Finnish National Opera 22 January 2022 - Swan Lake | GoComGo.com

Swan Lake

Finnish National Opera, Main Stage, Helsinki, Finland
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Saturday 22 January 2022
7 PM
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Important Info
Type: Ballet
City: Helsinki, Finland
Starts at: 19:00
Intervals: 2
Duration: 2h 45min

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Overview

The new Swan Lake shines with Nordic light. The comeback of the legendary ballet will take even the most seasoned ballet visitors’ breath away.

Swan Lake is the world’s most famous ballet, which combined Tchaikovsky’s magnificent music with a visual world of iconic beauty. It also has a long history at the Finnish National Ballet, where it was performed as its first production a hundred years ago.

David McAllister’s new choreography, made specifically for the Finnish audience, honours the ballet’s long-standing traditions. Swan Lake deservedly opens the Finnish National Ballet’s centenary celebrations in 2022.

“It’s a great honour to be able to create Swan Lake, which is a tribute to the company’s centennial history. This is why I want this to be specifically a Finnish version, in which Finns can take pride – a ballet that pays homage to the first hundred years of the Finnish National Ballet.”
– David McAllister, choreographer

History
Premiere of this production: 04 March 1877, Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow

Swan Lake is a ballet composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failure, it is now one of the most popular of all ballets. Swan Lake is the ballet which embodies the soul of Russian art. The combination of brilliant music and choreography creates a special kind of magic; what the great 20th century choreographer George Balanchine had in mind when he famously said, “One should call every ballet Swan Lake because then people would come.”

Synopsis

The much-feared sorcerer Rothbart captures princess Odette of a distant land and turns her into a swan.

Prince Siegfried is preparing for his birthday celebration, which is to double as a coronation. He will take reign of the kingdom from his mother, a cold-hearted widow queen. The Chamberlin has been a father figure to him ever since the king’s death. The queen has invited four princesses to meet Siegfried for him to find a bride. Siegfried is disinterested and anguished, so he leaves to hunt by the lake with his friends. As he arrives at the lake, the prince sees a flock of swans and Odette, transformed into a beautiful princess. Odette tells him about Rothbart’s spell until the sorcerer draws her away. Odette protects the swan maidens from the prince’s hunter friends, and Siegfried stops them from shooting at the swans. Odette and Siegfried dance a duet, which cements their love. As dawn breaks, Odette tells Siegfried that she can only remain a princess if someone breaks the spell by swearing eternal love to her through marriage. Rothbart interrupts the scene and the swan maidens turn back into swans. Led by Odette, they fly away.

Back at the palace, the princesses each present a dance from their native country to entice the prince. Rothbart arrives with his daughter Odile, whom Siegfried mistakes as Odette. As they dance, Odette tries to get his attention, but the prince is entranced by Odile. Only when the prince has professed to marry Odile does Rothbart reveal the begging, crying Odette. In shock, Siegfried rushes out to find Odette.

Odette tells the swans that Rothbart has once again succeeded in stopping the curse from being lifted. Siegfried arrives in search of Odette. Rothbart sees that he is armed and escapes. Odette forgives Siegfried, but Rothbart returns. Just as Siegfried attempts to kill Rothbart, Odette runs to stop him and is hit by his arrow. The desperate Siegfried is wracked with guilt: is this how their love story ends?

Swan Lake is generally presented in either four acts, four scenes (primarily outside Russia and Eastern Europe) or three acts, four scenes (primarily in Russia and Eastern Europe). The biggest difference of productions all over the world is that the ending, originally tragic, is now sometimes altered to a happy ending.

Prologue
Some productions include a prologue that shows how Odette first meets Rothbart, who turns Odette into a swan.

Act 1

A magnificent park before a palace

[Scène: Allegro giusto] Prince Siegfried is celebrating his birthday with his tutor, friends and peasants [Waltz]. The revelries are interrupted by Siegfried's mother, the Queen [Scène: Allegro moderato], who is concerned about her son's carefree lifestyle. She tells him that he must choose a bride at the royal ball the following evening (some productions include the presentation of some possible candidates). Siegfried is upset that he cannot marry for love. His friend Benno and the tutor try to lift his troubled mood. As evening falls [Sujet], Benno sees a flock of swans flying overhead and suggests they go on a hunt [Finale I]. Siegfried and his friends take their crossbows and set off in pursuit of the swans.

Act 2

A lakeside clearing in a forest by the ruins of a chapel. A moonlit night.

The "Valse des cygnes" from act 2 of the Ivanov/Petipa edition of Swan Lake
Siegfried has become separated from his friends. He arrives at the lakeside clearing, just as a flock of swans land [Scène. Moderato]. He aims his crossbow [Scène. Allegro moderato], but freezes when one of them transforms into a beautiful maiden, Odette [Scène. Moderato]. At first, she is terrified of Siegfried. When he promises not to harm her, she explains she and her companions are victims of a spell cast by the evil owl-like sorcerer Rothbart. By day they are turned into swans and only at night, by the side of the enchanted lake – created from the tears of Odette's mother – do they return to human form. The spell can only be broken if one who has never loved before swears to love Odette forever. Rothbart suddenly appears [Scène. Allegro vivo]. Siegfried threatens to kill him but Odette intercedes – if Rothbart dies before the spell is broken, it can never be undone.

