Maestro Cesare Pugni, London, circa 1843

Cesare Pugni (31 May 1802?, Genoa?, Italy — 26 January 1870, St. Petersburg, Russia) was an Italian composer of ballet music, while in his early career he scored Bel canto Opera, symphonies, and various other forms of orchestral music quite successfully. He is most noted for the ballets he scored while serving as Ballet Composer to Her Majesty's Theatre in London, and First Imperial Ballet Composer to the Romanov's Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg, collaborating with such distinguished choreographers as Jules Perrot, Arthur Saint-Léon, Paul Taglioni, and Marius Petipa. Pugni is the most prolific composer of the genre of ballet music that has ever lived - by the end of his life he had scored 312 original ballets, and a gargantuan amount of various Pas and incidental dances, such as divertessments, variations, and additional music for interpolation into already exsisting works, as well as adapting and revising scores for ballets by other composers. Of the original ballets for which Pugni wrote music, he is most noted for Ondine (AKA The Naiad and the Fisherman) (1843), La Esmeralda (1844), The Pharaoh's Daughter (1862), and The Little Humpbacked Horse (AKA The Tsar Maiden) (1864). Of the various Pas and incidental dances, etc. for which he scored music, he is most noted for the Pas de Six from La Vivandière (AKA Markitenka) (1844), the Pas de Quatre (1845), the Venetian Carnival Grand Pas de Deux (AKA The Fascination Pas de Deux from Satenilla) (1859), and his additional music for the ballet Le Corsaire (circa 1860). Image File history File links Cesare_Pugni_-circa_1840. ... Image File history File links Cesare_Pugni_-circa_1840. ... May 31 is the 151st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (152nd in leap years), with 214 days remaining. ... --69. ... Country Italy Region Liguria Province Genoa (GE) Mayor Giuseppe Pericu (since May 30, 2002) Elevation 20 m Area 243 km² Population  - Total (as of April 30, 2005) 611,476  - Density 2,571/km² Time zone CET, UTC+1 Coordinates Gentilic Genovesi Dialing code 010 Postal code 16100 Patron St. ... January 26 is the 26th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1870 (MDCCCLXX) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and Petrograd (Петрогра́д, 1914–1924), is a city located in Northwestern Russia on the delta of the river Neva at the east end of the Gulf of Finland... The Waltz of the Snowflakes from Tchaikovskys The Nutcracker. ... The term Bel Canto may refer to: Belcanto, a vocal technique; or Bel Canto, a novel by Ann Patchett. ... Sydney Opera House: one of the worlds most recognisable opera houses and landmarks. ... A perfomance at Opera House, Haymarket, predecessor of Her Majestys Theatre in circa 1808. ... London is the capital city of England and of the United Kingdom, and is the most populous city in the European Union. ... The House of Romanov (Рома́нов, pronounced ) was the second and last imperial dynasty of Russia, which ruled Muscovy and the Russian Empire for five generations from 1613 to 1762. ... Carlotta Brianza and Paul Gerdt of the Imperial Ballet as Princess Aurora and Prince Desire in the 1890 premiere of the Sleeping Beauty. ... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and Petrograd (Петрогра́д, 1914–1924), is a city located in Northwestern Russia on the delta of the river Neva at the east end of the Gulf of Finland... Jules-Joseph Perrot (born August 18, 1810 in Lyon, France; died August 18, 1892 in Paramé) was a dancer and choreographer who created some of the most famous ballets of the 19th century. ... Marius Petipa, Circa 1890 Marius Petipa (11 March 1818 – 14 July 1910) - Unrivaled ballet master of the Tsars Imperial Ballet of St. ... Ondine or The Naiad and the Fisherman is a ballet in Three acts, Five scenes. ... Poster advertising Carlotta Grisi in the Pas de Truandaise for the premiere of the ballet La Esmeralda, given at Her Majestys Theatre, London, 1844 La Esmeralda is a ballet in 3 acts, 5 scenes, inspired by Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo. ... The Pharaohs Daughter is a ballet by Marius Petipa, first performed in 1862. ... A ballet dance choreographed for four dancers. ... Altynai Asylmoratova and Faurkh Ruzimatov of the Mariinsky Ballet in the Le Corsaire Pas de Deux, London, 1988 Le Corsaire, (The Pirate) is a ballet in three acts based on the poem The Corsaire by Lord Byron, originally choreographed by the Balletmaster Joseph Mazilier to the music of Adolphe Adam. ...

Early Life

Cesare Pugni is without question the most prolific composer of ballet music that has ever lived. The poet and historian Donald Sidney-Fryer's A Checklist of Ballet Scores by Cesare Pugni puts the number at 312 complete ballets, the majority of which were written for the most influential choreographers of the 19th century from Milan, to Paris, Berlin, London, and finally St. Petersburg. Pugni also scored five Bel canto operas, over forty masses, 4 (known) symphonies, and many other orchestral pieces, the majority of which were written for small ensembles such as string quartets. The Waltz of the Snowflakes from Tchaikovskys The Nutcracker. ... Donald Sidney-Fryer is a poet and entertainer born in 1934, in New Bedford, Massachusetts. ... Milan (Italian: Milano; Milanese: Milán) is the main city of northern Italy, and is located in the plains of Lombardy, the most populated and developed region in Italy, being often mistaken with the capital of the country. ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur Tossed by the waves, she does not founder Coordinates : , Time Zone : CET (GMT +1) Administration Subdivisions 20 arrondissements Département Paris (75) Région ÃŽle-de-France Mayor Bertrand Delanoë (PS) City (commune) Characteristics Land Area 86. ... This article is about the capital of Germany. ... London is the capital city of England and of the United Kingdom, and is the most populous city in the European Union. ... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and Petrograd (Петрогра́д, 1914–1924), is a city located in Northwestern Russia on the delta of the river Neva at the east end of the Gulf of Finland... The term Bel Canto may refer to: Belcanto, a vocal technique; or Bel Canto, a novel by Ann Patchett. ... Sydney Opera House: one of the worlds most recognisable opera houses and landmarks. ... Mass is a property of a physical object that quantifies the amount of matter and energy it is equivalent to. ... A symphony is an extended composition usually for orchestra and usually comprising several movements. ... The resident string quartet of the Library of Congress in 1963 A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string instruments—usually two violins, a viola and cello—or a piece written to be performed by such a group. ...

Historians are not certain of the exact year of his birth, as it has been given as both 1802, and 1805. Likewise the place of his birth is not know for certain either, as both Milan and Genoa have been given. The most authoritative facts concerning the composer's birth appear to be Genoa, Italy on May 31, 1802. His father, Carlo Pugni, was a well-known clockmaker with a successful shop in the Pallazzo del Duomo, near Milan's cathedral. Milan (Italian: Milano; Milanese: Milán) is the main city of northern Italy, and is located in the plains of Lombardy, the most populated and developed region in Italy, being often mistaken with the capital of the country. ... Country Italy Region Liguria Province Genoa (GE) Mayor Giuseppe Pericu (since May 30, 2002) Elevation 20 m Area 243 km² Population  - Total (as of April 30, 2005) 611,476  - Density 2,571/km² Time zone CET, UTC+1 Coordinates Gentilic Genovesi Dialing code 010 Postal code 16100 Patron St. ... May 31 is the 151st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (152nd in leap years), with 214 days remaining. ... --69. ... Duomo is a generic Italian term for a cathedral church. ... Milan (Italian: Milano; Milanese: Milán) is the main city of northern Italy, and is located in the plains of Lombardy, the most populated and developed region in Italy, being often mistaken with the capital of the country. ... A cathedral is a Christian church building, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Anglican, Catholic and some Lutheran churches, which serves as the central church of a diocese, and thus as a bishops seat. ...

