complicated and the ballet dancers, in particular, had difficulty dancing to the music. The production’s original choreography by German ballet master, Julius Reisinger, was criticized harshly as uninspiring and unoriginal. It wasn’t until after Tchaikovsky’s death that Swan Lake was revived.

From 1871 to 1903, ballet’s most influential dancer, choreographer, and teacher, Marius Petipa held the position of Premier maître de ballet at the Russian Imperial Theatre. Thanks to his extensive research and reconstruction efforts, Petipa along with Lev Ivanov revived and revised Swan Lake in 1895. Performances of Swan Lake today, are likely to feature Petipa’s and Ivanov’s choreography.

The Meaning of the Swan

We do know that Tchaikovsky was granted a great deal of control over the story’s content. He and his colleagues both agreed that the swan represented womanhood in its purest form. The stories and legends of swan-maidens date as far back as ancient Greece; when the Greek god Apollos was born, flying swans circled above their heads. Legends of swan maidens can also be found in The Tales of the Thousand and One Nights, Sweet Mikhail Ivanovich the Rover and The Legend of the Children of Lir.

Pierina Legnani and Swan Lake

Swan Lake is known for its demanding technical skills all because of one extremely gifted ballerina, Pierina Legnani. She performed with such grace and discipline, the bar was quickly set in the minds of all who saw her. It’s no surprise that every ballerina to dance the part of Odette/Odile after Legnani was judged against her performance. Legnani performed 32 fouettes (a fast whipping turn on one foot) in a row – a move many ballerinas loath because of its extreme difficulty. However, the magnitude of skill required to dance the part of Odette in ​Swan Lake is why the ballet remains a favorite for many girls; its a goal, an aspiration to take center stage. The prestige that comes with performing Swan Lake flawlessly is invaluable and can turn ballerinas into stars overnight.

Cuban Ballerina Alicia Alonso Appointed ‘Star of the Century’

03/01/2019

The Latin Institute of Music appointed Prima Ballerina Assoluta, Alicia Alonso, ”Star of the Century” for her work heading the Cuban ballet school.

Prima Ballerina Assoluta, Alicia Alonso

Alicia Alonso has been a true promoter of ‘the Latin cadence’ since classical dance, communicated the cultural institution with headquarters in Mexico.

The world’s most renowned Cuban artist will receive the award in February 2019, which was also given to musician Benny More.

Other stars such as Libertad Lamarque, Pedro Infante and Agustin Lara, among others, have also received this award.

Last December 21, Alonso celebrated her 98 birthday while the company she directs rehearses one of her favorite classics, El Lago de los Cisnes (Swam Lake), an unavoidable work in her career.

Together with the Fernando and Alberto Alonso, she founded the first professional ballet company in Cuba, 60 years ago, when this art was scarcely understood in Latin societies.

Tuyet Hoa