thumb|Lithograph by [[Antonin-Marie Chatinière|Chatinière of the ballerina Rita Sangalli in the title rôle of Sylvia from the ballet's original production of 1876. This image was created for the original issue of Delibes's score by the publisher Heugel & Fils.]]
Sylvia, originally Sylvia, ou La nymphe de Diane, is a full-length classical ballet in two or three acts, first choreographed by Louis Mérante to music by Léo Delibes.
The ballet's premiere took place on 14 June 1876 at the Palais Garnier, but was largely unnoticed by the critics. The first seven productions were commercially unsuccessful, but the 1952 revival, choreographed by Frederick Ashton, popularized the work. Productions in 1997, 2004, 2005, and 2009 productions were all based on Ashton's choreography.
==History== <!-- Need more major productions -- More focus on development throughout and SIGNIFICANCE -->
Preparations
thumb|[[Leo Delibes]]
The origins of the ballet Sylvia are in the Italian poet Tasso's play Aminta (1573), which provided the basic plot for the French composer Leo Delibes to set to music. Jules Barbier and Baron de Reinach adapted this for the Paris Opera. The piano arrangement was composed in 1876 and the orchestral suite was done in 1880.
In 1875, the Paris Opera chose Barbier and Reinach's libretto for Sylvia. The decision to invite Louis Mérante to choreograph the ballet was based primarily on Mérante's experience in the field and position as the premier maître de ballet at the Paris Opera. Other suitable choreographers were unavailable.
Rehearsals for Sylvia began on 15 August 1875, when only the first third of the music was complete. Delibes revised his music throughout the rehearsal period, helped by Mérante and the lead dancer Rita Sangalli. The score's development was made more difficult by Mérante, who demanded that Delibes make changes to the score to accommodate the choreography.
Although the dances of the ballerina Preobrajenska were a great success, the first performance was not. The editor-publisher of the , , himself a ballet expert and noted for co-authoring the librettos for several ballets staged at the Mariinsky, was one of several critics who complained that the Ivanov/Gerdt choreography was of poor quality, and that the libretto was extremely slight. Another element that contributed to the ballet's failure was that the direction did not allow any new décors to be created, and instead sets were utilized from works that were no longer being performed. After five performances Sylvia was removed from the company's repertoire; excerpts from the ballet were included in gala events.
The ballerina Anna Pavlova occasionally included many of these extracts from the 1902 production on her world tours in a revised staging by balletmaster Ivan Clustine.
Other productions
1952: The Royal Ballet
thumb|upright|[[Margot Fonteyn and Julia Farron in the 1952 production]]
Ashton re-choreographed Sylvia in 1952. He placed a strong emphasis on the lead role, and designed the ballet as a tribute to Fonteyn. The English-American drama critic Clive Barnes noted that "the whole ballet is a garland presented to the ballerina by her choreographer." Ashton's production was performed by the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House, London on 3 September 1952. Ashton adjusted Barbier's libretto to increase the audience's interest in the story. Along with Fonteyn, Aminta was played by Michael Somes, and Orion by John Hart and Eros by Alexander Grant.
The production was revived in May 1963 with Doreen Wells and Christopher Gable. After four years out of the repertoire much of it had to be reconstructed, a task led by John Field, with help from rehearsal pianist Hilda Gaunt and others.
2004: San Francisco Ballet
When the San Francisco Ballet opened their production of Sylvia in April 2004, it was the first time that the full ballet was shown in the United States. This production is also the only recent one not to be based on Ashton's work. At the request of Helgi Tomasson, Mark Morris choreographed it based on the original 1876 production and adhered quite closely to Mérante's methodology and style. As Morris said, "I'm using the score and libretto exactly as they're built". Morris's reasoning behind this is quite simple: the nature of the music is inextricably intertwined with Louis Mérante's choreography, a consequence of the circumstances of composition. Because of this, Morris's revival of Sylvia is very true to the original, more so than any other recent production. The San Francisco Ballet performed Sylvia from April 21 through May 7, 2006, after successful runs in 2004 and 2005. At the premiere in 2004, the lead was Yuan Yuan Tan.
2004: Royal Ballet
This production of Sylvia, the Royal Ballet's third, performed November 4 to December 3, 2004, as a part of the "Ashton 100" celebration, a season dedicated to the company's founder. The ballet was recreated by Christopher Newton who (from both mental and visual records) reconstructed Ashton's original choreography and staged it for the Royal Ballet. While it ran, there were three different casts. The first consisted of Darcey Bussell and Jonathan Cope, the second of Zenaida Yanowsky and David Makhateli and the third of Marianela Núñez and Rupert Pennefather.
2005: American Ballet Theatre
thumb|upright|[[Gillian Murphy and Maxim Beloserkovsky as Sylvia and Aminta in the American Ballet Theatre's 2005 production]]
Ashton's Sylvia was also re-staged by Newton for the American Ballet Theatre performing at the Metropolitan Opera House. Newton's version is shortened (originally the ballet included some music from La Source) to be shown in two acts, with a musical break in place of the second intermission.
The last production at the Metropolitan Opera, as of June 4, 2005, had Paloma Herrera cast as Sylvia, Angel Corella as Aminta, Jesus Pastor as Orion, Craig Salstein as Eros and Carmen Corella as Diana.
2019: Houston Ballet
Choreographed by Stanton Welch AM of the Houston Ballet, this 2019 production of Sylvia was co-produced with The Australian Ballet. Welch returned to the three-act format and elevated the roles of some of minor characters. He was joined by Jérôme Kaplan for sets and costumes, Lisa J. Pinkham for lighting, and Wendall K. Harrington for effects achieved with projections. The lead roles of Sylvia and the shepherd alternated between two duos: Karina Gonzalez and Connor Walsh, and Nozomi Iijima and Ian Casady. The production subsequently made its Australian premiere in November 2019 at the Sydney Opera House.
New York City Ballet (excerpts)
In 1950, the New York City Ballet premiered Sylvia Pas de Deux, choreography by George Balanchine, and in NYCB's 1974 version of Coppelia, Balanchine interpolated music from Sylvia (as well as from Delibes's La Source).
Style
Music
Sylvia is one of the first modern ballets. Tchaikovsky himself remarked to fellow composer Sergei Taneyev upon the ingenuity of Sylvia, calling it "... the first ballet, where the music constitutes not only the main, but the only interest. What charm, what elegance, what richness of melody, rhythm, harmony." While this statement may be a little hyperbolic, it says something very important about the uniqueness of the ballet. Sylvias score is varied and rich, and it stands out, drawing the focus from the sets, the dancers, the costumes. Instead of receding into the background, setting only the mood, Delibes' score sets the action. The music of Sylvia was also notable for its new, more developed use of leitmotifs. Such a stylistic choice is characteristic of Delibes, who was a great admirer of Wagner. Indeed, echoes of Wagner's influence are quite obvious in the music such as its "symphonic" nature, as described by Ivor Forbes Guest in the 1954 edition of The Ballet Annual.
It is notable that this choreography features a few difficult pas de deux, including a spectacular one in the third act, which constitutes the climax of the ballet.
Characters
Lead roles
- Sylvia – A chaste huntress nymph, loyal to Diana, object of Aminta's desire.
- Aminta – A simple shepherd boy who is in love with Sylvia. Parallels can be drawn to Endymion, another shepherd who was Diana's young love.
- Eros – The Greek god of love, focal in the ballet as an object of great worship and scorn.
- Diana – The Roman goddess of the hunt and chastity. It is at Diana's temple that the bacchanal in the third act takes place.
- Orion – An evil hunter who stalks Sylvia and kidnaps her.
<small>Source:
Act I: A Sacred Wood
The ballet begins with a scene of worship as creatures of the forest dance before Eros. Aminta, a lowly shepherd, stumbles in on them, disrupting their ritual. Now Sylvia, the object of Aminta's desire, arrives on the scene with her posse of hunters to mock the god of love. Aminta attempts to conceal himself, but Sylvia eventually discovers her stalker and, inflamed, turns her bow towards Eros. Aminta protects the deity and is himself wounded. Eros in turn shoots Sylvia. She is hit, and though not badly wounded, the injury is enough to drive her offstage.