Clockwise from Middle: Marie Taglioni, Lucille Grahn, Fanny Cerrito, and Carlotta Grisi in the Pugni/Perrot divertessment Pas de Quatre, London, 1845

It was certainly in Milan that the young Cesare received his musical education, though he was not instructed at the Milan Conservatory as has been stated by many historians. He began his musical studies at a very young age, likely by way of private lessons, under Bonifazio Asioli, who taught him composition and counterpoint, and from Alessandro Rolla, who for many years was lead violinist in the orchestra at La Scala and a prominent composer, who taught Pugni the violin (Rolla is also noted as the teacher of the young Niccolò Paganini). Other names associated with Pugni's musical training are Peter Von Winter and Carlo Soliva, both of whom scored operas for La Scala between 1816 and 1818. At the age of seven Pugni scored his first composition, probably for the violin, an instrument he excelled in. In time Pugni, began to show a great facility for composition, with an extraordinary talent for creating melody and for orchestration. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (700x889, 46 KB) Licensing This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (700x889, 46 KB) Licensing This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less. ... A ballet dance choreographed for four dancers. ... The Milan Conservatory is a famous music school in Milan whose alumni include Giacomo Puccini, Vittorio Giannini, Francisco Mignone, and Italo Montemezzi Categories: Music stubs | Music schools ... Composition deals with the bits and pieces that make up things. ... Counterpoint is a broad organisational feature of much music, involving the simultaneous sounding of separate musical lines. ... La Scala by night This article is about the opera house. ... A violin The violin is a bowed stringed musical instrument that has four strings tuned a perfect fifth apart. ... Niccolò Paganini Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini, (October 27, 1782 – May 27, 1840) was an Italian violinist, violist, guitarist and composer. ... Sydney Opera House: one of the worlds most recognisable opera houses and landmarks. ... Composition deals with the bits and pieces that make up things. ... A violin The violin is a bowed stringed musical instrument that has four strings tuned a perfect fifth apart. ...

It appears that the first ballet to have been associated with the composer was the Balletmaster Gaetano Gioja's (teacher of Fanny Elssler) Il Castello di Kenilworth (or The Castle of Kenilworth), produced at La Scala in 1823. The printed libretti for this work credits the music as being a pastiche of themes derived from "various well-known composers", for which Pugni himself adapted the music. In 1826 Pugni received his first commission for the ballet Elerz e Zulmida, to be mounted by the Balletmaster Louis Henry. The success of that work brought about three more commissions from Henry, and soon Pugni was sought out by some of the most distinguished choreographers then working in Italy, among them Salvatore Taglioni (uncle of the legendary Marie Taglioni), and Giovanni Galzerani. Pugni's growing popularity as a composer of light, melodious music for dancing was attested by the publication of a number of piano reductions of excerpts from his ballets, among them the popular Scottish Dance from his 1837 ballet L'Assedio di Calais (The Siege of Calais). Fanny Essler (23 June 1810, Vienna-27 November 1884) was an Austrian dancer. ... Marie Taglioni circa 1831. ... A baby grand piano, with the lid up. ...

Though he demonstrated considerable talent for composing ballet music, Pugni's real ambition was to become a celebrated composer of opera. There had been occasions where he had been commissioned to compose an aria "to order" for various performances at La Scala, and such assignments encouraged him to pursue his ambition further. In 1831 his opera Il Disertore Svizzero (The Swiss Deserter) premiered at the Teatro Canobbiana in Milan, with his teacher Alessandro Rolla as conductor. The work was praised for its variety and originality, and was revered by the composer's fellow musicians. Pugni's next opera was La Vendetta, produced at La Scala in 1832, premiering with great success. It was during this time that Pugni began to compose a substantial number of masses, symphonies, and various other orchestral pieces. One Sinfonia in particular was scored for two orchestras, both playing the same piece with one orchestra a few bars behind the other. This piece so impressed Giacomo Meyerbeer that he was known to hold up a manuscript of the work in order to show his friends a supreme example of virtuosity in composition. Such success as a musician appropriately coincided with his appointment as Maestro al Cembalo (or Director of Music) at La Scala. Next to this appointment Pugni also taught the violin and counterpoint when time allowed. He even instructed the visiting Mikhail Glinka, who revered Pugni as a composer and teacher of music. This article is about the musical term aria. ... Mass is a property of a physical object that quantifies the amount of matter and energy it is equivalent to. ... A symphony is an extended composition usually for orchestra and usually comprising several movements. ... In musical notation, a bar or measure is a segment of time defined as a given number of beats of a given duration. ... Giacomo Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (September 5, 1791 – May 2, 1864) was a noted German-born opera composer, and the first great exponent of Grand Opera. ... Mikhail Glinka Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (Russian: Mihail Ivanovič Glinka) (June 1 [O.S. May 20] 1804 - February 15 [O.S. February 3] 1857), was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognition inside his own country, and is often regarded as the father of Russian classical music. ...

Pugni scored two more operas for the Teatro Canobbiana in 1833 and 1834, both of which were listened to with considerable respect (many historians have claimed that Pugni's last three operas were utter failures, which is wholly inaccurate). Pugni also continued composing various orchestral pieces, all of which were earning him great prestige and notoriety. Sydney Opera House: one of the worlds most recognisable opera houses and landmarks. ...

The Scène Sous-Marine (Under-Water Scene) from Marius Petipa's revival of the Pugni/Saint-Lèon ballet The Little Humpbacked Horse, St. Petersburg, 1895

It would seem that all of the composer's ambitions were about to be fulfilled, especially that of becoming celebrated composer of opera, for which he had put forth much effort in laying the groundwork. But only two years after his appointment as Maestro al Cembalo, all of his prospects collapsed, and he was dismissed from La Scala for what appears to have been the misappropriation of funds, a likely by-product instigated by his notorious passion for gambling and liquor. The post of Maestro al Cembalo was taken over by Pugni's two assistants, Giacomo Panizza and Giovanni Bajetti. In 1834 the composer left La Scala in utter disgrace, never to return to Milan again. Image File history File links Little_Humbacked_Horse_-Underwater_Scene_-1885. ... Image File history File links Little_Humbacked_Horse_-Underwater_Scene_-1885. ...

Paris

With his wife and children Pugni made his way to Paris, where for some time they lived in extreme poverty while the composer searched desperately for employment. In late 1834 Pugni was reunited with an old friend, the Italian composer Vincenzo Bellini, who at that time was engaged at the Théâtre Italien to premiere his opera I Puritani, while at the same time preparing a special version of the work for the opera in Naples. For the Naples production the principle soprano role was to be revised for the vocal talents of the Prima Donna Mailbran, and since the production of I Puritani in Paris was putting Bellini under considerable pressure, he called upon Pugni to copy the parts of the score that would be presented in Naples without change. Not only did Pugni do this, but he also made a second copy of the complete score, and subsequently tried to sell the manuscript to La Scala at a high price. La Scala refused, and not to long after word reached Bellini, who was crushed, as he had not only paid Pugni for the copying but had also given him money when needed in order to feed his family, and was often known to not only give Pugni his own unwanted clothes but also begged his lady friends to send their unwanted dresses over to Signora Pugni. Bellini would later recall in an unfinished letter written not long before his death in 1835 how Pugni's "infamous conduct shattered my faith in human nature". Vincenzo Bellini Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (November 3, 1801 – September 23, 1835) was an Italian opera composer. ... I Puritani is an opera in three acts, by Vincenzo Bellini. ... Naples (Italian Napoli, Neapolitan Nàpule, from Greek Νέα Πόλις - Néa Pólis - meaning New City; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is the largest city in southern Italy and capital of Campania Region and the Province of Naples. ... Look up Soprano in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... I Puritani is an opera in three acts, by Vincenzo Bellini. ...

