Ballet pantomime in one act premiered on 23rd May 1844 at Her Majesty’s Theatre, London

Choreography: Arthur Saint-Léon

Music: Cesare Pugni

Premiers Rôles

Kathi: Fanny Cerrito

Hans: Arthur Saint-Léon

Plot

Summary

The market square of Wieselbourg, a little village in Hungary. It is a holiday and peasants are enjoying themselves in various ways: some are losing bowls; others are dancing; still others are dining at tables set up before the posting-inn. 

Robintzel, the Burgomaster, strolls with his wife, bidding everyone to enjoy themselves. But, whenever he speaks to a young girl, his wife evinces signs of jealousy. 

A light infantryman, travel-stained, dashes through the streets, asking for Mr. Bibermann. The girls point to the inn, from which the proprietor is just emerging. The soldier hastens to hand him a letter. 

The girls surround Bibermann and try to read over his shoulder. To satisfy the general curiosity, he announces that Kathi, his ward and a vivandière is returning home. This news is acclaimed with delight. 

The Burgomaster tells his wife that Kathi’s beauty has been greatly missed and grows so enthusiastic at the thought of her return that his wife speaks her mind. 

A rolling of drums heralds the arrival of Kathi, who enters with a number of soldiers, also returning to their native village. Bibermann asks his ward to sit down and all the inhabitants greet her in turn. 

Robintzel kisses her hand and declares that she is more beautiful than ever. His wife reminds him of her presence with a tap of her fan. 

“But where is Hans?” asks Kathi. 

“He will soon be here,” replies Bibermann. “I can hear his horn and the crack of his whip.” 

Hans drives in a carriage from which descends the Baron de Grindberg and his wife. The Baron is a captain in Kathi’s regiment and asks her why she is staying in the village. 

“It is my birth-place,” she replies. “I am leaving the army and shall stay here.” The Baroness is also jealous and finds it very strange that her husband should leave her to chat with a vivandière. 

“Let us be off,” she says. “Well, aren’t you going to change the horses?” inquires the Baron of Hans. The postilion replies that Jacob will take his place as he wishes to join in the dances. But Jacob, whose intentions are similar, pretends that he has hurt his arm. The Baroness orders Hans to continue. But he begs the travellers to wait for the arrival of another postilion, since Kathi has just returned and he has not seen her for two whole years. The Baron takes Hans’s part and the travellers decide to stay in the village, although the Baroness is very concerned at the way her husband looks at the pretty vivandière. 

Hans takes Kathi by the arm and, going to Bibermann, asks him to give his consent to their marriage. The inn-keeper is about to agree when the Baron and the Burgomaster raise objections. It would be absurd, they argue, that a rich post-master should permit his son to marry a penniless vivandière, Bibermann agrees. 

“Why have you wrecked my happiness?” asks Kathi of the Baron and the Burgomaster. 

They each reply: “Hans is only a clod; he is unworthy of you. I know of a far better man than he.” 

“Who is it then?” asks Kathi. 

The Baron and the Burgomaster reply with significant glances which their wives intercept. They reproach their husbands for their guilty intentions. But the Baron and the Burgomaster protest their innocence. 

The wives ask pardon for their suspicions and suggest that their husbands’ thoughts would be less likely to stray if they wore something to remind them of their spouses. The Baroness gives her husband a ring, while Mme. Robintzel places a medallion round the Burgomaster’s neck. 

The vivandière observes all that takes place. She goes to Bibermann and asks him if he would object to her marrying his son if she had a dowry. 

“No,” he replied “that would be worthy.”

“Very well,” comments Kathi, “I will have one by this evening.”

Looking at the Baron and the Burgomaster, she says in an aside.

“These two will provide me with one.” 

The two wives go into the inn, but the Baron says he will follow shortly. He writes a note addressed to himself and offers Jacob a gold piece if he will find someone to deliver it to him at a time he will indicate. 

The Baron joins in the dancing and is pleased to notice that Kathi looks at him with a friendly gaze; but Hans reproaches his sweetheart for being a flirt. 

“I love you,” replies Kathi, “have no fear.” 

The dance ended, Jacob brings the note to the Baron. 

“How unfortunate,” he observes on reading it. He tells Hans that his colonel has recalled him and he must leave immediately. Bibermann goes to tell the Baroness to make ready for the journey.

