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Balanchine Catalogue Archive

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Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky (Suite No. 4, Mozartiana, Op. 61, 1887; based on Mozart’s Gigue in G major [K. 574], Minuet in D major [K. 355], the motet ‘Ave, Verum Corpus’ [K. 618], and Variations on ‘Les Hommes Pieusement’ from Gluck’s comic opera La Rencontre Imprévue [K. 455])

George Balanchine

Costumes by Rouben Ter-Arutunian

June 4, 1981, New York City Ballet with students from the School of American Ballet, New York State Theater. Conductor: Robert Irving. (Annual New York City Ballet Gala Benefit.)

PREGHIERA: Suzanne Farrell, 4 young girls;
GIGUE: Christopher d’Amboise;
MENUET: 4 women;
THÈME ET VARIATIONS: Farrell, Ib Andersen;
FINALE: Entire cast

Performance Type

Ballet

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Note

The choreography is completely different from the work Balanchine created to this music in 1933 [134] and modified thereafter. The order of the first two movements is reversed, beginning with the PREGHIERA (based on the motet ‘Ave, Verum Corpus’), in which the ballerina dances a prayer, attended by four young girls. The 1981 Mozartiana was first presented on the opening night of the Tchaikovsky Festival of the New York City Ballet (see FESTIVALS DIRECTED BY BALANCHINE), which included the premieres of four Balanchine works [417-420]. Throughout the festival and until the end of the New York season on June 28, the scenery was an architectural structure with movable ranks of translucent plastic cylinders by Philip Johnson and John Burgee, in arrangements and with lighting designs by Ronald Bates.

Additional Productions

Stagings

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1982   Chicago City Ballet (closed)
1992   John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
1994   Boston Ballet
1994   Pacific Northwest Ballet
1996   Birmingham Royal Ballet/Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet
1997   Pacific Northwest Ballet
1997   Texas Ballet (formerly Fort Worth Dallas Ballet)
1998   National Ballet of Canada
2001   National Ballet of Canada
2003   Boston Ballet
2003   Suzanne Farrell Ballet
2004   American Ballet Theatre
2005   State Ballet of Georgia
2006   Kansas City Ballet
2006   Oper Leipzig
2007   Kansas City Ballet
2008   Richmond Ballet
2009   Tbilisi Ballet
2011   National Ballet of Canada, The
2013   Suzanne Farrell Ballet, The
2016   Pacific Northwest Ballet
2016   Paris Opera Ballet
2017   American Ballet Theatre
2017   Tbilisi Ballet
2021 Tbilisi Ballet

Recorded Performances

Television

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1983 (PBS, “A New York City Ballet Tribute to George Balanchine”)
1984 (British television, Channel 4)
1984 (French television, Channel 2, Emmenez-moi au théâtre)

Source Notes

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Commentary on choreography provided by Balanchine

Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky (Suite No. 4, Mozartiana, Op. 61, 1887; based on Mozart’s Gigue in G major [K. 574], Minuet in D major [K. 355], the motet ‘Ave, Verum Corpus’ [K. 618], and variations on ‘Les Hommes Pieusement’ from Gluck’s comic opera La Rencontre Imprévue [K. 455])

George Balanchine

Forecurtain, scenery, and costumes by Christian Bérard

June 7, 1933, Les Ballets 1933, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris. Conductor: Maurice Abravanel

GIGUE: Ludovic Matlinsky;
MENUETTO: 6 women;
PREGHIERA: Lucienne Kylberg;
TEMA CON VARIAZIONI: Tamara Toumanova, Roman Jasinsky, corps de ballet;
FINALE: Toumanova, Kylberg, Jasinsky, 7 women, 1 man

Performance Type

Ballet

See Also

Video Archives Recording

The George Balanchine Foundation Archive of Lost Choreography (TEMA CON VARIAZIONI: two pas de deux), 2003

Note

A suite of dances against an Italianate backdrop, Mozartiana was one of six new ballets created by Balanchine during the brief existence of Les Ballets 1933, the company he formed with Boris Kochno, financed by Edward James. It was performed in Paris and London with Les Sept Péchés Capitaux, Les Songes, Fastes, L’Errante, Les Valses de Beethoven, and other musical works without choreography. In 1981, Balanchine choreographed a new ballet to Mozartiana for the New York City Ballet Tchaikovsky Festival, changing the order of the movements to place the PREGHIERA first. See FESTIVALS DIRECTED BY BALANCHINE.

Additional Productions

Revisions

1935, American Ballet: Sections originally danced by Toumanova and Jasinsky differently apportioned, with single pas de deux for leading couple; pas de six in THEME AND VARIATIONS danced by six women (three in men’s costumes).
1945, Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo: Original form more closely followed, with two pas de deux for leading couple and more complicated choreography for the leading man; corps de ballet entirely women; one male soloist instead of two.
1956, Danilova Concert Company: Presented without PREGHIERA by cast of four dancers.

Other Versions

1981, New York City Ballet

Stagings

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1935 American Ballet Ensemble (1935-1938—resident Metropolitan Opera company)
1945 Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
1956 Danilova Concert Company (‘Great Moments of Ballet’—1954-1957)
2014 Richmond Ballet
2014 Tbilisi Ballet

Recorded Performances

Videos/DVD

2005, Zeitgeist Films, Ballets Russes (excerpt)