Lithograph by William Arren of Fanny Cerrito in the title role of the Pugni/Perrot Ondine, London, 1843

In 1836 Pugni received a commission from Louis Henry, the choreographer for whom he had written several of his first ballet scores while in Milan, to compose music for the ballet Liacone, to be produced in Naples. At that time Henry was engaged at the Paris Opera, staging the ballet sections of Gioacchino Rossini's opera William Tell, for which Henry utilized music from Pugni's ballet L'Assedio di Calais. Pugni then travelled to Naples to assist with the music for the opera's dance-sections. This was to be Henry's last ballet; he died soon after of cholera. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (600x900, 99 KB) Licensing This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (600x900, 99 KB) Licensing This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less. ... Ondine or The Naiad and the Fisherman is a ballet in Three acts, Five scenes. ... Naples (Italian Napoli, Neapolitan Nàpule, from Greek Νέα Πόλις - Néa Pólis - meaning New City; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is the largest city in southern Italy and capital of Campania Region and the Province of Naples. ... Portrait Gioacchino Antonio Rossini (February 29, 1792 – November 13, 1868) was an Italian musical composer who wrote more than 30 operas as well as sacred music and chamber music. ... William Tell is an opera by Gioacchino Rossini. ... Drawing of Death bringing the cholera, in Le Petit Journal. ...

Pugni then returned to Paris where he accepted a position teaching violin at the Paganini Institute, and subsequently no music flowed from his pen for nearly ten more years. A violin The violin is a bowed stringed musical instrument that has four strings tuned a perfect fifth apart. ...

Mathilde Kschessinskaya and her pet goat Djali in the Pugni/Perrot/Petipa ballet La Esmeralda, St. Petersburg, 1898

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (700x1084, 491 KB) Licensing This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (700x1084, 491 KB) Licensing This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less. ... Poster advertising Carlotta Grisi in the Pas de Truandaise for the premiere of the ballet La Esmeralda, given at Her Majestys Theatre, London, 1844 La Esmeralda is a ballet in 3 acts, 5 scenes, inspired by Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo. ...

London

In 1843 Pugni accepted a position as Ballet Composer at Her Majesty's Theatre in London from its director Benjamin Lumly. These were very successful and productive years for him. Between the theatre's 1843 and 1850 seasons Pugni produced an impressive series of scores for three of the greatest choreographers at that time: Jules Perrot, Arthur Saint-Léon, and Paul Taglioni, who were creating ballets danced by some of the greatest Ballerinas in all of Europe: Marie Taglioni, Fanny Elssler, Adéle Grantzow, Fanny Cerrito, and Lucille Grahn. Working under pressure and having to meet deadlines drove Pugni to produce, as he had no problem meeting the heavy demand for ballet music. Next to the complete ballets he composed during his time in London, he also scored a substantial number of supplemental Pas, variations, divertessments, and incidental dances. In 1845 alone he produced six new scores, including the celebrated divertessment Pas de Quatre. A perfomance at Opera House, Haymarket, predecessor of Her Majestys Theatre in circa 1808. ... Jules-Joseph Perrot (born August 18, 1810 in Lyon, France; died August 18, 1892 in Paramé) was a dancer and choreographer who created some of the most famous ballets of the 19th century. ... Marie Taglioni circa 1831. ... Fanny Essler (23 June 1810, Vienna-27 November 1884) was an Austrian dancer. ... Fanny Cerrito, originally Francesca Cerrito (May 11, 1817 - May 6, 1909), was an Italian ballet dancer and choreographer. ... A ballet dance choreographed for four dancers. ...

Jules Perrot always made certain that Pugni was involved in composing the music for his work, as from 1843 on-wards few ballets were produced by him that did not have Pugni as composer. In 1843 Perrot produced Ondine for the great Ballerina Fanny Cerrito, for which Pugni wrote one of his greatest scores. In 1844 Perrot produced his most celebrated and enduring work, La Esmeralda for the great Ballerina Carlotta Grisi, set to Pugni's joyous music. The Waltz of the Snowflakes from Tchaikovskys The Nutcracker. ... Ondine or The Naiad and the Fisherman is a ballet in Three acts, Five scenes. ... Fanny Cerrito, originally Francesca Cerrito (May 11, 1817 - May 6, 1909), was an Italian ballet dancer and choreographer. ... Poster advertising Carlotta Grisi in the Pas de Truandaise for the premiere of the ballet La Esmeralda, given at Her Majestys Theatre, London, 1844 La Esmeralda is a ballet in 3 acts, 5 scenes, inspired by Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo. ... We dont have an article called Carlotta grisi Start this article Search for Carlotta grisi in. ...

Arthur Saint-Léon was engaged often in London as guest choreographer, and as a composer Pugni left a profound impression on him, as Saint-Léon was just as skilled a musician as he was a dancer and choreographer. During the 1840s Saint-Léon was engaged as Balletmaster at the Paris Opera, and Pugni traveled there often to score music for the choreographer. Pugni and Saint-Léon created many successful works while in Paris, among them, La Vivandière in 1844, La Violon du Diable in 1849, and Stella in 1850, for which Pugni wrote a score filled with a great variety of sparkling Neopolitan melodies. A Neapolitan is a resident of Naples, Italy or the language of Naples and the surrounding region of Campania. ...

Russia

In 1848, Jules Perrot was asked to stage La Esmeralda for the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia. For the occasion Pugni accompanied the choreographer in order to adapt the music for the demands of the Russian stage. In 1850, Perrot was invited to serve as Maître de Ballet (First Balletmaster) to the Imperial Ballet. Not willing to occupy such a post without his favorite collaborator, Perrot recommended that Pugni accompany him to Russia so that he may serve as the official composer of ballet music. With Pugni's considerable talent and expertise in the field, he was offerred the post of First Imperial Ballet Composer, and naturally took the job, as the terms were excellent. In the winter of 1850 Pugni severed all ties to London and Paris, never to return to western Europe again. Poster advertising Carlotta Grisi in the Pas de Truandaise for the premiere of the ballet La Esmeralda, given at Her Majestys Theatre, London, 1844 La Esmeralda is a ballet in 3 acts, 5 scenes, inspired by Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo. ... Carlotta Brianza and Paul Gerdt of the Imperial Ballet as Princess Aurora and Prince Desire in the 1890 premiere of the Sleeping Beauty. ...

At some point not long after his relocation to London in 1843 Pugni married his second wife Marion (or Mary Ann) Linton, with whom he fathered a large family, though upon his relocation to Russia he supposedly went alone, the reasons of which are not clear. Whatever the case, in 1860 Pugni began a relationship with a Serf woman named Daria Petrova, with whom he had eight children, though the two were never married. Costumes of Slaves or Serfs, from the Sixth to the Twelfth Centuries, collected by H. de Vielcastel, from original Documents in the great Libraries of Europe. ...

Lubov Egorova in the title role of Pavel Gerdt's revival of the Pugni/Petipa ballet The Blue Dahlia, St. Petersburg, 1905

In Russia Pugni's works were popular with the royal family, especially Tsar Nicholas I, who was known to request that Pugni's marches and entr'actes be performed at diplomatic functions. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1048x1612, 820 KB) Licensing This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1048x1612, 820 KB) Licensing This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less. ... Nikolai I Pavlovich (Russian: Николай I Павлович), July 6 (June 25, Old Style), 1796–March 2 (February 18, Old Style), 1855), also Nicholas, was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855 and king of Poland from 1825 until 1831. ... Entracte is French for between the acts. It can have the meaning of a pause between two parts of a stage production, synonym to intermission, but is more often used to indicate that part of a theatre production that is performed between acts as an intermezzo or interlude. ...

Beginning in 1852 Pugni also began teaching violin and counterpoint at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, a position he held until shortly before his death. A violin The violin is a bowed stringed musical instrument that has four strings tuned a perfect fifth apart. ... Counterpoint is a broad organisational feature of much music, involving the simultaneous sounding of separate musical lines. ... Theatre Square and the conservatory in 1913. ...

In 1855 Pugni wrote The Star of Granada, his first ballet for the choreographer Marius Petipa, who had been serving as Jules Perrot's assistant since his arrival in Russia, as well as Premiere Danseur to the Imperial Ballet since 1847. Petipa was fast becoming a celebrated choreographer in his own right, and began to turn to the creating ballets more and more. Marius Petipa, Circa 1890 Marius Petipa (11 March 1818 – 14 July 1910) - Unrivaled ballet master of the Tsars Imperial Ballet of St. ...

