Swan Lake Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tchaikovsky

Pyotr Ilyich Tachikovsky (1840-1893) was a late-Romantic composer whose work was not only popular at the time, but continues to be widely performed by "classical" orchestras. Although he was a contemporary of the Russian group known as The Five, he did not agree with their musical philosophy, preferring to integrate his Western training with the folk music of his childhood, rather than focusing on developing a Russian national style.

As well as 'Swan Lake', he wrote the scores for 'The Nutcracker' and 'The Sleeping Beauty'.

Answer: Moscow

The premier was on 20 February, 1877 (or 4 March, using the calendar of the time) at the Moscow Imperial Bolshoi Theatre. The choreography for this production was by Julius Reisinger, the director of the Bolshoi. This was a benefit performance for Pelageya Karpakova, who danced the role of Odette (and probably Odile, but that is not recorded).

The part of Siegfried was taken by the company's lead dancer, Victor Gillert.

Answer: An anonymous newspaper reporter

At the time, newspapers often produced lengthy reports of new ballets, including a libretto written as the reporter watched the ballet (or, as seems probable in this case, rehearsals). The published libretto does not correspond well in some places with the actual music from Tchaikovsky, suggesting that it was written during early rehearsals, rather than being the actual working libretto of the final ballet. Nobody is sure who wrote that - most people believe it was Vladimir Petrovich Begichev, who directed the Moscow Imperial Theatre at the time.

Others believe fit was Vasily Geltser, a dancer in the company; he was certainly the author of a published scenario, but that may have merely been a case of copying what was already written. Johann Karl August Musäus wrote a story which forms part of the basis for the storyline.

Answer: No single origin - it is based on a number of sources

There is no single identifiable origin for the ballet, although the broad outline of the story seems to have come from 'The Stolen Veil', written by Johann Karl August Musäus. However, the Russian story 'The White Duck', included by Andrew Lang in 'The Yellow Fairy Book', also includes some of the main elements of the story. Since 'Swan Lake' is felt by many to be a Russian national cultural treasure, they certainly prefer this as the origin. In any case, the story is unique, not just a retelling of previous work.

The character of Siegfried is said to have been based (at least in part) on the real-life King Ludwig II of Bavaria, who was sometimes called 'The Swan King', and who may be most familiar to many as the man responsible for the Neuschwanstein Castle which inspired Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Answer: To cheer him up, because he has been told he must pick a wife the next evening

It is Siegfried's birthday, and we start with the young prince celebrating in the palace gardens with his friends (and a bunch of local peasants - he is clearly a popular prince). His mother, however, throws a spanner in the works when she appears and announces that, whether he likes it or not, he must choose a wife form one of the young women who will be present at the celebratory ball, because it is past time for him to settle down. Since Siegfried wants to marry for love, he finds this depressing.

When a flock of swans flies overhead, his friends suggest that they go hunting to take his mind off his problems.

Answer: A beautiful woman wearing a crown appears

In this version, Odette appears and tells the two men the story of her enchantment, which gives her the ability to change into a swan so she can live in the lake with her grandfather, and avoid her stepmother, an evil witch who takes on the form of an owl to hunt her. Siegfried and Odette fall in love, of course.

In the more familiar story from the 1895 revival, Siegfried arrives alone, and the enchantment is attributed to an evil sorcerer rather than a stepmother. Also, this enchantment forces her to be a swan during daylight hours, and only appear in human form at night.

Answer: Odile

After a lot more dancing, in the course of which Siegfried turns down the advances of a number of young noblewomen, Baron von Rothbart arrives with his daughter Odile, who looks to Siegfried like Odette. Since Benno doesn't think they look alike, this is clearly a case of enchantment. Nevertheless, Siegfried is deceived, and eventually agrees to marry her.

As Odile and von Rothbart (who turns into a demon) triumph, a white swan wearing a crown appears. Whoops.

Answer: Odette

At the lakeside again, Odette tells the other swan-maids about Siegfried's betrayal, but when he approaches she decides to stay and see him one last time. He begs for forgiveness, she refuses, and he angrily throws her crown into the lake, to make her stay on land. The crown is grabbed by an owl (remember the evil stepmother from Act 1?), and Odette falls into Siegfried's arms as she dies. The magical lake then engulfs the pair.

The details of the ending are one of the major points of difference between various productions. The 1895 version has them leaping into the lake and dying together, which is swiftly followed by the death of von Rothbart, whose spell over the other swans has been broken. Odette and Siegfried are transported into the heavens to be united forever. Some productions choose to transform the ending completely, letting the lovers live happily ever after.

Answer: The sets were too lavish

The sets and costumes were actually criticised for being too austere. While the role was written to be danced by the company's prima ballerina (Anna Sobeshchanskaya), the actual premier featured Pelageya Karpakova, because the show was being used to raise money on her behalf. The music was certainly criticised as being too complex, but Tchaikovsky's brother has argued that the music only seemed too complex for a ballet because the poor musicianship of the orchestra players kept it from being properly presented. In addition, the choreography was described by a number of critics as being pedestrian. Some disliked the links with a German story, apparent in the names of the characters.

Despite these criticisms, 'Swam Lake' became part of the Bolshoi's active repertoire for seven years, with over forty performances in that time (an impressive figure for the time). It only stopped being produced when the costumes and scenery were worn out. Of course, the end of its run was far from being the end of 'Swan Lake'!

Answer: St Petersburg, 1895

All of these performances were notable early productions of the ballet. Revisions started almost immediately, when Anna Sobeshchanskaya wanted better choreography to show off her skills, and arranged to have a Pas de Deux added. The new dance used a piece of music by Ludwig Minkus, which enraged Tchaikovsky. He insisted on writing the music for it, but Sobeshchanskaya refused to travel to work with him on adjusting the choreography to fit the new music (prima donnas rule), so he finally wrote his new music so that it fit into the choreography framed for Minkus's piece.

Tchaikovsky died in 1893, during negotiations for a revival of 'Swan Lake', so he was unavailable to work on the music. Riccardo Drigo was given the task of modifying Tchaikovsky's score, which he did in conjunction with Tchaikovsky's younger brother Modesto. It is his version of Tchaikovsky's score, rather than the original, which has been most commonly used for later revivals.