“No, it is useless,” says the Baron. “You may tell her that I shall be back by midnight.” 

Hans brings in the postchaise and mounts his horse. The Baron climbs in, but gets out the other side and hides behind a tree. Jacob draws the curtains and tells Hans to drive on. The postilion whips up his horses and leaves at a gallop. 

Darkness falls and the merry-makers go inside the inn. Kathi is about to follow when the Burgomaster tells her that he must speak with her alone. 

“But won’t your wife object?” observes Kathi. The Burgomaster replies that he does not love his wife, but if Kathi could forget Hans and love him, he would make her a handsome present. 

She asks him to prove his love by giving her the medallion his wife gave him. The Burgomaster is alarmed, foreseeing the difficulty of explaining its disappearance. He kneels at Kathi’s feet and begs her to choose another test. As he kneels she slips the chain from his neck. Then, hearing a footstep, she whispers: 

“Someone is coming, perhaps it is your wife!” 

Robintzel, in a rare fright, hurries away, but not before saying that he must meet her again. Kathi asks him to return when she claps her hands. 

The newcomer is the Baron, Kathi expresses surprise that he should be there and he explains his ruse. He declares his love for Kathi and she repeats her tactics, as a result of which the Baron gives her his wife’s ring.

Suddenly she pretends to listen and declares that she can hear the crack of the postilion’s whip. She urges the Baron to leave her as Hans will be furious. 

“But I must see you again,” he protests. 

“I will clap my hands when you may come,” replies Kathi. 

The postchaise returns at a gallop. Hans dismounts, furious at the trick played upon him. He accuses Kathi of being a party to it. In reply she claps her hands when her two admirers run out and each take her by the hand. 

Hans is about to curse Kathi for having betrayed him, when she takes a soldier’s musket left lying on the table and fires it into the air. Everyone rushes to the market-place. 

“What is the matter?” cries everyone. 

“Two men tried to carry me off,” Kathi replies. “But it was so dark I could not see their faces.”

“You saw them distinctly,” declares Hans. “I’ll tell their names if you won’t.”

“Be quiet,” urges Kathi. 

“I won’t,” counters Hans. 

“Be quiet, I implore you,” entreats Kathi, “our marriage is assured.”

 The Baron and the Burgomaster reproach her for having fooled them, and swear to have their revenge. 

“You will revenge yourselves by giving me that dowry which you told Mr. Bibermann I lacked,” declares Kathi. 

“Never,” they reply. 

Then the vivandière tells them that she will inform their wives who are seen approaching—that they have given her a ring and a medallion. The stupefied culprits each give Kathi a well-filled purse, upon which she restores the ring and the medallion. Then she turns to Bibermann and, announcing that the Baron and the Burgomaster have honoured her with a dowry, asks if he still has any objection to her marrying his son. 

“No,” replies the inn-keeper. “I will even marry you to-day.”

History

Original Production

La Vivandière (or Markitenka, as it is known in Russia) is a ballet in one act with choreography by Arthur Saint-Léon and Fanny Cerrito, and music by Cesare Pugni. Its creation marked the beginning of one of the most celebrated partnerships of the nineteenth century: Arthur Saint-Léon and Fanny Cerrito. Cerrito was among the greats of the Romantic Era ballerinas and Saint-Léon was her male counterpart. 

Despite the policies of the time that ensured male dancing was more or less tolerated, Saint-Léon fought against these prejudices with his outstanding dancing abilities. Saint-Léon and Cerrito met during his season in London in 1843 and a professional partnership and a personal relationship between the two shortly began. They were married in Paris in 1845, but later separated in 1851. From their professional partnership, several new works and restagings would emerge and the first was La Vivandière, which seems to have been a joint creation between Saint-Léon and Cerrito. The year before, in 1843, Saint-Léon had staged an earlier version of the ballet in Rome, with the choreography credited to him, and when the finalised version was staged in London, the choreography was credited to Cerrito.

In the definitive version, Saint-Léon and Cerrito expanded the ballet to add a new polka number entitled the Redowa, or Original Polka of Bohemia. The reason behind this decision was due to the growing popularity of the polka dance in London at the time and this new polka proved to be more successful and popular than any other version that had been presented on the London stage so far. La Vivandière made its world première on the 23rd May 1844 at Her Majesty’s Theatre and was a huge success. The ballet would be performed again in 1845, 1846 and 1848.