In 1858 Perrot left Russia, and Pugni found himself in need by both Petipa and Arthur Saint-Léon, who was by then engaged as Maître de Ballet. The two choreographers, both highly gifted their art, were engaged in a rather healthy and productive rivalry on the Imperial stage, and though their ballets were considerably different in style and technique Pugni scored the music for nearly every one of them.

In 1862 Pugni wrote for Petipa The Pharaoh's Daughter, produced in only 6 weeks for the Italian Prima Ballerina Carolina Rosati. The production was so successful it won for Petipa the position of second Balletmaster, though Petipa still had to contend with Saint-Lèon. In 1864 Pugni scored the music for Saint-Lèon's ballet The Little Humpbacked Horse, which itself was as equally as successful as The Pharaoh's Daughter. A brilliant march from the third act of The Little Humpbacked Horse was a favorite of Tsar Alexander II, and Pugni's violin solo from the Variation of the Tsar Maiden from the scene The Isle of the Mermaids became a staple of the violinist's repertory. The Pharaohs Daughter is a ballet by Marius Petipa, first performed in 1862. ... Marius Petipa, Circa 1890 Marius Petipa (11 March 1818 – 14 July 1910) - Unrivaled ballet master of the Tsars Imperial Ballet of St. ... The Pharaohs Daughter is a ballet by Marius Petipa, first performed in 1862. ... Alexander (Aleksandr) II Nikolaevitch (Russian: Александр II Николаевич) (born April 17, 1818 in Moscow; died March 13, 1881 in St. ...

Mathilde Kschessinskaya as Aspicia in the Pas de Fleche from Act I of the Pugni/Petipa The Pharaoh's Daughter, St. Pertersburg, 1898

Sadly, Pugni began to become more and more unreliable as he aged, becoming severely depressed and retreating more and more into the bottle to the point of addiction, and gambling away his money, often neglecting his work and leaving his family to fend for themselves for days at a time. As a result, Petipa found it increasingly difficult to extract music from him, and the quality of his music became increasingly "run-of-the-mill" and banal, though there were occasions where he would find inspiration and deliver a fine score. Image File history File links Pharoah's_Daughter_-Pas_de_Fleche_-Mathilde_Kschessinska_-1898_-2. ... Image File history File links Pharoah's_Daughter_-Pas_de_Fleche_-Mathilde_Kschessinska_-1898_-2. ... The Pharaohs Daughter is a ballet by Marius Petipa, first performed in 1862. ...

In his memoirs Petipa quoted a letter written him by Pugni in 1860, "I tearfully ask you to send some money; I am without a penny". The letter also included freshly composed sections for Petipa's upcoming ballet The Blue Dahlia. With the premiere fast approaching, Petipa had been receiving music from the composer piecemeal, and it had become clear to Petipa that Pugni had put off scoring the more difficult sections, the action sequences, to the last. By the mid 1860s, such situations became commonplace.

Pugni began inventing unbelievable excuses for not delivering music on time; for example he once told Petipa his cat had scratched his hand, making him unable to hold his pen. On one occasion Pugni came to rehearsal without the day's required music, informing Petipa that it was due to having no candles in which to write by. Petipa subsequently arranged to have a large box of candles delivered to Pugni's home, only to have the composer inform him at the following day's rehearsal that he did not write the required music because he was forced to sell the candles in order to eat. Many of Pugni's colleagues, who respected his talent very much, found themselves helping him whenever possible, though eventually many of them found his irresponsibility to be beyond all redemption. Petipa came to the point where he was forced to hire someone to watch over the composer to insure music would be prepared for the next day's rehearsals, and likewise to make certain scores were completed on time. Regardless, Pugni managed to compose eight new scores between 1865 and 1868 alone for the Imperial Ballet, though they were mostly short one act ballets and divertessments.

Nadezhda Bakerkina as the Star in the Pugni/Petipa The Two Little Stars, St. Petersburg, circa 1900

In 1867 Saint-Léon wrote to his friend Charles Nuitter, "Pugni has nearly died. He was found in the woods 16 versts from the city (St. Petersburg) owing 300 roubles to tradesmen. The Court Minister paid the sum, and a collection from the dancers of the company, who produced 200 roubles, is serving to feed him, his wife, and his eight children, five of whom are very young. He owes 5,800 roubles in all, while for the past twenty years he has been receiving 1,200 francs a month (for Royalties for scores performed in Paris) plus a benefit!" (Pugni was also receiving a substantial amount of Royalties for performances in London, as well as his fees for composing in St. Petersburg). Image File history File links Tlsnb. ... Image File history File links Tlsnb. ... A verst (Russian versta, верста) is an obsolete Russian unit of length. ...

In 1868 Pugni composed the music for Petipa's Le Roi Candaule (King's Candaules, later known as Tsar Candavl), which would was to be his last full-length ballet. Petipa commissioned Pugni to compose music for his ballet Don Quixote, to be mounted at the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre in 1869, but Pugni's irresponsibility frustrated the choreographer to such a degree that he turned to the Czech composer Léon Minkus, who had worked previously with Saint-Léon. Finally, in late 1869 Pugni pulled himself together to score the music for Petipa's one act ballet The Two Stars (later given as The Two Little Stars in 1878), based on an ancient Greek poem by Anacreon, and though he never finished it, the score was considered by everyone involved to be among his greatest masterpieces for the ballet. The gifted yet sad and wayward Cesare Pugni had written his swan song, and he died on January 26, 1870. Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre is a theatre and opera company in Moscow, Russia, which gives performances of ballet, opera, and plays. ... Léon Minkus Léon Fedorovich Minkus (born Ludwig Aloisius Minkus March 23, 1826, Grossmeseritsch (Czech Velké Meziříčí), near Brünn (Czech Brno), Austria-Hungary - 1917, Vienna) was the most popular and performed Ballet Composer of the 19th century. ... Anacreon roman copy , Rome in Palazzo dei Conservatori Anacreon (also Anakreon) (born ca. ...

Tsar Alexander II ordered that Pugni be given a state funeral, and the art of Ballet's most prolific composer was laid to rest in the Alexander Nevsky Monastery. Today, he rests not far from such great artists of the ballet as Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov, and Tchaikovsky. In honor of Pugni, Petipa mounted a revival of Pugni's Caterina (originally staged in London by Jules Perrot in 1846), premiering on November 1, 1870, with the opening night's reciepts going to the composer's family. Petipa then commissioned the composer Yuli Gerber to complete Pugni's score for The Two Stars, which Pugni had almost finished, and the ballet premiered on January 21, 1871 for a gala performance at Peterhof. Alexander (Aleksandr) II Nikolaevitch (Russian: Александр II Николаевич) (born April 17, 1818 in Moscow; died March 13, 1881 in St. ... View of the monastery in the early 19th century Alexander Nevsky Monastery was founded by Peter the Great in 1710 at the southern end of the Nevsky Prospect in St Petersburg to house the relics of Alexander Nevsky, patron saint of the newly-founded Russian capital. ... Marius Petipa, Circa 1890 Marius Petipa (11 March 1818 – 14 July 1910) - Unrivaled ballet master of the Tsars Imperial Ballet of St. ... Lev Ivanov (1834 – 1901) was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer. ... A young Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1874) Tchaikovsky redirects here. ... Peterhof: the Samson Fountain and Sea Channel Peterhof (Russian: , Petergof, originally Piterhof, Dutch for Peters Court) is a series of palaces and gardens, laid out on the orders of Peter the Great, and sometimes called the Russian Versailles. It is located about twenty kilometers west and six kilometers south...

What had plagued the mind of Cesare Pugni so much to warrant his self-destructive behavior toward the end of his life history does not tell.

