240. Le Palais de Cristal 1947

Georges Bizet (Symphony No. 1 in C major, 1855)

George Balanchine

Scenery and costumes by Leonor Fini

July 28, 1947, Paris Opéra Ballet, Théâtre National de l’Opéra, Paris. Conductor: Roger Desormière

FIRST MOVEMENT (ALLEGRO VIVO): Lycette Darsonval, Alexandre Kalioujny; SECOND MOVEMENT (ADAGIO): Tamara Toumanova, Roger Ritz; THIRD MOVEMENT (ALLEGRO VIVACE): Micheline Bardin, Michel Renault; FOURTH MOVEMENT (ALLEGRO VIVACE): Madeleine Lafon, Max Bozzoni (in each movement: 2 demi-solo couples, 6 women); FINALE: Entire cast

Performance Type

Ballet

See Also

Video Archives Recording

George Balanchine Foundation Interpreters Archive (ALLEGRO VIVO: ballerina solo), 1996

Note

During six months as guest ballet master for the Paris Opéra, Balanchine choreographed Bizet’s Symphony in C and staged Apollo, Serenade, and Le Baiser de la Fée. Le Palais de Cristal was staged for Ballet Society as Symphony in C [244] the following year, and was presented with Concerto Barocco [195] and Orpheus [246] at the first performance of the New York City Ballet, October 11, 1948. When the Paris Opéra Ballet performed this work at the Bolshoi Theater, Moscow, in June 1958, it became the first ballet made by Balanchine in the West to be seen in the Soviet Union since his departure in 1924.

Additional Productions

Revisions

New Productions by Balanchine Companies

1948, Ballet Society; 1950, New York City Ballet, with costumes by Karinska

Stagings

(in America, and usually in other countries, titled Symphony in C)

1948   Ballet Society
1948   New York City Ballet
1952   Royal Danish Ballet
1955   Teatro alla Scala (Milan)
1960   Royal Swedish Ballet (Kungliga Teaterns Balett)
1960   Teatro alla Scala (Milan)
1961   San Francisco Ballet
1962   Dutch National Ballet
1963   Royal Danish Ballet
1965   Ballett der Hamburgischen Staatsoper
1967   Ballet of Los Angeles (1964-1967; also called Western Ballet)
1967   Boston Ballet
1967   Den Norske Opera [Ballet] (Norway)
1967   Pennsylvania Ballet
1968   Atlanta Ballet
1968   Ballet West
1968   Memphis Civic Ballet
1969   Ballett der Deutschen Oper (Berlin)
1970   Geneva Ballet (Grand Theatre de Geneve [Ballet])
1970   Kirov Ballet
1972   Teatro dell’ Opera di Roma
1972   Ballett der Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna)
1973   Tokyo Ballet
1975   Ballett der Bayerischen Staatsoper (Munich)
1976   Ballett der Deutschen Staatsoper (East Berlin)
1976   Stuttgart Ballet
1977   Hungarian National Ballet
1977   Pennsylvania Ballet
1978   Dance Theatre of Harlem
1978   Ballett der Deutschen Oper (Berlin)
1978   Zurich Ballet (Ballett des Opernhauses Zurich)
1981   Ballet West
1981   Ballett der Bayerischen Staatsoper (Munich)
1981   San Francisco Ballet
1984   National Ballet of Canada
1984   San Francisco Ballet
1985   Ballet West
1985   Paris Opera Ballet
1985   Pennsylvania Ballet
1986   English National Ballet (London Festival)
1986   Pennsylvania Ballet
1987   Pacific Northwest Ballet
1987   Teatro alla Scala (Milan)
1990   Ballett der Deutschen Oper (Berlin)
1997   Den Norske Opera [Ballet] (Norway)
2010   New National Theatre Tokyo
2011   Mariinsky Ballet (Kirov)
2011   San Francisco Ballet
2011   Teatro Colon
2012   Het Nationale Ballet
2012   Norwegian Ballet
2013   American Ballet Theatre
2013   Boston Ballet
2013   Het Nationale Ballet
2014   Cincinnati Ballet
2014   Paris Opera Ballet
2014   San Francisco Ballet
2015   Ballet West
2015   Bayerische Staatsoper-Munich
2015   Mariinsky Ballet
2015   Tbilisi Ballet
2016   Australian Ballet
2016   Pacific Northwest Ballet
2017   Dresden SemperOper Ballett
2017   Houston Ballet
2017   Teatro alla Scala
2017   The Australian Ballet
2018   New National Theatre Tokyo/National Ballet Japan (NHK)
2018   Royal Ballet
2018   Stuttgart Ballet
2019   Bolshoi Ballet
2019   Norwegian National Ballet

Recorded Performances

Videos/DVD

1995, Nonesuch, The Balanchine Library: Dancing for Mr. B (ADAGIO [excerpt]);
2004, Kultur, Balanchine (ADAGIO, FINALE [excerpts]);
2008, City Lights Media, Bringing Balanchine Back: The Historic Return to Russia (excerpts)

Film

1973, RM Productions;
1989, Seahorse Films, Dancing for Mr. B (ADAGIO [excerpt])

Television

1963 second and fourth movements (CBS, “Lincoln Center Day”)
ca. 1963 (Dutch television)
1973 (RM Productions)
1973 (BBC 2 [London])
1975 (French television, Les Reflets de la danse)
1997 (BBC [London], Dance for the Camera)