(; French for The Wayward Daughter, literal translation: "The Poorly Guarded Girl" and also known as The Girl Who Needed Watching) is a comic ballet presented in two acts, inspired by Pierre-Antoine Baudouin's 1765 painting, . The ballet was originally choreographed by the ballet master Jean Dauberval to a pastiche of music based on fifty-five popular French airs. The ballet was premiered on 1 July 1789 at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux in Bordeaux, France under the title (The Ballet of Straw, or There is Only One Step from Bad to Good).
is one of the oldest and most important works in the modern ballet repertory, having been kept alive throughout its long performance history by way of many revivals. The work has undergone many changes of title and has had no fewer than six scores, some of which were adaptations of older music.
Today is normally presented in one of two different versions: many ballet companies feature productions which are derived from Alexander Gorsky's version to the music of Peter Ludwig Hertel, originally staged for the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow in 1903. Gorsky's version was almost entirely based on Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov's 1885 staging for the Imperial Ballet of Saint Petersburg. The Petipa/Ivanov staging was itself based on Paul Taglioni's version to the music of Hertel, originally staged in 1864 for the Court Opera Ballet of the Königliches Opernhaus in Berlin. Modern audiences are perhaps most familiar with the production staged by Frederick Ashton for the Royal Ballet in 1960.
The origins of La fille mal gardée
La fille mal gardée was the creation of Jean Dauberval, one of the greatest choreographers of his day. He was trained under the influential teacher Jean-Georges Noverre and is further distinguished as the teacher of Charles Didelot, known today as "The Father of Russian Ballet". Legend has it that Dauberval found his inspiration for La fille mal gardée while in a Bordeaux print shop, where he viewed an engraving of Pierre-Antoine Baudouin's painting Le reprimande/Une jeune fille querellée par sa mère. The painting showed a girl in tears with her clothes disarrayed being berated by an old woman (presumably her mother) in a hay barn, while her lover can be seen in the background scurrying up the stairs to the safety of the loft. This quaint work of art amused Dauberval so much that he immediately set out to craft a suitable scenario for a ballet.
The ballet was first presented at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux in Bordeaux, France, on 1 July 1789. Dauberval's wife, Marie-Madeleine Crespé (better known as ), created the role of Lison (or Lise, as the character is known in modern versions), Eugène Hus created the role of Colin (or Colas), and François Le Riche created the role of the Widow Ragotte (now known as Widow Simone in modern versions).
The ballet's original title was Le ballet de la paille, ou Il n'est qu'un pas du mal au bien ("The Ballet of the Straw, or There is Only One Step from Bad to Good"). The work met with public success and proved to be Dauberval's most popular and enduring work.
The music In the late 18th and early 19th centuries scores for ballets were often patchworks (or a pastiche) of popular airs derived from well-known dances, songs and/or operas. These scores were often arranged and adapted by either the theatre's director of music or by the lead violinist of the opera house's orchestra, who at the time also served as conductor (the separate role of orchestral conductor was not yet established).
The 1789 score for La fille mal gardée was itself an arrangement of fifty-five popular French airs. The surviving orchestral parts of the 1789 score do not list a composer/arranger, and no extant contemporary account of the original production mentions a composer. It is possible that Dauberval himself arranged the score, for he certainly devised the ballet's scenario and was a competent violinist. If it was not his work, then it may have been one of the musicians employed by the theatre.
Revivals of Dauberval's original version
Two years after the premiere, Dauberval travelled to London to mount the work for the Ballet of the King's Pantheon Theatre, and for the occasion he changed the title of the ballet to La fille mal gardée, as the ballet is now commonly known. For the first performance on 30 April 1791, Dauberval's wife Mme. Théodore reprised her role as Lise, while Dauberval's student, Charles Didelot danced Colas.
The 1789 score was loathed by the musicians of the Pantheon Theatre Orchestra. When the orchestral parts were rediscovered in 1959 by the ballet historian and musicologist Ivor Guest and the conductor John Lanchbery, they were found to be covered with comments ranging from the witty to the crude. In the original manuscript the title of the ballet was sprawled atop the pages. The lead violinist of the first London performance crossed out the title, and in its place wrote "Filly-Me-Gardy".
Eugène Hus, creator of the role of Colas, staged Dauberval's La fille mal gardée in 1803 at the old Paris Opéra, the Salle de la rue de Richelieu, predecessor of the Salle Le Peletier. Prior to this production, Hus utilised the ballet's libretto in 1796 for a comic opera titled Lise et Colin, which was set to the music of Pierre Gaveaux.