Postscript

It is significant to note that three of Cesare Pugni and Daria Petrovna's descendants danced with the Imperial Ballet - his son Nicolai Cesarevich Pugni, who danced in the Corps de Ballet from 1882 until a few months before his death in 1896. Another was his granddaughter Léontina Konstantsiia Tsezarevna Pugni, daughter of Pugni's son Cesare Cesarevich, who danced as a soloist from 1903 to 1913 as well as touring Scandinavia and Germany with Anna Pavlova's company from 1908-1909. Carlotta Brianza and Paul Gerdt of the Imperial Ballet as Princess Aurora and Prince Desire in the 1890 premiere of the Sleeping Beauty. ... Photographic postcard of Anna Pavlova as Aspicia in The Pharoahs Daughter, circa 1910 Anna Pavlova as Nikiya in the Grand Pas Classique of the Shades from Act III of La Bayadere, circa 1902 Anna Pavlova is also the name of an Olympic gymnast. ...

Maestro Cesare Pugni, St. Petersburg, circa 1860

Pugni's grandson Alexander Shiryaev, son of Pugni's daughter Ekaterina Cesarevna, was a much celebrated soloist and character dancer in St. Petersburg. He served as the Imperial Ballet's second Balletmaster, succeeding Lev Ivanov upon his death in 1901. Shiryaev later served as Balletmaster to the post-revolution Imperial/Petrograd Ballet. Shiryaev revived many ballets, among them Petipa's staging of Pugni's Ondine with Anna Pavlova in the title role, as well as the first post-revolution Nutcracker staged in Russia, with Fedor Lopukhov, along with many other works. Another of Pugni's grandsons is the celebrated artist Ivan Puni (or Jean Pougny) (1894-1956), son of Pugni's son Albert Linton-Pougny (1858-1925), who was born of his second wife, Marion Linton. Image File history File links Cesare_Pugni_-circa_1860. ... Image File history File links Cesare_Pugni_-circa_1860. ... Lev Ivanov (1834 – 1901) was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer. ... The October Revolution, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution or November Revolution, was the second phase of the Russian Revolution of 1917, the first having been instigated by the events around the February Revolution. ... Ondine or The Naiad and the Fisherman is a ballet in Three acts, Five scenes. ... Photographic postcard of Anna Pavlova as Aspicia in The Pharoahs Daughter, circa 1910 Anna Pavlova as Nikiya in the Grand Pas Classique of the Shades from Act III of La Bayadere, circa 1902 Anna Pavlova is also the name of an Olympic gymnast. ... A variety of nutcrackers A nutcracker is a mechanical device for cracking nuts. ... Ivan Puni Velemir Khlebnikov reads poetry to Ksenia Boguslavskaya, 1915 Ivan Puni or Puny (Jean Pougny) (1894-1956) was a Russian avant-garde artist. ...

After Saint-Léon's death in 1870, Petipa was named Maître de Ballet, selecting Léon Minkus (1826-1917) as Pugni's successor as First Imperial Ballet Composer to the Imperial Theatres. Minkus held the post from 1871 until 1886, when it was abolished by the director of the Imperial Theatres Ivan Vsevolozhsky. Minkus would score the music for such ballets as Petipa's Don Quixote (1869), and La Bayadère (1877), among others. Léon Minkus Léon Fedorovich Minkus (born Ludwig Aloisius Minkus March 23, 1826, Grossmeseritsch (Czech Velké Meziříčí), near Brünn (Czech Brno), Austria-Hungary - 1917, Vienna) was the most popular and performed Ballet Composer of the 19th century. ... La Bayadére is a ballet, originally in 4 Acts and 7 scenes with apotheosis, choreographed by the Balletmaster Marius Petipa to music by Lèon Minkus. ...

Today Cesare Pugni has no other memorial than his music, which for the most part goes unplayed, sitting in various libraries and theatre archives, waiting to be re-discovered. Recent movements and interests in restoring the complex and glorious heritage of the art of ballet has brought about revivals of the works of both the Romantic and Classical epochs, which Cesare Pugni scored the bulk of its music. In 2006 Pierre Lacotte mounted a revival of Jules Perrot's original Ondine for the Mariinsky Ballet. Pugni's score was resurrected from the archives of the Paris Conservatoire. Pugni's talent for ballet music, as well as his mastery of counterpoint shine through, and to date it is the most complete score by him in use by any ballet company. Lacotte also mounted a revival of the Pugni/Petipa The Pharaoh's Daughter for the Bolshoi Ballet in 2001 (the score in use by the Bolshoi is not in Pugni's original orchestration). Romanticism was a secular and intellectual movement that originated in late 18th century Western Europe. ... The word classical has several meanings: Pertaining to the societies of the classical antiquity, ancient Greece or Rome. ... Ondine or The Naiad and the Fisherman is a ballet in Three acts, Five scenes. ... The Mariinsky Ballet is one of the most famous ballet schools in history (formerly the Kirov Ballet, and also the Academic State Theatre), located in St. ... Former Conservatoire building (until 1911), still used as Théâtre du Conservatoire The Conservatoire de Paris, full contemporary name Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, has been central to the evolution of music in France and Western Europe. ... The Pharaohs Daughter is a ballet by Marius Petipa, first performed in 1862. ... The Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow houses the world renowned Bolshoi Ballet, which has been home to some of the worlds greatest ballet dancers, including Anna Pavlova, Vaslav Nijinsky, Rudolf Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Natalia Makarova. ...

The music of Cesare Pugni

A page from the répétiteur of Pugni's 1862 score for The Pharaoh's Daughter, today part of the Sergeyev Collection, created circa 1900. Here is the Pas de Guirlandes, a variation for Carolina Rosati, creator of the role of Aspicia

The judgement of history that Cesare Pugni was a hack composer whose music is nowhere near deserving of serious notice rests, not on a balanced assessment of his work, but on generalised statements that have taken hold over the last fifty or so years when modern audiences and critics have encountered the music of the 19th century specialist ballet composers, and the impression of such music in relation to the more symphonic ballet scores of such composers as Glazunov, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, and so on. Often the writer or balletomane who has never once heard of nor encountered the music of these "specialists" often speaks positively of their works, whereas the opposite is true with those who have constantly heard negative statements made of their work in the past. Most negative statements seem to be polemically motivated, almost in a subconscious way pointing to the symphonic principals of Tchaikovsky and the composers who followed in his footsteps. Many seem to overlook the fact that composers of ballet music during the latter half of the 19th century - for example by Pugni's successor Lèon Minkus or Johann Armsheimer (who wrote for Petipa The Calvery Halt in 1896), and Piotr Schenk (who wrote for Petipa Bluebeard in 1896) in St. Petersburg, as well as Peter-Ludwig Hertel (famous for La Fille Mal Gardée in 1864 in Berlin) - all followed the structural and aesthetic lines long before established by Pugni, and not at all the symphonic principals brought to the table by Tchaikovsky. Even Riccardo Drigo, who was in many ways the successor of Léon Minkus in St. Petersburg, followed the traditions set down by Pugni when it came to composing ballets, though many historians and musicologists find Drigo to be the superior composer of all of the so-called specialists (one can easily hear how much the traditions of Pugni evolved from Minkus to Drigo). Image File history File links Download high resolution version (684x1035, 178 KB) Licensing This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (684x1035, 178 KB) Licensing This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less. ... The Pharaohs Daughter is a ballet by Marius Petipa, first performed in 1862. ... Alexander Konstantinovich Glazounov (or Glazunov or Glazunow) (August 10, 1865 – March 21, 1936) was a major Russian composer, as well as an influential music teacher. ... A young Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1874) Tchaikovsky redirects here. ... Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (Russian: И́горь Фёдорович Страви́нский Igor Fjodorovič Stravinskij) (June 17, 1882 – April 6, 1971) was a Russian-born composer of modern classical music. ... Categories: | ... Nadia Nerina as Lise and David Blair as Colas in the Pas de Ruban from Act I of Sir Frederick Ashtons La Fille Mal Gardée, London, 1960 La Fille Mal Gardée (The Badly Watched Daughter) is a Ballet presented in 2 Acts, inspired Choffarts engraving of... Riccardo Drigo, Circa 1900 Riccardo Eugenio Drigo (June 30, 1846 - October 1, 1930) was an Italian composer and conductor who spent many years working with the Saint Petersburg Imperial Ballet and Imperial Opera. ... Léon Minkus Léon Fedorovich Minkus (born Ludwig Aloisius Minkus March 23, 1826, Grossmeseritsch (Czech Velké Meziříčí), near Brünn (Czech Brno), Austria-Hungary - 1917, Vienna) was the most popular and performed Ballet Composer of the 19th century. ...

Pugni was well-known for the quickness with which he worked, requiring very little time to complete an entire score. His ballet Ondine took him only three weeks, and La Esmeralda just two weeks. He was known to prepare brilliant individual dances and divertessments in a single day, and if the need should arise he could score an supplemental variation for a Ballerina in only an hour or less, along with complete orchestration. Such speed in composition had its consequences however, for some of Pugni's surviving scores show errors, unevenness, and the occasional negligence, but taken as a whole was always eminently danceable and far superior to the work of many other ballet composers of his time. Pugni was always on the lookout for inspiration for his scores. According to Benjamin Lumley's account of the creation of La Esmeralda Pugni and Perrot "often burnt the midnight oil in working out the scenario, where Pugni was always ready to seize any idea that might suggest itself for a situation or Pas." Pugni's scores always reflected the genre, locale, or mood of the scenario, a feature sorely lacking in many of the ballet compositions of the period (many composers ballet music during the period, no matter if the ballet was set in Arabia, France, or Spain, gave out the same European-style music). For example, for Perrot's Ondine Pugni composed music for the under-water scenes to reflect the setting, with elements of rippling waves of water, for Saint-Léon's Stella, set in 18th century Italy, he created a score filled with original Neopolitan melodies, and for the death of the Esmeralda in Perrot's La Esmeralda he scored a somber organ solo. Ondine or The Naiad and the Fisherman is a ballet in Three acts, Five scenes. ... Poster advertising Carlotta Grisi in the Pas de Truandaise for the premiere of the ballet La Esmeralda, given at Her Majestys Theatre, London, 1844 La Esmeralda is a ballet in 3 acts, 5 scenes, inspired by Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo. ... For the use of the term orchestration in computer science, see orchestration (computers) Orchestration is the study and practice of adapting music for an orchestra or musical ensemble. ... The Waltz of the Snowflakes from Tchaikovskys The Nutcracker. ... Portrait of Lumley by Count DOrsay Benjamin Lumley, opera manager and entrepreneur, was born Benjamin Levy, probably in Canada, about 1811, the son of a Jewish merchant Louis Levy, and died 17th March, 1875 in London. ... Poster advertising Carlotta Grisi in the Pas de Truandaise for the premiere of the ballet La Esmeralda, given at Her Majestys Theatre, London, 1844 La Esmeralda is a ballet in 3 acts, 5 scenes, inspired by Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo. ... Jules-Joseph Perrot (born August 18, 1810 in Lyon, France; died August 18, 1892 in Paramé) was a dancer and choreographer who created some of the most famous ballets of the 19th century. ... Ondine or The Naiad and the Fisherman is a ballet in Three acts, Five scenes. ... Poster advertising Carlotta Grisi in the Pas de Truandaise for the premiere of the ballet La Esmeralda, given at Her Majestys Theatre, London, 1844 La Esmeralda is a ballet in 3 acts, 5 scenes, inspired by Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo. ... An organ is the following: In anatomy, an organ is a group of tissues which perform some function. ...

Like many of the specialist ballet composers who came before him and after him, Pugni used rehearsals to create a vast majority of his scores. He would often present many different melodic passages to the Balletmaster for his approval for a particular Pas or scene. The memoirs of the Ballerina Anna Petrovna Natarova gives an account of a rehearsal of the first staging of La Esmeralda in Russia, staged in 1848 by Jules Perrot for which Pugni had revised his original score. Poster advertising Carlotta Grisi in the Pas de Truandaise for the premiere of the ballet La Esmeralda, given at Her Majestys Theatre, London, 1844 La Esmeralda is a ballet in 3 acts, 5 scenes, inspired by Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo. ... Jules-Joseph Perrot (born August 18, 1810 in Lyon, France; died August 18, 1892 in Paramé) was a dancer and choreographer who created some of the most famous ballets of the 19th century. ...

A page of the overture from a piano reduction of Pugni's 1844 score for La Esmeralda

"...in 1848 we had a chance to see how the Balletmaster Perrot, in truth a genius, produced the ballet La Esmeralda. The composer Pugni arrived (at rehearsal) with music and showed Perrot what he had written. Pugni came with two violinists: Alexander Nikolaevich Lyadov and Sokolov. Perrot had determined in advance the tempi and the number of bars for each piece. Pugni had prepared it thus: at one end of a piece of paper he had written the motif of a particular number, but if the sheet were turned upside-down, you would find written there another theme for the same piece. He shows Perrot the music. The musicians play it. Perrot listens. 'Well then, will it do?' asks Pugni. 'No it won't says Perrot. And we young gils waited impatiently for Pugni to turn over the page. This very much entertained us. 'And how about this?' asked Pugni. 'That is fine' answered Perrot." Image File history File links Download high resolution version (550x700, 82 KB) Licensing This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (550x700, 82 KB) Licensing This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less. ... Poster advertising Carlotta Grisi in the Pas de Truandaise for the premiere of the ballet La Esmeralda, given at Her Majestys Theatre, London, 1844 La Esmeralda is a ballet in 3 acts, 5 scenes, inspired by Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo. ...

Such limitless imagination when it came to melody was indeed one of Pugni's greatest talents. It is a common misconception that Pugni based the majority of his music on the compositions of others. From time to time, Pugni would in fact "borrow" themes from other composers, though almost always at the behest of a Ballerina or Balletmaster that favoured a particular melody for their Pas. For example his famous Venetian Carnival Grand Pas de Deux (also known as the Fascination Pas de Deux from Satanilla) contains themes by Niccolò Paganini, and the Variation of Mme. Taglioni from Pas de Quatre is based on a theme from Johann Strauss I's 1828 Kettenbrücke-Walzer (The Suspension Bridge Waltz). Niccolò Paganini Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini, (October 27, 1782 – May 27, 1840) was an Italian violinist, violist, guitarist and composer. ... A ballet dance choreographed for four dancers. ... Johann Strauss I Johann Strauss I (also known as Johann Strauss Snr. ...

An extensive archive of Cesare Pugni's music is to be found in the archives of the Paris Conservatoire, which is today incorporated in the Department of Music of the National Library of France, as well as some manuscripts which are extant in the British Library, and the Paris Opera. The collection extant in the Paris Conservatoire is mostly of the ballets of Jules Perrot, the majority of which were scored by Pugni. Much of these ballets, along with many others scored by Pugni in London and in St. Petersburg were published in their day in piano reduction, and sold very well, though no manuscript appears to be extant, a testament to the popularity of the music, as most likely the scores were played until they fell apart. The National Library of France holds not nearly as many scores, but it does contain manuscripts of a few of the ballets Pugni scored for Arthur Saint-Léon, including the original manuscript for The Little Humpbacked Horse. Perhaps the greatest archive of Pugni's original scores is housed in the Mariinsky Theatre of St. Petersburg, which it has been said contains every ballet Pugni wrote for Petipa, among them, the coveted original score for The Pharaoh's Daughter, as well as many other scores for ballets produced elsewhere that were also mounted in Russia. Former Conservatoire building (until 1911), still used as Théâtre du Conservatoire The Conservatoire de Paris, full contemporary name Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, has been central to the evolution of music in France and Western Europe. ... The new buildings of the library. ... British Library Ossulston St entrance, with distinctive red logo. ... Front under winter sun, photography by Eric Pouhier Left roof sculpture Right roof sculpture The Palais Garnier is an opera house, a grand landmark at the northern end of the Avenue de lOpéra in the IXe arrondissement of Paris, France. ... Jules-Joseph Perrot (born August 18, 1810 in Lyon, France; died August 18, 1892 in Paramé) was a dancer and choreographer who created some of the most famous ballets of the 19th century. ... The Maryinsky (or Mariinsky) Theatre (or Theater), is the St Petersburg theatre where the Mariinsky Ballet is located. ... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and Petrograd (Петрогра́д, 1914–1924), is a city located in Northwestern Russia on the delta of the river Neva at the east end of the Gulf of Finland... The Pharaohs Daughter is a ballet by Marius Petipa, first performed in 1862. ...

