Overview
Introduction
Raymonda (Russian: Раймонда) is a ballet in three acts, four scenes with an apotheosis, choreographed by Marius Petipa, with music by Alexander Glazunov, his opus 57. First presented by the Imperial Ballet at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre on 19 January [O.S. 7 January] 1898 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The ballet was created especially for the benefit performance of the Italian ballerina Pierina Legnani, who created the title role. Among the ballet's most celebrated passages is the Pas classique hongrois (a.k.a. Raymonda Pas de dix) from the third act, which is often performed independently.
Today Raymonda is performed by many ballet companies throughout the world with choreography that is derived primarily from the Kirov Ballet's 1948 revival as staged by Konstantin Sergeyev. Sergeyev greatly altered, and in some cases changed entirely, Marius Petipa's choreography, particularly in the dances for the corps de ballet. The choreography as revised by Sergeyev remains the traditional text for most of the world's productions of Raymonda, among them Rudolf Nureyev's version for the Paris Opéra Ballet and Anna-Marie Homes's version for American Ballet Theatre, respectively.
The choreography and mise-en-scène of the Imperial Ballet's original production of Raymonda as staged in 1898 was recorded in the method of for performances starring the renowned Russian ballerina Olga Preobrajenskaya in the title role. Today, this notation is part of Harvard University's Sergeyev Collection. In 2011 Sergei Vikharev utilized this notation to stage an almost totally complete reconstruction of the original 1898 production of Raymonda for the Teatro alla Scala.
