The Sleeping Beauty

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Moscow Radio Gennady Rozhdestvensky http://youtu.be/g98_zh76Kps The Sleeping Beauty of Tchaikovsky is a good fusion of choreography and music. It is the perfect romantic ballet. Though Tchaikovsky's supreme effort in ballets is his Le Lac des Cygnes, Sleeping Beauty is next in spirit and then comes the Nutcracker or Casse Noisette. Tchaikovsky died in 1893 but around the turn of the twentieth century, the Sleeping Beauty ballet was well on its way to becoming one of the most important ballets in the history of music. The story is based on the Grimm Brothers' fairy tale version of Charles Perrault's original eighteenth century fable. Tchaikovsky fell in love with the narrative and wrote the score for the ballet enthusiastically. This was his second ballet and he wrote with intensity and passion, loving every moment while composing. He finished the score for the ballet in a record time despite few travel interruptions. He completed the entire ballet within forty days. The premiere of the ballet took place in St. Petersburg in January 1890. It was well received by both the audiences and the critics. The Tsar, however, was not so enthusiastic about the ballet.Today, it is among the staples in the ballet repertoire. An unabridged performance of the ballet would last close to four hours.