The Origins of Le Corsaire

Lord Byron's 1814 poem The Corsaire was adapted for the ballet on five occasions throughout the early to mid 19th century. The first was staged by Giovanni Galzerani in 1826 for the Ballet of La Scala in Milan.

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Carolina Rosati as Medora in Mazilier's original production of Le Corsaire, Paris, 1856.

On August 12, 1835 a second adaptation of The Corsair was presented in Paris by the Ballet du Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique under the title L'Ile des pirates. The ballet-pantomime was set to a libretto by the dramatist Adolphe Nourrit, with choreography by the Opéra's Ballet Master Louis Henry. The music was a pastiche typical of the era, fashioned from airs by Beethoven, Rossini, and Luigi Carlini by the composer Casimir Gide. The great Ballerina Fanny Elssler danced the principle role of Hauptrolle to great accliam, but the production was only given nine performances.

The third adaptation was mounted by the Balletmaster Ferdinand Albert Decombè to the music of the French harpist and composer Nicolas Bochsa for the Ballet of the King's Theatre in 1837, a production which was revived in 1844 quite successfully.

The legendary Ballet Master Filippo Taglioni presented the fourth adaptation of Byron's The Corsair to the music of Herbert Gärich on March 13, 1838 at the Ballet of the Prussian Court Opera in Berlin.

A fifth adaptation of The Corsair proved to be among the most celebrated and enduring ballets ever created, first presented on January 23, 1856 by the Ballet du Théâtre Impérial de l´Opéra (today known as the Paris Opera Ballet). The work was the brainchild of the Minister of State Adolphe Billault, who also served as director of the Théâtre Impérial de l´Opéra, and of the Empress Eugénie, wife of Emperor Napoleon III.

The choreographer was the Paris Opéra's renowned Première Maître de Ballet en Chef Joseph Mazilier, one of the most celebrated choreographers of his time, who was highly skilled in producing the full-length narrative ballets then in vogue. He had many successes to his credit, including Le Diable à Quatre in 1845, and Paquita in 1846. As was standard practice in 19th century ballet, a literary man was commissioned to write the libretto, and here Mazilier looked to the most celebrated dramatist available, Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges, who fashioned a scenario loosely based on Byron's poem (Vernoy crafted libretti for many ballets throughout his life, most notably Giselle in collaboration with Théophile Gautier in 1841, and later for Petipa's The Pharaoh's Daughter in 1862).

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A page from the Corsair's Bacchanle of Act I-Scene I from Adolphe Adam's hand-written score for Le Corsaire, held in the archives of the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Le Corsaire was created primarily for the talents of the famous Italian ballerina Carolina Rosati, who was then the Paris Opéra's reigning Prima. Rosati was celebrated for her great beauty, strong pointes, clean batterie, precision of execution, and easily intelligible mime. The score was commissioned, for a phenomenal fee of 6,000 francs in addition to royalties, from Adolphe Adam, who at that time was the most distinguished composer writing for both the ballet and the opera in France. The libretto for Le Corsaire went through many changes during the long months of the ballet's preparation, requiring Vernoy to be paid an additional 3,000 francs for the work.

Le Corsaire premiered to a resounding success, with Rosati's powerful interpretation of the heroine Medora becoming the rage of Paris. The stage effects were hailed as the best yet seen on the stage of the Paris Opéra, which were designed and executed by the master machinist Victor Sacré. His successful staging of the sinking Corsaire ship of the last scene became immortalized by Gustave Doré's drawing. In attendance for the first three performances were Emperor Napoleon III and his wife, the Empress Eugénie, who had played a large part in the work's gestation. So moved by Le Corsaire was the Empress that she exclaimed "In all my life I have never seen, and probably never shall see again, anything so beautiful or so moving."

Adam's score was highly praised for its melodiousness, orchestration, and dramatic intensity. It was to be the composer's last work - he died of a heart attack on May 3, 1856, nearly four months after the ballet's premiere. On the evening of the day of his death, Le Corsaire was given at the Paris Opéra in memoriam to him, and in attendance was the royal family with their guest of honor, King William I of Württemberg. As equally moved by the ballet as was the Empress Eugénie, Emperor Napoleon III gave orders that all of the evening's box office receipts be given to the composer's widow.

Le Corsaire was given 43 performances in 1856 alone at the Paris Opéra with only Rosati as Medora. Her interpretation of Medora was considered by all to be incomparable, and after her departure from Paris in 1859 the ballet was taken out of the repertory. Not long afterwards the Ballet Master Mazilier retired.

Perrot Stages Le Corsaire in Russia

Le Corsaire was first staged in Russia by the great Ballet Master Jules Perrot for the Imperial Ballet (today known as the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet) in St. Petersburg, premiering January 12/24 (Julian/Gregorian calendar dates), 1858 at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre (it is important to note that until 1886 this opera house was the principal venue of both the Imperial Ballet and Opera). The production was mounted especially for the Ballerina Ekaterina Friedbürg, and with the young Marius Petipa as Conrad. For this production Petipa also assisted in rehearsals, and was permitted by Perrot to revise some of the dances. This included the Pas des Éventails of Act I, scene 2 (in which Medora and 6 coryphées create a "peacock effect" with large fans), and Gulnare's Scéne de Seduction of Act II.

The premiere of the Perrot/Petipa staging of Le Corsaire was a colossal triumph, and was given on each of the two days per week that the ballet performed for over two months.

未完待续。仅供参考。

原文刊登于：

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