The most famous piece of La Vivandière is what is commonly known as the La Vivandière Pas de Six. This Pas de Six was originally a Pas de Quatre that Fanny Cerrito performed and was possibly created for the ballet Le Lac des fées in her first season at Her Majesty’s Theatre in 1840. Saint-Léon later transferred this pas de quatre into La Vivandière for the ballet’s Paris production and expanded it into a Pas de Six. The La Vivandière Pas de Six became one of the most celebrated passages from the ballet and Saint-Léon fully notated it in his own system of dance notation and it was published in his book La Sténochorégraphie in 1852. In 1975, the La Vivandière Pas de Six was reconstructed by dance notation expert Ann Hutchinson-Guest and Pierre Lacotte for the Joffrey Ballet and in 1978, Lacotte staged the Pas de Six for the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet (the former Imperial Ballet). Since then, the La Vivandière Pas de Six, or the Markitenka Pas de Six (as it is known in Russia) has been performed by companies all over the world.

Selected Revivals

20 October 1848

Location: Opéra-Théâtre de la Nation, Paris.

Staged for Cerrito and Saint-Léon. According to the critic of the Journal des Théâtres, the ballet obtained a success “almost approaching that of La Fille de Marbre.” The ballet was so popular that it was retained in the repertory until well into the 1860s.

Autumn 1851

Location: Teatro della Pergola, Florence

Staged by Pasquale Borri as Katty ossia La Vivandiera for Carolina Pochini with Borri himself as Hans.

25 December [O.S. 13 December] 1855

Location: Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, St Petersburg

Staged by Jules Perrot as Markitenka for Maria Surovchshikova-Petipa and Perrot as Hans.

12 September [O.S. 30 August] 1856

Location: The Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow

Staged as Markitentka for Cerrito with Perrot as Hans as part of the coronation celebrations for Tsar Alexander II of Russia.

20 October [O.S. 8 October] 1881

Location: Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, St Petersburg

Staged by Maris Petipa as Markitenka for Ekaterina Vazem with Pavel Gerdt as Hans.

Summer 1897

Location: Her Majesty’s Theatre, London

Staged by Leonardo Tavano. The Vivandiere was one of the first ballets given at the so-called “Fourth Theatre,” the construction of which had been completed in 1897. Tavano retained much of Thompson’s choreography (he had in fact asked Richard Hague to send a balletmaster from Covent Garden to set the work, a request which was granted), but revised some of the dances. The ballet would remain on and off in the repertory of the theatre.

London Revivals

1877 Revival

In 1877 the ballet was revived by Thompson at Her Majesty’s Theatre as The Vivandiere with musical revisions by Bardet. 

As part of Thompson and Mapleson’s move to revive ballet in London, a grand revival of Ondine was to be staged in three acts and five scenes. Bardet was to revise the score and Thompson provided new choreography. Ondine would go on to become one of the most popular ballets in London, if not the most popular ballet. 

However, it soon became apparent that the ballet could not survive if it only presented one full-length ballet a season. It was decided to operate in the spirit of the Parisian model at the Opéra by including one or two shorter one-act ballets to function as diversions after operas. Due to their shorter length, they could be programmed more frequently, and would give the remainder of the dancers something to do without tiring out Isabella Velluti, who was to portray the titular rôle in Ondine.

For these one-act pieces, Thompson looked again to Paris which boasted a plethora of such works. Gretna Green had premièred in 1873 to good reviews, but its run had been cut short by the fire later that year. Diavolina had been given from the early 1860s until the early 1870s and La Vivandière from its introduction in the mid 1840s to the early 1860s. Other works included Graziosa and Le Marché des Innocents, which were both given until the early 1870s.

Thompson decided to stage two of these works for the 1877 season at Her Majesty’s Theatre. The first of these works was Diavolina, revived with musical revisions by Bardet for Marguerite Lemoine as Diavolina. The second was La Vivandière, which Thompson revived as The Vivandiere for Francesca Bonera as Kathi. Both Bonera and Lemoine had been with Thompson’s troupe since it was stationed at the Linden Theatre. Bardet made a few revisions to the music and the ballet turned out to be as great a success as Ondine. It was retained in the repertory for many years, being a diverting and easy programmable ballet. 