As Rothbart disappears, the swan maidens fill the clearing [Scène: Allegro, Moderato assai quasi andante]. Siegfried breaks his crossbow, and sets about winning Odette's trust as the two fall in love. But as dawn arrives, the evil spell draws Odette and her companions back to the lake and they are turned into swans again.

Act 3

An opulent hall in the palace

Guests arrive at the palace for a costume ball. Six princesses are presented to the prince [Entrance of the Guests and Waltz], as candidates for marriage. Rothbart arrives in disguise [Scène: Allegro, Allegro giusto] with his daughter, Odile, who is transformed to look like Odette. Though the princesses try to attract the prince with their dances [Pas de six], Siegfried has eyes only for Odile. [Scène: Allegro, Tempo di valse, Allegro vivo] Odette appears (usually at the castle window) and attempts to warn Siegfried, but he does not see her. He then proclaims to the court that he will marry "Odette" (Odile) before Rothbart shows him a magical vision of Odette. Grief-stricken and realizing his mistake, Siegfried hurries back to the lake.

Act 4

By the lakeside

Odette is distraught. The swan-maidens try to comfort her. Siegfried returns to the lake and makes a passionate apology. She forgives him, but his betrayal cannot be undone. Rather than remain a swan forever, Odette chooses to die. Siegfried chooses to die with her and they leap into the lake. This breaks Rothbart's spell over the swan maidens, causing him to lose his power over them and he dies. In an apotheosis, the swan maidens watch as Siegfried and Odette ascend into the Heavens together, forever united in love.

Venue Info

Finnish National Opera - Helsinki
Location   Helsinginkatu 58 PL 176

The Finnish National Opera is a Finnish opera company based in Helsinki. Its home base is the Opera House on Töölönlahti bay in Töölö, which opened in 1993, and is state-owned through Senate Properties. The Opera House features two auditoriums, the main auditorium with 1,350, seats and a smaller studio auditorium with 300-500 seats.

Regular opera performances began in Finland in 1873 with the founding of the Finnish Opera by Kaarlo Bergbom. Prior to that, opera had been performed in Finland sporadically by touring companies, and on occasion by Finnish amateurs, the first such production being The Barber of Seville in 1849. However, the Finnish Opera company soon plunged into a financial crisis and folded in 1879. During its six years of operation, Bergbom’s opera company had given 450 performances of a total of 26 operas, and the company had managed to demonstrate that opera can be sung in Finnish too. After the disbandment of the Finnish Opera, the opera audiences of Helsinki had to confine themselves to performances of visiting opera companies and occasional opera productions at the Finnish National Theatre.

The reincarnation of the Finnish opera institution took place about 30 years later. A group of notable social and cultural figures, led by the international star soprano Aino Ackté, founded the Domestic Opera in 1911. From the very beginning, the opera decided to engage both foreign and Finnish artists. A few years later the Domestic Opera was renamed the Finnish Opera in 1914. In 1956, the Finnish Opera was, in turn, taken over by the Foundation of the Finnish National Opera, and acquired its present name.

Between 1918 and 1993 the home of the opera was the Alexander Theater, which had been assigned to the company on a permanent basis. The home was inaugurated with an opening performance of Verdi’s Aida. When the first dedicated opera house in Finland was finally completed and inaugurated in 1993, the old opera house was given back its original name, the Alexander Theater, after the Tsar Alexander II.

The Finnish National Opera has some 30 permanently engaged solo singers, a professional choir of 60 singers and its own orchestra of 120 members. The Ballet has 90 dancers from 17 countries. All together, the opera has a staff of 735.

Past music directors and chief conductors have included Armas Järnefelt (1932–36), Tauno Pylkkänen (1960-1967), Okko Kamu (1996–2000), Muhai Tang (2003–2006), and Mikko Franck (2006-2013). With the 2013-2014 season, the Finnish mezzo-soprano Lilli Paasikivi became artistic director of the company, and the German conductor Michael Güttler became principal conductor with the company. The initial contracts for both Paasikivi and Güttler are for 3 years. Since 2008, Kenneth Greve has served as artistic director of Finnish National Ballet. His current contract is through 2018.

The Finnish National Opera stages four to six premieres a year, including a world premiere of at least one Finnish opera, such as Rasputin by Einojuhani Rautavaara. Some 20 different operas in 140 performances are found in the opera's schedule yearly. The Ballet arranges some 110 performances annually. The Finnish National Opera has some 250,000 visitors a year.

Important Info
Type: Ballet
City: Helsinki, Finland
Starts at: 19:00
Intervals: 2
Duration: 2h 45min
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