Big Music, Big Dance

Abstract This chapter deals with the Tchaikovsky and Glazunov collaborations and the late-flowering of Petipa’s genius, facilitated by Ivan Vsevolozhsky. At the age of seventy-two, Petipa created his greatest ballet, The Sleeping Beauty, and, with Lev Ivanov, Swan Lake and The Nutcracker. The often-asked question of whether he suppressed Ivanov’s talent gets a further airing, before moving on to Petipa’s penultimate big ballet, Raymonda, set to Glazunov’s first ballet score. For these ballets, Petipa made use of two more Italian dancers: Carlotta Brianza and, the greatest of all, Pierina Legnani. In 1899 Vsevolzhsky, who had written the Sleeping Beauty’s libretto and designed the costumes, was removed from his post and with his departure came the beginning of Petipa’s problems.