Rôles

Kathi: Francesca Bonera

Musical Revisions

Though Bardet did not supply any new music for the score, he did edit and revise Pugni’s score, rearranging dances as Thompson required. 

Résumé des Scènes et Danses

1) Introduction 

2) Scène 1re

3) Scène 2e – Entrée des Militaires

4) Scène 3e – Récit de la Vivandière

5) Scène 4e

6) Polka des Postillons 

7) Pas de l’Inconstance 

a) Entrée

b) Valse 

c) Ballabile 

d) Variation de Kathi 

e) Coda

8) Scène 5e – Après le pas

9) Scène 6e – Récit Kathi et le Bourgmestre

10) Scène 7e – Récit de Kathi et le Baron

11) Scène 8e – Rentrée d’Hans

12) Polka des Villageois

13) Pas de Six

a) Entrée 

b) Andantino 

c) Allegretto 

d) Variation d’Hans

e) Variation de Kathi 

f) Coda

14) La Redowatscka 

15) Scène Finale

Interpreters of the Rôle

Bonera remained the sole interpreter of the rôle until 1880. To soothe Lemoine’s annoyance at being sidelined in favour of Velluti, Thompson revived Griseldis with Lemoine in titular rôle. As Lemoine made it clear that Velluti was not to dance “her” ballet (Diavolina), Velluti instead danced the rôle of Kathi while Bonera shared Diavolina with Adèle Vernay, a sujet. The following year, in 1881, Lemoine returned to Diavolina, which meant that Bonera could return to Kathi.

Following Bonera’s 1882 retirement, the rôle of Kathi became vacant. As Velluti and Lemoine were both otherwise occupied, the rôle was contested amongst the sujets. It was eventually given to Mary Butler, a danseuse who had joined the troupe that year as a sujet, and she debuted on the Covent Garden stage as Kathi in 1883. The following year, in 1884, Emma Ashfield was given a few performances to dance as Kathi, which greatly irritated Butler as she considered it to be “her” ballet. Butler would remain the sole interpreter of the rôle of Kathi until the ballet was retired in 1886.

1882 State Performance

In 1882 the ballet was staged for the State Performance for the Wedding of the Duke of Albany and Princess Helen Frederica of Waldeck-Pyrmont.

It was decided that Velluti, as the senior première would dance the rôle of Kathi with Samuel Penrose in the rôle of Hans. Thompson anticipated that Marguerite Lemoine would be displeased with being excluded from such an important performance, and so prepared to interpolate a pas for her. 

Rôles

Kathi: Isabella Velluti

Hans: Samuel Penrose

Pas Seul: Marguerite Lemoine

Jacob: Rafael Caravetti

Musical Revisions

A Variation (called the Pas Seul) was inserted after the Polka des Postillons for Marguerite Lemoine. The Pas Seul originated as a supplemental variation written by Bardet for Lemoine as Fleur de Lys in the Grand Pas des Corbeilles in the 1878 revival of Esmeralda. The variation would later be inserted by Marta Draeger into the Pas de Grisi of the 1894 revival of The Devil to Pay.

A variation was interpolated into the Pas de Six for Velluti, originally written by Bardet for Velluti as Médora in the Pas des Éventails in the 1881 revival of The Corsair.  

Résumé des Scènes et Danses

1) Introduction 

2) Scène 1re

3) Scène 2e – Entrée des Militaires

4) Scène 3e – Récit de la Vivandière

5) Scène 4e

6) Polka des Postillons 

7) Pas Seul (supplemental variation for Fleur de Lys in the Grand Pas des Corbeilles in the 1878 revival of Esmeralda)

