The Turn of The 20th Century
Petipa would spend the remainder of his career primarily reviving older ballets. In the winter of 1895 Petipa presented lavish updated versions of his 1889 Le Talisman, and Saint-Léon's 1864 The Little Humpbacked Horse (as La Tsar-Demoiselle), both with Legnani in the principal rôles. The turn of the 20th century saw Petipa present even more spectacular revivals: The Pharaoh's Daughter in 1898; La Esmeralda, Giselle and Le Corsaire in 1899; and La Bayadère in 1900. These revivals would prove to be Petipa's final "finishing touch" on these works.
But Petipa also mounted new works. For the celebrations held at the Moscow Imperial Bolshoi Theatre in honor of the coronation of Emperor Nicholas II, Petipa presented the one-act ballet to Drigo's music, Le Perle, which proved to be the greatest success during the gala of 29 May 1896. Le Perle was truly a ballet à grand spectacle: based on the un-staged danced scene La Pérégrina from Verdi's opera Don Carlos, which was to have been choreographed by Petipa's brother Lucien. The ballet featured some of Petipa's most grand and opulent choreography for a 200 member cast, all set to Drigo's Wagnerian score that boasted an off-stage boy's choir.
On 20 December 1896 Petipa presented what is arguably the most lavish ballet he ever staged: Bluebeard, based on the Perrault fairytale to the music of Pyotr Schenk. The ballet consisted of a myriad of dances in the context of such a sumptuous production that many of the critics and balletomanes felt that the work was merely a gargantuan excuse for spectacle and dances, something made all the more apparent with the spectacular showcasing of the great Pierina Legnani in the principal role. The final tableau consisted of a three-part astrological divertissement titled The Temple of the Past, Present & Futures. The Temple of the Future rounded out the scene with its Pas de deux éléctrique performed by Legnani and Nikolai Legat to storms of applause. In spite of the criticisms of Bluebeard, the critics unanimously praised the seventy-eight-year old Petipa's seemingly limitless imagination in the creation of classical dances, proving once again that no other choreographer in Europe could claim to be his rival.
On 19 January 1898 the nearly eighty-year-old Petipa presented one of his greatest ballets, Raymonda, set in Hungary during the middle ages to the music of Alexander Glazunov, which premiered to great success. Petipa's Pas classique hongrois (or Raymonda Pas de Dix) from the last act of the ballet would go on to be one of his most celebrated and enduring excerpts, with the challenging choreography he lavished onto Legnani (who danced the title rôle) becoming one of the ultimate tests of the classical ballerina.
Petipa presented what would prove to be his final masterpiece on 23 February 1900 at the Hermitage Theatre, Les Millions d'Arlequin (or Harlequinade), a balletic Harlequinade set to Drigo's music. Harlequinade was dedicated by both Drigo and Petipa to the new Empress, Alexandra Feodorovna, a work which would prove to be the last enduring flash of Petipa's choreographic ouvre.
Read more about this topic: Ballets By Marius Petipa
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