Le Corsaire
 Photos by Stanislav Levshin

Le Corsaire        


ballet in two acts
Music: Adolphe Adam, Cesare Pugni, Leo Delibes, Riccardo Drigo and Pyotr Oldenburgsky
Libretto: Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Joseph Mazilier edited by Yury Slonimsky and Pyotr Gusev
Choreography: Marius Petipa, Pyotr Gusev revised by Farukh Ruzimatov
Sets and Costumes Designer: Valery Levental
Premiere at the Mikhailovsky Theatre: 13 March 2009

Running time: 2 hours

Adolphe Adam in 15 years after creating Giselle produced another cornerstone of the ballet classical repertory, the ballet Le Corsaire. The scenario based on the poem by Lord Byron was written by Henri Saint-Georges and ballet master Joseph Mazilier. It was Mazilier who staged the new ballet. The premiere took place in Théâtre Imperial de l’Opéra in Paris on January 23, 1856. Two years later on January 12, 1858, the ballet was staged at the Bolshoi Theatre in St Petersburg. French ballet master Jules Perrot, a co-author of Giselle, who worked in St.Petersburg in 1848-1859, choreographed the new ballet based on the version by Mazilier. In 1863, Le Corsaire was staged at the Mariinsky Theatre by Marius Petipa, a renowned French ballet master who had worked in St Petersburg since 1847.

Later the ballet was staged several times in different versions revised by different choreographers and composers though all the versions were based on the version by Mazilier, Perrot and Petipa. Our theatre first turned to the ballet in 1955. The artistic team included Yury Slonimsky, an expert in classical dance, ballet master Pyotr Gusev, conductor Evgeny Kornblit, and designer Simon Virsaladze. The idea of the new version was to find the motivation for every character of the ballet. Later, in 1968, Pyotr Gusev created a three-act ballet which was on at the Mikhailovsky Theatre till 2009.

New times suggest new approaches. Farukh Ruzimatov, a brilliant performer of the role of Ali, presented a new version of Le Corsaire: «On the basis of the ballet by Marius Petipa and Pyotr Gusev existing in the theatre we tried to create a new, more dynamic, bright and showy ballet. Sets and costumes for our version were designed by Valery Levental, a renowned theatre designer. Hopefully, the version will fascinate the public.»

Playbill   Synopsis