8) Pas de l’Inconstance 

a) Entrée

b) Valse 

c) Ballabile 

d) Variation de Kathi 

e) Coda

8) Scène 5e – Après le pas

10) Scène 6e – Récit Kathi et le Bourgmestre

11) Scène 7e – Récit de Kathi et le Baron

12) Scène 8e – Rentrée d’Hans

13) Polka des Villageois

14) Pas de Six

a) Entrée 

b) Andantino 

c) Allegretto 

d) Variation d’Hans

e) Variation de Kathi (supplemental variation for Médora in the Pas des Éventails in the 1881 revival of The Cosair)

f) Coda

15) La Redowatscka 

16) Scène Finale

1890 Revival

In 1890, the ballet was revived for Lucia Rinaldi, a promising sujet at the time, and the score was revised by Henry Scott, Auguste Péchard’s assistant. Scott had contributed his first piece of music for the stage in 1889, when he composed a supplemental Andante to be inserted into the revival of Faust. As Péchard was busy working on the première of his first full-length ballet Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and was supplying a supplemental pas for Marta Draeger to dance in The Wayward Daughter, Thompson, with Péchard’s consent, allowed the minor revisions to The Vivandiere to be carried out by Scott, overseen by Thompson. 

As part of these minor revisions, Scott composed a new variation for Rinaldi in the Pas de Six. The variation was well received and it supplanted Pugni’s original as the standard variation for the pas. 

In 1894 Sarah Nicholson debuted as Kathi. Though the rôle was firmly Rinaldi’s, Nicholson had no leading rôle for the 1894 season, due to both ballets (Esmeralda and The Devil to Pay) being revived for Marta Draeger in her final season at Covent Garden. Thus, Nicholson was allowed to dance Kathi due to matters of rank, as Nicholson was a première and Rinaldi a sujet, Rinaldi was obliged to defer. 

In 1895 Harriet Linwood debuted as Kathi. Linwood is perhaps better remembered as the danseuse for whom the Pas de Deux d’Yelva was created in the 1894 revival of The Devil to Pay. She, using her connections, managed to secure the rôle of Kathi from Rinaldi, likely under the pretext that since Nicholson had danced it in 1894, the rôle was available to be shared. Linwood also managed to secure the composition of a new variation for herself in the Pas de Six to replace Rinaldi’s 1890 addition, for which Scott again supplied the music. 

Though Linwood and Rinaldi shared Kathi for the 1895 season, it was by far from an easy alliance. By the time the 1896 season began, Linwood managed to secure the rôle for herself as its sole interpreter, ousting Rinaldi from the very ballet that had been revived for her. Linwood, however, then managed to secure the cover of Jovita in The Buccaneers for herself, and so moved to have Giulia Moretti, another sujet, cover her rôle of Kathi to prevent Rinaldi from reclaiming the rôle, a scheme in which she succeeded.

Rinaldi complained to Thompson about this development, but Thompson was unable to restore Rinaldi to the rôle without upsetting management. As compensation, Thompson staged a revival of The Enchanted Island for Rinaldi, choreographing the ballet to suit her gifts and style of dancing. 

In 1897 Linwood would return as the rôle’s sole interpreter (with Moretti stepping down) and the ballet would be retired at the end of the 1897 season.

1902 Revival

Following the 1900 failure of Naïla, Linwood had seen herself firmly eclipsed by Nicholson, who held a monopoly on leading rôles. In fact, no ballet would be revived between 1901 and 1903 that did not have Nicholson as first cast. As such, Linwood appealed to her contract as a première and convinced Richard Hague to revive The Vivandiere for her for the 1901 season with her 1895 variation for the Pas de Six. However, due to the death of Queen Victoria on the 22 January 1901, the revival was postponed to the following year. This was, however, not a matter on which Linwood could hope to object, and so she was therefore forced to wait until the 1902 season to have the ballet revived.

Linwood would remain the sole interpreter of Kathi until 1904, the year following Nicholson’s retirement in 1903. As such, her monopoly on leading rôles was finally broken, and 1904 featured the double debuts of Linwood in Yedda and Moretti in The Corsair, the latter of whom had been promoted to première in 1901. As such, the rôle of Kathi was now free and was contested by various sujets. The rôle eventually went to Teresa Montoro, who had recently been ousted from the rôle of Mab in The Enchanted Island by Louise Grignon. Hague offered Kathi to Montoro as compensation and she eagerly accepted, debuting as Kathi in the 1904 season and retaining Rinaldi’s 1890 variation in favour of Linwood’s 1895 variation. There is some evidence to suggest that this was not entirely Montoro’s choice, although Linwood allowed Moretti to dance her variation in 1896, she does not seem to have extended permission to Montoro in 1904.