The few modern musicologists who have studied Pugni's other compositions (such as Ivor Guest): his masses, operas, symphonies, and other orchestral pieces, are quite surprised that the same hand that scored such ballets as Ondine, La Esmeralda, and The Pharaoh's Daughter. The quality of these works clearly demonstrates his ability as a composer - his symphonies were written in the same style as those of Joseph Haydn, many of which are far more complicated, where as his operas were scored in the same manner as those of Rossini, or Bellini. A few of his masses and his orchestral pieces, particularly his pieces for small orchestras are still performed, largely in Europe, by many prominent ensembles. Perhaps one day more of his pieces will come to light. Ondine or The Naiad and the Fisherman is a ballet in Three acts, Five scenes. ... Poster advertising Carlotta Grisi in the Pas de Truandaise for the premiere of the ballet La Esmeralda, given at Her Majestys Theatre, London, 1844 La Esmeralda is a ballet in 3 acts, 5 scenes, inspired by Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo. ... The Pharaohs Daughter is a ballet by Marius Petipa, first performed in 1862. ... It has been suggested that Papa Haydn be merged into this article or section. ... Portrait Gioacchino Antonio Rossini (February 29, 1792 – November 13, 1868) was an Italian musical composer who wrote more than 30 operas as well as sacred music and chamber music. ... Vincenzo Bellini Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (November 3, 1801 – September 23, 1835) was an Italian opera composer. ...

Works still in performance

Eugenia Obraztsova as Ondine and Leonid Sarafanov as Mattéo in the Grand Pas des Naiads from Act II of the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet's revival of the Pugni/Perrot ballet Ondine, St. Petersburg, 2006

It is only in Russia that one can see a performance of any of Pugni's full-length ballets that have either survived through time to the present day, or that have been revived after many years of absence from the stage. Image File history File links Ondine2006_-1. ... Image File history File links Ondine2006_-1. ... Ondine or The Naiad and the Fisherman is a ballet in Three acts, Five scenes. ...

Of the full-length works that have withstood the test of time, there is only The Little Humpbacked Horse and La Esmeralda. The Little Humpbacked Horse left the active repertory of the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet (the fomer Imperial Ballet) long ago, and today the work is only presented in its full-length form by the Vaganova Choreographic Institute (school of the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet), occasionally given with the top graduates of a school year in the lead roles. Petipa revived The Little Humpbacked Horse for the first and last time in 1895 (under the title The Tsar Maiden), with the great Ballerina Pierina Legnani as the Tsar Maiden. Since then the ballet has been kept alive by many different Balletmasters, teachers, and choreographers, among them - Agrippina Vaganova, Natalia Dudinskaya, Konstantin Sergeyev, and Ninel Kurgapkina. Today the ballet is light-years away from the opulent spectacle that it once was, with Pugni's score heavily weighed down with additional music from many different composers. Musically and Choreographically only fragments of Pugni, Saint-Léon, and Petipa's text remain, giving one a tiny glimpse at what was once this glorious ballet. Poster advertising Carlotta Grisi in the Pas de Truandaise for the premiere of the ballet La Esmeralda, given at Her Majestys Theatre, London, 1844 La Esmeralda is a ballet in 3 acts, 5 scenes, inspired by Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo. ... Vaganova as Odette-Odile, 1900es Agrippina Yakovlevna Vaganova (July 6, 1879 - November 5, 1951) was an outstanding Russian ballet teacher who developed the Vaganova method. ... Pierina Legnani (1863-1923) was an Italian ballerina responsible for the inclusion of 32 consecutive fouettés en tournant en pointe to the ballet Swan Lake. ... Vaganova as Odette-Odile, 1900es Agrippina Yakovlevna Vaganova (July 6, 1879 - November 5, 1951) was an outstanding Russian ballet teacher who developed the Vaganova method. ... Natalia M. Dudinskaya as Söyembikä in the Jakobson/Yarullin Shuraleh, Leningrad, circa 1935 Natalia Mikhailovna Dudinskaya (21 August 1912, Kharkov — 29 January 2003, Saint Petersburg) was a Russian prima ballerina who dominated the Kirov Ballet in the 1930s and 1940s. ... Konstantin Mikhailovich Sergeyev (1910 - April 1, 1992) was a Russian ballet danseur, artistic director and choreographer for the Kirov Theatre. ...

Fortunately La Esmeralda is given in modern times in a more authentic staging both choreographically and musically, by way of the Mussorgsky Ballet's 1981 revival. This production was mounted by Nicolai Boyarchikov, director of the Mussorgsky Ballet, and Tatiana Vecheslova, former Prima Ballerina of the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet. Vaganova mounted a revival of La Esmeralda with Vecheslova in the lead in 1931. Prior to this Vecheslova had danced in Petipa's last revival of the ballet (for Mathilde Kschessinskaya in 1898), which was retained in the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet's repertory until 1928. The Mussorgsky Ballet director Boyarchikov decided to mount a revival of La Esmeralda as it was danced before Vaganova's version, which Vecheslova still remembered. Vecheslova restored many of the scenes and dances which had become either lost or altered over time, including Mathilde Kschessinskaya's original Pas de Deux written especially for her by Riccardo Drigo in 1898 (known in modern times as the La Esmeralda Pas de Deux), and the elaborate Grand Pas Classique from Act II danced by Fleur-de-Lys, Captain Phoebus, 3 female soloists, and the Corps de Ballet. For this production Pugni's score, with additions by Drigo dating from 1886 and 1898, was restored with the aid of a repètitèur used by the Imperial Ballet before the turn of the 20th century. Today this production is still in the active repertory of the Mussorgsky Ballet, and was recently filmed and released onto DVD, though unfortunately the near 3-hour production was edited for the filming, trimming it down to a little over 55 minutes. Poster advertising Carlotta Grisi in the Pas de Truandaise for the premiere of the ballet La Esmeralda, given at Her Majestys Theatre, London, 1844 La Esmeralda is a ballet in 3 acts, 5 scenes, inspired by Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo. ... Poster advertising Carlotta Grisi in the Pas de Truandaise for the premiere of the ballet La Esmeralda, given at Her Majestys Theatre, London, 1844 La Esmeralda is a ballet in 3 acts, 5 scenes, inspired by Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo. ... Mathilde Kschessinska (Polish: Matylda KrzesiÅ„ska, 19 August 1872 (O.S.) Ligovo near Peterhof — 7 June 1971 Paris), (also known as Her Serene Highness Princess Romanova-Krasinskaya since 1921) was the first Russian prima ballerina assoluta in the world. ... Poster advertising Carlotta Grisi in the Pas de Truandaise for the premiere of the ballet La Esmeralda, given at Her Majestys Theatre, London, 1844 La Esmeralda is a ballet in 3 acts, 5 scenes, inspired by Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo. ... Riccardo Drigo, Circa 1900 Riccardo Eugenio Drigo (June 30, 1846 - October 1, 1930) was an Italian composer and conductor who spent many years working with the Saint Petersburg Imperial Ballet and Imperial Opera. ...

Students of the Universal Ballet Academy performing the Waltz of the Animated Frescoes from the Pugni/Saint-Léon/Petipa/Gorsky ballet The Little Humpbacked Horse, Washington D.C., 2005

Regarding modern revivals, Arthur Saint-Léon's 1844 Pas de Six from the ballet La Vivandiére (AKA Markitenka, as it is known in Russia) was reconstructed in 1975 by the dance notation expert Ann Hutchinson-Guest and Pierre Lacotte for the Joffrey Ballet from Saint-Léon's own original choreographic notation, which included the original orchestral parts for Pugni's music. In 1978 the Balletmaster Pierre Lacotte staged the work for the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet, who still maintain it in thier repertory. Today this reconstructed Pas de Six is given by many companies throughout the world. Image File history File links Frescoes. ... Image File history File links Frescoes. ... In 1956, Ballet teacher Robert Joffrey and choreographer Gerald Arpino formed a six-dancer ensemble that toured the country performing original ballets during a time when most touring companies performed mere reduced versions of ballet classics. ...

