Les Deux Pigeons (ballet)
Encyclopedia
Les deux pigeons is a ballet with music by André Messager
, based on a fable
by Jean de la Fontaine
, that was first performed at the Paris Opéra
on 18 October 1886. Frederick Ashton
later created a new ballet to Messager's music under the title The Two Pigeons.
. The choreography was by Louis Mérante
, with a libretto by Mérante and Henri de Régnier
. The premiere cast included Rosita Mauri as Gourouli and Marie Sanlaville as Pépio.
The discovery of the shortened score used at Covent Garden
prompted Frederick Ashton
to make his own version of the ballet, set in Paris at the time of the music's composition. As the 1912 version didn't provide a return to the opening scene at the end, John Lanchbery
constructed a closing reconciliation scene from earlier music and a passage from Messager’s operetta Véronique
, as well as revising the orchestration in favour of a richer sound.
Ashton's version, in two acts, was premiered on 14 February 1961 at the Royal Opera House
Covent Garden with Lynn Seymour
and Christopher Gable
. As well as being performed regularly by the Royal Ballet touring company, the ballet has also been staged by several other dance companies around the world, including CAPAB and Australian Ballet.
, the hero Pépio (danced then by a woman) is discontented with life at home and with the company of his fiancée Gourouli. Their relationship is symbolised by their pas de deux
at the start in imitation of two pigeons they have been observing, quarrelling with small irritated movements of the head and then coming together to make up. When a group of gypsies visit their village, Pépio is seduced by the energetic czardas that they dance and flirts with the dusky Djali, eventually leaving his love behind to join in their wanderings. Gourouli's grandmother advises her to follow him disguised as a gypsy (thus providing the ballerina with a dual role). where she sees him being robbed. Arriving at their camp, she makes all the men fall in love with her and bribes one of them to make Pépio's life miserable. A storm breaks, the gypsies rob Pépio, and flee. He returns home chastened and must ask for forgiveness.
Ashton’s version of the ballet is set in Paris at the time of the music's composition with anonymous leading roles (Young Man and Young Girl). At the start a French painter is revealed trying to paint a restless model, his lover, who is sitting on an ornate cast-iron chair. The session is interrupted by the entry of the model's friends and his responsiveness to other female company underlines his restless spirit. A troupe of gypsies that he sees through the garret window, misunderstanding a gesture of his, now crowd in and a quarrel develops over possession of the chair between the model and a hot-blooded Carmen with whom the painter is flirting. Perceiving that they are not welcome, the gipsy leader leaves the studio and the painter dashes off to join them, bewitched by their unfamiliar and seemingly exotic lifestyle. However, his intrusion into their community is resented and he is thrown out of the encampment. Returning to the lover he had left behind, they are reconciled and sit together on the ornate chair that has dominated the room.
Two live pigeons are used to represent the lovers; they have a theme of their own in the music. Seen together during the first act, while the artist and his lover dance together, the young man's dissatisfaction and temporary desertion of the girl are represented by one pigeon flying alone off stage before the interval. The painter's return in the next act is prompted by a pigeon coming to land on his shoulder. When the lovers are reunited both pigeons perch above them on the chair.
Premiere cast list:
conducted by Richard Bonynge were recorded at a performance in Cardiff playing Messager's 1906 score. John Lanchbery recorded his version of the ballet music for EMI in 1984 with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
.
A suite of movements from the ballet (Entrée des tziganes, Scène et pas des deux pigeons, Thème et variations, Danse hongroise, Finale) has been recorded several times, for example by the Orchestre Colonne
conducted by Jean Fournet
(Pathe PDT135, 1947), the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden conducted by Hugo Rignold
(HMV, C3778-9, 1948), the orchestra of the Opéra-Comique
, Paris conducted by Richard Blareau (Decca, LX3093, 1952)
and by Charles Mackerras
with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (HMV, CLP1195, 1958).
André Messager
André Charles Prosper Messager , was a French composer, organist, pianist, conductor and administrator. His stage compositions included ballets and 30 opéra comiques and operettas, among which Véronique, had lasting success, with Les p'tites Michu and Monsieur Beaucaire also enjoying international...
, based on a fable
The Two Pigeons
The Two Pigeons is a fable by Jean de la Fontaine that was adapted as a ballet with music by André Messager in the 19th century and rechoreagraphed to the same music by Frederick Ashton in the 20th....
by Jean de la Fontaine
Jean de La Fontaine
Jean de La Fontaine was the most famous French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his Fables, which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Europe and numerous alternative versions in France, and in French regional...
