139. Les Valses de Beethoven 1933
(also called the WALTZES OF BEETHOVEN)
- Music
Ludwig van Beethoven (several waltzes, orchestrated by Nicolas Nabokov, and one of the Scottish Songs for cello and male voice)
- Choreography
George Balanchine
- Production
Scenery and costumes by Emilio Terry
- Premiere
June 19, 1933, Les Ballets 1933, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris. Conductor: Maurice Abravanel
- Cast
Daphne, Tilly Losch; The Elements, Companions of Daphne: Earth, Diana Gould; Water, T. Ouchkova; Air, Prudence Hyman; Fire, Tamara Sidorenko; Eros, Lucienne Kylberg; Apollo, Roman Jasinsky; The Train of Apollo, 4 women; The Shade of Apollo, Fernando Gusso.
Performance Type
Ballet
Note
A Greek myth: Eros, with an arrow shot from his bow, inflames the god Apollo with love for the maiden Daphne. Seeking to escape Apollo’s embraces, Daphne prays to the gods and is transformed into a laurel tree. Apollo grieves his loss at the foot of the laurel and is mocked in song by his own shadow: The laurel is thereafter consecrated to poetry.