In 2000 Lacotte mounted a revival of the 1862 Pugni/Petipa ballet The Pharaoh's Daughter, last performed in 1928, for the Bolshoi Ballet, though unfortunately he was refused access to Pugni's original score, preserved in the archives of the Mariinsky Theatre, and Lacotte was forced to piece together the music from various sources, with the Bolshoi Theatre conductor Alexander Sotnikov serving as orchestrator. In 2006 Lacotte mounted a revival of the 1843 Pugni/Perrot ballet Ondine (AKA The Naiad and the Fisherman) for the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet. Both works were choreographed by Lacotte "in the style of the epoch", with The Pharaoh's Daughter containing only 4 dances from Petipa's own staging, a few of which were reconstructed from the Stepanov Choreographic Notation from the Sergeyev Collection. The Pharaohs Daughter is a ballet by Marius Petipa, first performed in 1862. ... The Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow houses the world renowned Bolshoi Ballet, which has been home to some of the worlds greatest ballet dancers, including Anna Pavlova, Vaslav Nijinsky, Rudolf Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Natalia Makarova. ... Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre is a theatre and opera company in Moscow, Russia, which gives performances of ballet, opera, and plays. ... Ondine or The Naiad and the Fisherman is a ballet in Three acts, Five scenes. ... The Pharaohs Daughter is a ballet by Marius Petipa, first performed in 1862. ... Marius Petipa, Circa 1890 Marius Petipa (11 March 1818 – 14 July 1910) - Unrivaled ballet master of the Tsars Imperial Ballet of St. ... Vladimir Ivanovich Stepanov (*1866, † 1896), dancer at the Imperial Ballet in Saint Petersburg. ...

In the west (primarily in North America ) the average balletomane will likely only ever encounter Pugni's Pas de Quatre (revived by Anton Dolin in 1941) which is the most performed work of all of his output, though the music is presented in a reorchestration by Leighton Lucas, as the original manuscript was destroyed when Her Majesty's Theatre burned down in 1867. The original piano reduction of Pas de Quatre is housed in the National Library of France, which includes Pugni's original orchestration for the Variation of Mme. Cerrito, the only part of the complete score to have survived. A ballet dance choreographed for four dancers. ... Anton Dolin was the stage name of Sydney Francis Patrick Healey-Kay (1904–1983), an English ballet dancer and choreographer. ... A perfomance at Opera House, Haymarket, predecessor of Her Majestys Theatre in circa 1808. ... A ballet dance choreographed for four dancers. ...

Aside from Pas de Quatre, western balletomanes may encounter Pugni's additional music for the ballet Le Corsaire - the Variation of Gulnare, usually interpolated into the scene Le Jardin Animé, or his extended version of Adolphe Adam's Pas des Odalisques, for which he added the first, and second variations and coda for Petipa's revival of 1863. Occasionally various western ballet troupes perform fragments from the Pugni/Perrot La Esmeralda - the Grand Pas de Six, with Petipa's choreography revised by Agrippina Vaganova, which also includes two additional dances by Riccardo Drigo dating from 1898. The Pugni/Drigo La Esmeralda Pas de Deux is often incorrectly credited to Pugni alone - the male variation was scored by him as was coda, which is an extraction from Act II of The Pharaoh's Daughter. A ballet dance choreographed for four dancers. ... Altynai Asylmoratova and Faurkh Ruzimatov of the Mariinsky Ballet in the Le Corsaire Pas de Deux, London, 1988 Le Corsaire, (The Pirate) is a ballet in three acts based on the poem The Corsaire by Lord Byron, originally choreographed by the Balletmaster Joseph Mazilier to the music of Adolphe Adam. ... Adolphe Adam Adolphe Charles Adam (July 24, 1803 – May 3, 1856) was a French composer and music critic. ... Poster advertising Carlotta Grisi in the Pas de Truandaise for the premiere of the ballet La Esmeralda, given at Her Majestys Theatre, London, 1844 La Esmeralda is a ballet in 3 acts, 5 scenes, inspired by Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo. ... Vaganova as Odette-Odile, 1900es Agrippina Yakovlevna Vaganova (July 6, 1879 - November 5, 1951) was an outstanding Russian ballet teacher who developed the Vaganova method. ... Riccardo Drigo, Circa 1900 Riccardo Eugenio Drigo (June 30, 1846 - October 1, 1930) was an Italian composer and conductor who spent many years working with the Saint Petersburg Imperial Ballet and Imperial Opera. ... The Pharaohs Daughter is a ballet by Marius Petipa, first performed in 1862. ...

Maria Alexandrova as Aspicia in the Grand Pas d'Action from Act II of the Bolshoi Ballet's revival of the Pugni/Petipa The Pharaoh's Daughter, Moscow, 2005

Another staple of the modern ballet repertory is the Pas de Deux for Diane and Actéon, almost always incorrectly credited to either Pugni or Drigo alone, which originally comes from Petipa's 1903 revival of Pugni's Le Roi Candaule (AKA Tsar Candavl), for which Drigo revised Pugni's music for the Pas de Diane. Vaganova later interpolated this Pas into her 1931 revival of La Esmeralda, refashioning the old choreography as an athletic tour de force for the dancers Galina Ulanova and Vakhtang Chabukiani. Over time this Pas came to be incorrectly credited as an original extract from La Esmeralda, often mistakenly given as an interpolation for Petipa's 1886 revival of the ballet, for which Drigo also added new music. Image File history File links PharoahsDaughterGrandAdagioMariaAlexanrova. ... Image File history File links PharoahsDaughterGrandAdagioMariaAlexanrova. ... The Pharaohs Daughter is a ballet by Marius Petipa, first performed in 1862. ... Poster advertising Carlotta Grisi in the Pas de Truandaise for the premiere of the ballet La Esmeralda, given at Her Majestys Theatre, London, 1844 La Esmeralda is a ballet in 3 acts, 5 scenes, inspired by Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo. ... Galina Sergeyevna Ulanova (Russian: ; 8 January 1910 (O.S. 26 December 1909} - 21 March 1998) has the reputation of the greatest Soviet ballerina. ... Poster advertising Carlotta Grisi in the Pas de Truandaise for the premiere of the ballet La Esmeralda, given at Her Majestys Theatre, London, 1844 La Esmeralda is a ballet in 3 acts, 5 scenes, inspired by Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo. ...

More and More companies outside of Russia have been staging sections of Pugni's The Little Humpbacked Horse - specifically the fabulous Waltz of the Animated Frescoes (AKA Dance of the Lively Frescoes), the Grand Ballabile from the scene The Enchanted Isle of the Mermaids, and the Scène Sous-Marine (Under-Water Scene), all of which include choreography by Alexander Gorsky after Petipa and Saint-Léon. In the United States only the Universal Ballet Academy of Washington D.C. present the Waltz of the Animated Frescoes, while the all-male company Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo have recently added the elaborate Scène Sous-Marine to their repertory, the only company in the United States to date to present this piece. Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo is an all-male drag ballet corps parodying the clichés of romantic and classical ballet. ...

Rarely will one ever encounter the various other pieces Pugni scored for the orchestra alone, such as his many hymns, masses, and chamber music, which occasionally turn up in orchestral performances. Pugni's most performed orchestral piece is his Gran Quartetto in E flat major for clarinet, violin, viola and cello, which is a staple of some European string ensembles. These pieces show how different Pugni's style of writing was from his ballet music, and are a testament to his ability to write many forms of orchestral music. Unfortunately his five Bel canto operas, all of which were much revered in their day, have not survived in performance. See also hymn - a program to decrypt iTunes music files. ... Masses may refer to: Mass (music) Mass Mass (liturgy) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. ... The term Bel Canto may refer to: Belcanto, a vocal technique; or Bel Canto, a novel by Ann Patchett. ...

The Works of Cesare Pugni

(to be written)