A hunter, Orion, is revealed to also have been watching Sylvia, when he is seen celebrating the unconscious Aminta. Orion conceals himself again as Sylvia returns; this time she is sympathetic towards Aminta. As the huntress laments over her victim, she is kidnapped by Orion and carried off. Peasants grieve over Aminta's figure until a cloaked Eros revives the shepherd. Eros reveals his true identity and informs Aminta of Orion's actions.
Act II: Orion's Island Cave
Captive in Orion's island hideout, Sylvia is tempted by him with jewels and wine to no avail. Sylvia now grieves over Aminta, cherishing the arrow pulled from her breast nostalgically. When Orion steals it from her, Sylvia gets her captor drunk until he is unconscious, whereby she retrieves her arrow and appeals to Eros for help. Sylvia's invocations are not in vain, for Eros quickly arrives and shows his summoner a vision of Aminta waiting for her. The duo depart for the temple of Diana, where Sylvia's love awaits.
Act III: The Sea Coast near the Temple of Diana
Aminta arrives at the temple of Diana to find a bacchanal but no Sylvia, who will soon arrive with Eros. After a few moments of mirth at the reunion, Orion shows up, seeking Sylvia. He and Aminta fight; Sylvia barricades herself in Diana's shrine and Orion attempts to follow. The goddess of the hunt, outraged at this act, smites Orion and denies Aminta and Sylvia congress. Compassionate Eros gives Diana a vision. The goddess reminisces over her own young love of Endymion, also a shepherd. Diana has a change of heart and repeals her decree. Aminta and Sylvia come together under the deities' good will.
Résumé of dances and scenes
Taken from the original 1876 theatrical program of the Paris Opéra.
Act I
- No. 01 Prélude
- No. 02 Scène du bois sacré d'Éros
- No. 03 Le Berger–Entrée d'Aminta
- No. 04 Pas des chasseresses—
::—a. Entrée
::—b. Valse lente
- No. 05 Scène
- No. 06 Cortège rustique
- No. 07 Scène
- No. 08 —
::—a. Entrée du sorcier
::—b. Finale
Act II
- No. 09 Entr'acte
- No. 10 La grotte d'Orion
- No. 11 Danse des Éthiopiens
- No. 12 Chant bacchique
- No. 13 Scène et danse de la Bacchante
- No. 14 Scène finale
Act III
- No. 15 Grand cortège de Bacchus
- No. 16 Scène
- No. 17 Danse barcarolle
thumb|400px|Excerpt from Delibes' score: The first few measures of Pizzicato from Sylvia
- No. 18 Divertissement—
::—a. Pizzicato – Variation de Mlle. Rita Sangalli
::—b. Andante
::—c. Pas des esclaves
::—d. Variation de Mons. Louis Mérante
::—e. Galop générale
- No. 19 Finale–Le temple de Diane
- No. 20 Apothéose–L'apparition d'Endymion
List of productions
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="background:#efefef;"
! style="width:14%;"| Premiere
! style="width:18%;"| Ballet company
! style="width:10%;"| Choreographer
! style="width:22%;"| Original leads
! style="width:24%;"| Notes
! style="width:4%;"| Source
|- valign=top
|June 14, 1876
|Paris Opera Ballet
|Mérante
|Rita Sangalli
|World premiere
|
|-
|September 3, 1952
|Royal Ballet
|Ashton
|Margot Fonteyn; Michael Somes
|Best-known production
|
|-
|June 9, 1965
|Royal Ballet touring section
|Ashton
|Margot Fonteyn; Attilio Labis
|Abridged third act and new variation for Aminta
|
|-
|1993
|Birmingham Royal Ballet
|Bintley
|Miyako Yoshida
|None
|
|-
|2004
|The Royal Ballet
|Ashton
|Darcey Bussell, Zenaida Yanowsky or Marianela Nunez
|
|
The theme song from the 1982 television series Knight Rider is based on "Cortège de Bacchus" from the third act.
In one episode of The Muppet Show, the pizzicato is played in one sketch that features characters with balloons for heads, including the conductor, who leads the balloon-headed orchestra into popping their heads in time. The sketch ends with the conductor popping his own balloon head.
In the 1995 movie Babe, the pizzicato strings create a supported tension as Babe and Ferdinand the Duck sneak into the Hoggett house to steal an alarm clock, aka "The Mechanical Rooster."