A ballet in four acts, written in 1876. The story is based on an old Russian fairy tale, choreographed by Begichev and Gelitser, and is one of Tchaikovsky's most famous dance masterpieces. The premiere failed on February 20, 1877 due to the creative mediocrity of the original choreographer and the inexperience of the orchestra conductor. It was not until 1895 that the reprint performance in Petersburg was a stunning success, and has since become a classic masterpiece of world ballet.
Plot Introduction
Since Tchaikovsky's dance music is so captivating that several choreographers at different times have made different choreographies for Swan Lake, there are many differences in its plot. Here are a few of the most classic versions, those of the three Russian (or former Soviet) choreographers, M. Petipa, L. Ivanov and K. Sergeyev.
Introduction
Princess Ojeta, who picks flowers on the shore of a lake, is transformed into a swan by a vicious spell cast by the fierce demon king Rothbart. She can only change back to her human form at night. Only steadfast love can break the evil spell.
Act I
The grand coming-of-age ball of Prince Siegfried takes place in the old castle. At the meeting the prince's friends are overjoyed at the prince's coming of age. Then the Queen Mother arrives and happily awards the prince a crossbow, the symbol of his coming of age, and tells him that a banquet will be held in a few days for the prince to choose a princess for him. But the prince is unhappy and wonders if he will ever find true love. When the ball breaks up in the evening, the prince leaves the others and goes out into the field alone, where he suddenly hears the mournful cry of a swan in the sky, and is so intrigued that he takes his crossbow and chases the swan away.
Act II
The prince chases the swan to the edge of the lake, attracting the attention of Rothbart, the demon king. Suddenly a swan approached and the prince raised his crossbow and was about to shoot when he was surprised to see a dignified swan slowly transform into a beautiful maiden. The beautiful girl told the handsome prince about her tragic life. It turned out that she was a princess named Ojeta, the abominable demon king turned her and her partner into swans. The prince is impressed by the princess's birth and beauty and falls y in love with her, vowing to save her and her companions from their misery. The two are in the middle of an intimate conversation when the Demon King suddenly appears and, using his magic power, transforms the princess and her companions back into swans. The princess reminds the prince once again that he must be faithful to his oath before he is transformed. Finally, the prince watched the princess, who had been transformed back into a swan, fly away mournfully, so he returned to the palace himself.
Act III
A few days later, princesses from all countries gather in the castle ballroom, and the queen tells the prince to choose a fiancée from among them. The princesses dance to please the prince, but the prince's thoughts are not on them and he refuses to make a choice. Just as the queen wonders why the prince won't make a choice, a loud trumpet sounds and two uninvited guests enter the room. They are the envoys of Rothbart, the Demon King, in disguise, and his daughter, Ojelia. Rothbart has turned Ojelia into a swan as well - but a black swan. The prince is seduced by the female guest who looks like Ojeta and thinks that Ojelia is Ojeta. The Demon King and Ojelia take the opportunity to seduce and hoodwink the prince again, until the prince takes the token from the queen and gives it to Ojelia, declaring her to be his betrothed. Suddenly Ojeta appears at the window, and the prince immediately realizes that he has been deceived, but it is too late, and the Demon King arrogantly reminds the prince that Ojelia is his fiancée, and quickly leaves the meeting place. Chaos ensues in the venue. Desperate, the prince ignored the queen and his friends, and rushed out of the palace, running to the swan lake.
Act IV
The swans waited anxiously for news of Ojeta, but saw Ojeta back at the swan lake, in grief. The Devil King creates a blizzard to stop the prince from going to find Ojeta, but the prince eventually dashes to the lake in the rain. When the swans see the sworn prince, they are very cold to him and hide Ojeta among them to keep her away from the prince. The prince was so remorseful that he fell to the ground and sincerely apologized to Ojeta. Ojeta was touched, and they were reconciled. The Devil King suddenly appeared and was furious at the love between the Prince and the Princess, so he used his magic power to stir up a storm and tried to drown all the swans. The angry prince fights with the Demon King, and the power of love is finally realized and the Demon King is defeated. Ojeta and her companions were restored to human form. They lived happily ever after.
The choreographed versions of Swan Lake are very varied, so there are likely to be some discrepancies in the plot. For example, some boring versions do not add some mundane and boring plot to the first act, such as the dusty woman, the prince drinking during the mourning period, the mother's hatred of steel, and so on,......, so I will not go into the details. The biggest difference between the versions is probably the ending. There are some versions of the ending is the prince and the princess both cast into the lake, so the power of love defeated the devil; there is also a version of the princess for the swans and sacrificed; there is also one of the most unacceptable is the prince was cheated by the king of the devil, and ultimately the power of love did not prevail over the king of the devil, the prince was drowned, the princess was the king of the devil to hostage to the go ...... where all there should be The story of the prince and the princess is a very interesting one, and there is nothing in it that can't be done. However, the version introduced is the most frequently staged version, so it should be able to meet the needs of the vast majority of the audience.