Every morning, every ballet dancer should bow before a portrait of Tchaikovsky.
– dancer Rudolf Nureyev
In seeking to transform the music of the ballet from a grand decorative gesture into an essential component of the drama on stage, Tchaikovsky revolutionized the art of composing for the dance.”
– NPR critic Ted Libbey
Today, Swan Lake is considered the quintessential ballet, as well as a staple of the concert hall. From its wellspring of childhood inspiration, Tchaikovsky’s creation had a long, meandering flow full of twists and turns on its way to becoming a lakeside masterpiece!
Further Reading & Resources
The Bookshelf
The Playlist
Tchaikovsky: The Man & His Music
British author and musicoligist David Brown made a career out of studying Russian composers, with particular emphasis on Tchaikovsky. Before you get into his four-volume deep dive (read on!) start with this great introduction: “Brown skillfully guides the reader through Tchaikovsky’s music within the context of his life, and the result is an edifying journey through some of the greatest and most moving music ever composed.”
Bolshoi Confidential: Secrets of the Russian Ballet
An entertaining read by author Simon Morrison that contains both historical perspective and juicy tidbits: “In this sweeping, definitive account, Morrison demonstrates once and for all that, as Russia goes, so goes the Bolshoi Ballet.”
The NPR Guide To Building a Classical CD Collection
Yes, hardly anyone buys new CDs anymore, but there are plenty to be had (including at the Heifetz Music Shop), and they are bargain priced! To help you sort through the choices on the 250 “core works” of classical repertory, look now further than this highly readable and exquisitely selected works and recommend recordings by longtime NPR commentator Ted Libbey. It’s the only guide you’ll need!
For a composer who died before 1900, a whole of new scholarship has emerged about the composer’s troubled life that had been long secreted away in Soviet files. Author Anthony Holden’s very readable 1996 books serves both as an introduction and overview to the composer’s life, but significatnly contains a lot of previously unrevealed material gathered from Russian files about his probable suicide after being threatened with the exposure of his homosexuality.
Tchaikovsky: The Quest for the Inner Man
On the plus side: “This monumental 656-page biography is probably the fullest, most revealing account to date of Tchaikovsky’s private life” On the other hand: “An impressive quantity of primary evidence that documents myriad details in Tchaikovsky’s life while providing a fascinating glimpse of life in Russia. This may be more than anyone ever wanted to know about Tchaikovsky.”
Tchaikovsky: A Biographical and Critical Study
Here is the aforementioned “deep dive” into Tchaikovsky’s life and works by British author and musicoligist David Brown. Tchaikovsky: A Biographical and Critical Study, published originally in four volumes (1978–92), now in a two-volume paperback edition. The Guardian: “[Brown’s] masterwork on Tchaikovsky was not only an authoritative biography but a descriptive analysis of his major works.”
No. 1: Introduction
No. 10: Moderato
No. 13: Dance of the Swans
No. 17: Arrival of the Guests
No. 20: Hungarian Dance
No. 20a: Russian Dance
No. 21: Spanish Dance
No. 22: Neapolitan Dance
No. 24: Scene: Waltz
No. 27: Dance of the Little Swans
No. 28: Scene - Allegro Agitato
No. 29: Finale
Videos
Choreographers Maurice Petipa and Lev Ivanov, and conductor Riccardo Drigo and all worked on the other two of Tchaikovsky’s “Big Three Ballets” – namely Sleeping Beauty and Nutcracker.
Videos: Full-Length Productions
Enjoy this production by the Kirov Ballet of the version of Swan Lake assembled after Tchaikovsky’s death by the trio of “show doctors” who came together after Tcaikovsky’s death in 1893 to revive the production. Maurice Petipa: “I could not assume that Tchaikovsky’s music was bad, that his part of the work had no success; the problem ws not in the music but in the production of the ballet, in the dances.”
Bolshoi Confidentialauthor Simon Morrison: “Apart from the pinciple dancers, their conflicts, and the appeal of Tchaikovsky’s music, little was or is stable about Swan Lake.”
Videos: Excerpts & Alternative Endings
Many different endings exist, ranging from romantic to tragic. Although it is presented in many different versions, most ballet companies base their stagings both choreographically and musically on the 1895 revival by Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov and Riccardo Drigo (see left). Check out this compilation featuring the Kirov Ballet; American Ballet Theater; Paris Opera Ballet; Vienna State Ballet; New Adventures Dance Compagny; Moscow Classical Ballet; Royal Winnipeg Ballet; Royal Danish Ballet; Bolshoi Ballet; The Royal Opera House Coven Garden; and Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin.