Ballet comique in three acts premiered on 25th May 1870 at the Théâtre Impérial de l’Opéra, Paris

Choreography: Arthur Saint-Léon

Music: Léo Delibes

Premiers Rôles

Swanilda: Giuseppina Bozzacchi

Franz: Eugénie Fiocre

Coppelius: M Dauty

 

Plot

Summary

Acte 1

The story begins during a town festival to celebrate the arrival of a new bell. The town crier announces that, when it arrives, anyone who becomes married will be awarded a special gift of money. Swanhilda and Franz plan to marry during the festival. However, Swanhilda becomes unhappy with Franz because he seems to be paying more attention to a girl named Coppélia, who sits motionless on the balcony of a nearby house. The house belongs to a mysterious and faintly diabolical inventor, Doctor Coppélius. Although Coppélia spends all of her time sitting motionless and reading, Franz is mesmerized by her beauty and is determined to attract her attention. Still upset with Franz, Swanhilda shakes an ear of wheat to her head: if it rattles, then she will know that Franz loves her. Upon doing this, however, she hears nothing. When she shakes it by Franz’s head, he also hears nothing; but then he tells her that it rattles. However, she does not believe him and runs away heartbroken.

Later on, Dr. Coppelius leaves his house and is heckled by a group of boys. After shooing them away, he continues on without realizing that he dropped his keys in the mêlée. Swanhilda finds the keys, which gives her the idea of learning more about Coppélia. She and her friends decide to enter Dr. Coppelius’ house. Meanwhile, Franz develops his own plan to meet Coppélia, climbing a ladder to her balcony.

Acte 2

Swanhilda and her friends find themselves in a large room filled with people. However, the occupants aren’t moving. The girls discover that, rather than people, these are life-size mechanical dolls. They quickly wind them up and watch them move. Swanhilda also finds Coppélia behind a curtain and discovers that she, too, is a doll.

Dr. Coppelius returns home to find the girls. He becomes angry with them, not only for trespassing but for also disturbing his workroom. He kicks them out and begins cleaning up the mess. However, upon noticing Franz at the window, Coppélius invites him in. The inventor wants to bring Coppélia to life but, to do that, he needs a human sacrifice. With a magic spell, he will take Franz’s spirit and transfer it to Coppélia. After Dr. Coppelius proffers him some wine laced with sleeping powder, Franz begins to fall asleep. The inventor then readies his magic spell.

However, Dr. Coppelius did not expel all the girls: Swanhilda is still there, hidden behind a curtain. She dresses up in Coppélia’s clothes and pretends that the doll has come to life. She wakes Franz and then winds up all the mechanical dolls to aid their escape. Dr. Coppelius becomes confused and then saddened when he finds a lifeless Coppélia behind the curtain.

Acte 3

Swanhilda and Franz are about to make their wedding vows when the angry Dr. Coppelius appears, claiming damages. Dismayed at having caused such an upset, Swanhilda offers Dr. Coppelius her dowry in return for his forgiveness. However, Franz tells Swanhilda to keep her dowry and offers to pay Dr. Coppelius instead. At that point, the mayor intervenes and gives Dr. Coppelius a bag of money, which placates him. Swanhilda and Franz are married and the entire town celebrates by dancing.

 

History

Original Production

The ballet’s first flush of success was interrupted by the Franco-Prussian War and the siege of Paris (which also led to the early death of Giuseppina Bozzacchi, on her 17th birthday), but eventually it became the most-performed ballet at the Opéra.

Modern-day productions are traditionally derived from the revivals staged by Marius Petipa for the Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg in the late 19th century. Petipa’s choreography was documented in the Stepanov method of choreographic notation at the turn of the 20th century. These notations were later used to stage the St. Petersburg version for such companies as the Vic-Wells Ballet (precursor of today’s Royal Ballet).

The part of Franz was danced en travesti by Eugénie Fiocre, a convention that pleased the male members of the Jockey-Club de Paris and was retained in Paris until after World War II.

Selected Revivals

5 February [O.S. 24 January] 1882

Location: Imperial Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow

Staged by Joseph Hansen.

7 December [O.S. 25 November] 1884

Location: Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, St Petersburg

Staged by Marius Petipa for Varvara Nikitina with Pavel Gerdt as Franz.

8 February [O.S. 26 January] 1894

Location: Imperial Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg

Staged by Lev Ivanov and Enrico Cecchetti for Pierina Legnani.

