The Awakening of Flora

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Mathilde Kschessinskaya as Flora (left) and Vera Trefilova as Amour/Cupid (right) in the Petipa/Drigo The Awakening of Flora, St. Peterburg, 1894

The Awakening of Flora (AKA Flora's Awakening, or Le Réveil de Flore; occasionally referred to incorrectly under such titles as The Flower's Reawakening or The Reawakening of the Flowers) - Anacreontic ballet in 1 Act, with choreography by Marius Petipa and music by Riccardo Drigo. Libretto by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. Originally produced for the celebrations held in honor of the wedding of the Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna (daughter of Tsar Alexander III and Empress Mariia Feodorovna) to the Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich.

First presented by the Imperial Ballet on July 28/August 9 (Julian/Gregorian calendar dates), 1894 for the Imperial Court at the Theatre of Peterhof in St. Petersburg, Russia. Principal Dancers - Mathilde Kschessinskaya (as Flora, goddess of the spring), Anna Johansson (as Aurora), Olga Leonova (as Diana), Pavel Gerdt (as Apollo), Alexander Gorsky (as Aquilon), Vera Trefilova (as Amour/Cupid), Nikolai Legat (as Zephyr), and Claudia Kulichevskaya (as Hebé).

The work was given a second première for the general public on January 8/20, 1895 at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre with the same cast. This performance was given as a farewell benefit for Anna Johansson (daughter of the great teacher and dancer Christian Johansson), who after recovering from burn injuries was forced to retire from the stage.

[edit] Revivals/Restagings

Revival by Askhat Galiamov for the West Australian Ballet under the title Le Réveil de Flore. First presented at the Quarry Amphitheatre during the festival Ballet at the Quarry on February 14, 2006 in Perth, Australia. Principal Dancers - Louise Chalwell (as Flora).

Revival by Sergei Vikharev of Marius Petipa's original choreography from the Stepanov Choreographic Notation of the Sergeyev Collection for the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet. First presented during the VII International Ballet Festival on April 12, 2007 at the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, Russia.

[edit] Notes

There exists complete choreographic notations of Petipa's original choreography for The Awakening of Flora, which were made circa 1894 in the method of Stepanov Choreographic Notation by Vladimir Ivanovich Stepanov. Today these notations are part of the Sergeyev Collection, which is housed in the Harvard University Library Theatre Collection.

Although many studies of ballet in Tsarist St. Petersburg credit this ballet as the work of both Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, it was choreographed solely by Petipa himself, with Ivanov serving as assistant in rehearsals.

Riccardo Drigo's music was hailed as a masterwork of ballet music by the balletomanes and critics of the day, and was even formed into an orchestral suite. The Grand Adagio of the ballet's central Grand Pas d'action, which includes a sumptuous solo for violin, was often heard in the late 19th century/early 20th century in various concerts given by violinists and subsequently became a popular repertory piece.

This ballet was a favorite with the Ballerinas of the Imperial St. Petersburg stage, among them Anna Pavlova, who included an abridgement of the work on her tours.

Conductor Richard Bonynge recorded excerpts from Drigo's score for The Awakening of Flora, which was included on the 1972 album Homage to Pavlova under the title Le Réveil de Flore. Though the album Homage to Pavlova is out-of-print, the recording was re-released in 2001 onto the 10-disc boxed-set Fête du Ballet, available through Decca Records.