, that was first performed at the Paris Opéra
Paris Opera
The Paris Opera is the primary opera company of Paris, France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the Académie d'Opéra and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and renamed the Académie Royale de Musique...
on 18 October 1886. Frederick Ashton
Frederick Ashton
Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton OM, CH, CBE was a leading international dancer and choreographer. He is most noted as the founder choreographer of The Royal Ballet in London, but also worked as a director and choreographer of opera, film and theatre revues.-Early life:Ashton was born at...
later created a new ballet to Messager's music under the title The Two Pigeons.
Background
The influence of Saint-Saëns helped gain Messager the commission for the ballet, following three ballets which the younger composer had written for the Folies Bergère, Fleur d’oranger, Vins de France and Odeurs et Parfums. The story is based on the fable by La Fontaine of the love of two pigeons, and the score is dedicated to Saint-Saëns. It was first performed on the same evening as a performance of La FavoriteLa favorite
La favorite is an opera in four acts by Gaetano Donizetti to a French-language libretto by Alphonse Royer and Gustave Vaëz, based on the play Le comte de Comminges by Baculard d'Arnaud...
. The choreography was by Louis Mérante
Louis Mérante
Louis Alexandre Mérante was a dancer and choreographer, the Maître de Ballet of the Paris Opera Ballet at the Salle Le Peletier until its destruction by fire in 1873, and subsequently the first Ballet Master at the company's new Palais Garnier, which opened in 1875...
, with a libretto by Mérante and Henri de Régnier
Henri de Régnier
Henri François Joseph de Régnier was a French symbolist poet, considered one of the most important of France during the early 20th century....
. The premiere cast included Rosita Mauri as Gourouli and Marie Sanlaville as Pépio.
Later history
Messager introduced Les deux pigeons to London in 1906 with choreography by François Ambroisiny, and a shortened score by Messager himself, who also conducted. He used this shortened version when the piece was revived at the Paris Opéra in 1912, and it was published as a final version. A one-act version was choreographed by Albert Aveline at the Opéra in 1919 and it was not until 1942 that the role of Pépio was finally danced by a man.The discovery of the shortened score used at Covent Garden
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
prompted Frederick Ashton
Frederick Ashton
Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton OM, CH, CBE was a leading international dancer and choreographer. He is most noted as the founder choreographer of The Royal Ballet in London, but also worked as a director and choreographer of opera, film and theatre revues.-Early life:Ashton was born at...
to make his own version of the ballet, set in Paris at the time of the music's composition. As the 1912 version didn't provide a return to the opening scene at the end, John Lanchbery
John Lanchbery
John Arthur Lanchbery OBE was an English, later Australian, composer and conductor, famous for his ballet arrangements.-Life:...
constructed a closing reconciliation scene from earlier music and a passage from Messager’s operetta Véronique
Véronique (operetta)
Véronique is an opéra comique or operetta in three acts composed by André Messager. The French libretto was by Georges Duval and Albert Vanloo...
, as well as revising the orchestration in favour of a richer sound.
Ashton's version, in two acts, was premiered on 14 February 1961 at the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
Covent Garden with Lynn Seymour
Lynn Seymour
Lynn Seymour is a retired Canadian ballerina and choreographer.She was born Lynn Springbett and studied ballet in Vancouver....
and Christopher Gable
Christopher Gable
Christopher Gable, CBE was an English ballet dancer, choreographer, and actor.Born in London, Gable studied at the Royal Ballet School, joining the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet in 1957...
. As well as being performed regularly by the Royal Ballet touring company, the ballet has also been staged by several other dance companies around the world, including CAPAB and Australian Ballet.
The plot
In the original scenario, set in 18th century ThessalyThessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
, the hero Pépio (danced then by a woman) is discontented with life at home and with the company of his fiancée Gourouli. Their relationship is symbolised by their pas de deux
Pas de deux
In ballet, a pas de deux is a duet in which ballet dancers perform the dance together. It usually consists of an entrée, adagio, two variations , and a coda.-Notable Pas de deux:...
at the start in imitation of two pigeons they have been observing, quarrelling with small irritated movements of the head and then coming together to make up. When a group of gypsies visit their village, Pépio is seduced by the energetic czardas that they dance and flirts with the dusky Djali, eventually leaving his love behind to join in their wanderings. Gourouli's grandmother advises her to follow him disguised as a gypsy (thus providing the ballerina with a dual role). where she sees him being robbed. Arriving at their camp, she makes all the men fall in love with her and bribes one of them to make Pépio's life miserable. A storm breaks, the gypsies rob Pépio, and flee. He returns home chastened and must ask for forgiveness.