1906

Location: The Empire Theatre of Varieties, London

Staged by Katti Lanner and Adeline Genée. Genée also danced the rôle of Swanhilda.

 

London Revivals

1885 Revival

In 1885 the ballet was revived by William Thompson for Isabella Velluti as Swanhilda. It was Thompson’s belief that, due to its success in Paris, it would please the London audience. Management were on board as was Velluti, so the revival proceeded.

It was decided that Franz would be danced by a man, Samuel Penrose, not by a woman en travesti as had been done in Paris.

Rôles

Swanhilda: Isabella Velluti

Franz: Samuel Penrose

Musical Revisions

Few musical revisions were made by François Bardet, as Thompson considered the ballet to need little reworking. 

The principal change was La Paix in the third act, which was expanded into a Pas de Quatre, becoming the new grand pas of the third act. Delibes’ original music for La Paix was used as the adage and the Danse de Fête was used as a variation for Swanhilda, as was done in Paris. The pas was completed by two supplemental additions by Bardet: an Allegretto for the two female coryphées and a Coda. Franz did not dance a variation in the pas.

Résumé des Scènes et Danses

Acte 1

1) Prélude

2) Scène Première – Valse

3) Scène

4) Mazurka

5) Scène

6) Ballade de l’Épi

7) Thème Slave Varié

a) Thème

b) 1re Variation 

c) 2e Variation

d) 3e Variation

e) 4e Variation

f) 5e Variation – Finale

8) Czardasz

9) Scène Finale

Acte 2

10) Entr’acte

11) Scène

12) Scène – Les Automates

13) Scène

14) Chanson à Boire et Scène

15) Scène

16) Valse de la Poupée

17) Scène – Swanhilde et Dr Coppelius

18) Boléro

19) Gigue

20) Scène Finale

Acte 3

21) Marche de la cloche

Grand Divertissement – La Fête de la cloche

22) Valse des heures

23) Variation – l’Aurore

24) Variation – La Prière

25) Le travail – La Fileuse

26) L’Hymen – Noce Villageoise

27) La Discorde et la Guerre

28) La Paix (Pas de Quatre)

a) Andante

b) Allegretto

c) Variation de Swanhilde – Danse de Fête

d) Coda 

29) Galop Final

 

1895 Revival

In 1895 the ballet was revived for Sarah Nicholson. Thompson had wanted to revive the ballet the previous year for Draeger, but instead The Devil to Pay and Esmeralda were chosen for her last season at Covent Garden.

It was decided to replace the Pas de Quatre with a Pas de Deux for Swanhilda and Franz, for which Péchard provided the music. However, Nicholson wished to dance the original variation that Delibes had provided for Swanhilda, and so it was interpolated into the Pas de Deux. Despite this concession, Nicholson eventually decided to return to the Pas de Quatre, leading to Péchard’s supplemental pas being discarded. Férat was allowed to interpolate a new variation as Franz (following the Allegretto and preceding the Variation de Swanhilde), choosing to dance the cavalier’s variation from the Pas de Distraction from The Corsair. 

The cut Pas de Deux would later be interpolated into the 1902 revival of Sullivan’s Victoria and Merrie England (1897) at The Alhambra Theatre. Eleanor Langley, a première danseuse at the theatre, requested a new pas for herself to dance as Britannia, partnered by John Bull. She went directly to Hague for this request who agreed to oblige her, suggesting to Péchard a revision of the cut Coppelia pas. Péchard performed the necessary musical revisions and Langley’s new addition, though somewhat incongruous with the remainder of the ballet, was generally well received.

The third act of Coppelia would later be given as part of the 1903 State Performance for the Visit of the French President. Nicholson would reprise her rôle as Swanhilda, interpolating the Pas Robert that had been written for Draeger in the 1890 revival of The Wayward Daughter to replace the Pas de Quatre.

Rôles

Swanhilda: Sarah Nicholson

Franz: Antoine Férat

 

1908 Revival

In 1908 the ballet was revived by Richard Hague for Giulia Moretti.

The Pas de Quatre was retained for the revival, and the Meisenburg notations for the ballet were made during the 1908 rehearsal process. The only notable difference from the 1895 staging was that a new variation was interpolated for Franz in the Pas de Quatre, replacing the Corsair variation added in 1895 for Férat. The new variation chosen was the Variation de Pépio from the Grand Pas des Tziganes from Messager’s score for The Two Pigeons, which had been revived by Hague in 1898. As such, it was Messager’s variation that was notated in the pas, not the Corsair variation.