Ashton’s version of the ballet is set in Paris at the time of the music's composition with anonymous leading roles (Young Man and Young Girl). At the start a French painter is revealed trying to paint a restless model, his lover, who is sitting on an ornate cast-iron chair. The session is interrupted by the entry of the model's friends and his responsiveness to other female company underlines his restless spirit. A troupe of gypsies that he sees through the garret window, misunderstanding a gesture of his, now crowd in and a quarrel develops over possession of the chair between the model and a hot-blooded Carmen with whom the painter is flirting. Perceiving that they are not welcome, the gipsy leader leaves the studio and the painter dashes off to join them, bewitched by their unfamiliar and seemingly exotic lifestyle. However, his intrusion into their community is resented and he is thrown out of the encampment. Returning to the lover he had left behind, they are reconciled and sit together on the ornate chair that has dominated the room.
Two live pigeons are used to represent the lovers; they have a theme of their own in the music. Seen together during the first act, while the artist and his lover dance together, the young man's dissatisfaction and temporary desertion of the girl are represented by one pigeon flying alone off stage before the interval. The painter's return in the next act is prompted by a pigeon coming to land on his shoulder. When the lovers are reunited both pigeons perch above them on the chair.
Premiere cast list:
- Gourouli - Rosita MauriRosita MauriRosita Isabel Armanda Mauri or Roseta Mauri y Segura was a dancer and ballet teacher of Catalan origin.-Career:...
- Pépio - Marie SanlavilleMarie SanlavilleMarie Sanlaville was a leading dancer with the Paris Opéra. She is particularly noted for her association with the artist Edgar Degas, who painted her often and dedicated a rare sonnet to her.-Career:...
- Gertrude - Mlle Montaubry
- Djali - Mlle Hirsch
- Reine des Tziganes - Mlle Monnier
- Zarifa - M Pluque
- Franca-Trippa - M de Soria
- Un tzigane - Louis MéranteLouis MéranteLouis Alexandre Mérante was a dancer and choreographer, the Maître de Ballet of the Paris Opera Ballet at the Salle Le Peletier until its destruction by fire in 1873, and subsequently the first Ballet Master at the company's new Palais Garnier, which opened in 1875...
- Le capitaine - M. Ajas
- Un serviteur - M. Ponçot
Recordings
In 1991 the Orchestra of Welsh National OperaWelsh National Opera
Welsh National Opera is an opera company founded in Cardiff, Wales in 1943. The WNO tours Wales, the United Kingdom and the rest of the world extensively. Annually, it gives more than 120 performances of eight main stage operas to a combined audience of around 150,000 people...
conducted by Richard Bonynge were recorded at a performance in Cardiff playing Messager's 1906 score. John Lanchbery recorded his version of the ballet music for EMI in 1984 with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra is an English orchestra. Originally based in Bournemouth, the BSO moved its offices to the adjacent town of Poole in 1979....
.
A suite of movements from the ballet (Entrée des tziganes, Scène et pas des deux pigeons, Thème et variations, Danse hongroise, Finale) has been recorded several times, for example by the Orchestre Colonne
Concerts Colonne
The Colonne Orchestra is a French symphony orchestra, founded in 1873 by the violinist and conductor Édouard Colonne.-History:While leader of the Opéra de Paris orchestra, Édouard Colonne was engaged by the publisher Georges Hartmann to lead a series of popular concerts which he founded under the...
conducted by Jean Fournet
Jean Fournet
Jean Fournet was a French conductor.Fournet’s father was a flutist who gave him some instruction on the flute and music theory. Fournet was then trained at the Conservatoire de Paris in flute by Gaston Blanquart and Marcel Moyse, and conducting by Philippe Gaubert...
(Pathe PDT135, 1947), the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden conducted by Hugo Rignold
Hugo Rignold
Hugo Henry Rignold was an English conductor and violinist, who is best remembered as Musical Director of the Royal Ballet and conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra ....
(HMV, C3778-9, 1948), the orchestra of the Opéra-Comique
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
, Paris conducted by Richard Blareau (Decca, LX3093, 1952)
and by Charles Mackerras
Charles Mackerras
Sir Alan Charles Maclaurin Mackerras, AC, CH, CBE was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan...
with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (HMV, CLP1195, 1958).