Jean-Pierre Aumer's new version to the music of Hérold
The choreographer Jean-Pierre Aumer, a student of Dauberval, continuously revised Hus's 1803 production throughout his career as ballet master at the Paris Opéra. He then travelled to Vienna in 1809 to mount the work for the Ballett des imperialen Hoftheater nächst der Burg.
On 17 November 1828, Aumer presented a completely new version of La fille mal gardée at the Paris Opéra especially for the Ballerina Pauline Montessu. For this revival the composer Ferdinand Hérold created an adaptation of the original score of 1789. Hérold also borrowed many themes from the operas of such composers as Jean-Paul-Égide Martini and Gaetano Donizetti.
The Fanny Elssler pas de deux In 1837, the great Austrian Ballerina Fanny Elssler made her debut at the Paris Opéra as Lise in Aumer's production of La fille mal gardée. It was the custom of the time that when a ballerina appeared in an already-existing role, she would request a new Grand pas with variations from the Ballet Master as a novelty for her own performances. For her appearance in La fille mal gardée, Elssler performed a new Grand pas that was specially arranged for her by Aimé Leborne, the Paris Opéra's chief bibliothécaire (librarian). Leborne arranged the pas from airs derived from Donizetti's famous opera L'elisir d'amore.
While researching materials pertaining to La fille mal gardée at the Bibliothèque nationale de France for Ashton's production, the historian and musicologist Ivor Guest accidentally rediscovered Elssler's Grand pas from 1837. The music was in the form of a rehearsal répétiteur in an old, dusty box of music. Since the material used for Ashton's version did not include a classical pas de deux for the main characters, Ashton was pleased that Guest was able to rediscover such a rarity. Re-christened as the "Fanny Elssler pas de deux", it went on to become one of the most celebrated pieces in all of classical ballet.
Paul Taglioni's new version to the music of Hertel The Italian choreographer Paul Taglioni, brother of the legendary Marie, was engaged as ballet master to the Court Opera Ballet of the Königliches Opernhaus in Berlin from 1852 to 1866. On 7 November 1864, Taglioni presented his own completely new staging of La fille mal gardée under the title (The Badly Guarded Girl). For this production Taglioni commissioned an entirely new score from the Königliches Opernhaus's resident composer of ballet music Peter Ludwig Hertel. This production premiered to a resounding success, and was retained in the company's repertory for many years.
In May 1876, the Italian ballerina Virginia Zucchi made her debut in Taglioni's production in Berlin. The celebrated ballerina triumphed in the role of Lise, revitalising the work with her expressive portrayal.
La fille mal gardée in Russia In Russia, La fille mal gardée () was staged for the first time by the ballet master Giuseppe Solomoni in 1800 for Michael Maddox's Petrovsky Theatre (the predecessor of the Bolshoi Theatre) in Moscow, a production that was later revised by Solomoni's successor Jean Lamiral in 1808. Both productions utilised the original pastiche score of 1789, perhaps in adaptations prepared for each respective staging.
The first production of La fille mal gardée to be performed by the Saint Petersburg Imperial Ballet was staged by Jean Dauberval's student Charles Didelot, who performed the role of Colas in the London revival of 1791. Didelot—who served as maître de ballet to the Saint Petersburg Imperial Theatres from 1801 until 1811 and from 1816 to 1837—presented his version of La fille mal gardée on at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, under the title La précaution inutile, ou Lise et Colin (Vain Precaution, or Lise and Colin). The work was set to music by the composer Catterino Cavos.
A production of Jean-Pierre Aumer's 1828 version of La fille mal gardée, set to the music of Hérold, was first staged in Russia at the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre in 1845 by the ballet master Irakly Nikitin. The great choreographer Jules Perrot—premier maître de ballet of the Saint Petersburg Imperial Theatres from 1850 to 1859—staged his own version of Aumer's production for the company in 1854, and for this production added new music to the ballet by the composer Cesare Pugni. Perrot's staging was given for the last time in 1880 for a benefit performance for the Imperial Ballet's premier danseur Pavel Gerdt.
Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov's revival
The great Italian ballerina Virginia Zucchi toured Saint Petersburg in 1885, performing successfully in different works at various theatres throughout the Imperial capital. In August of that year Emperor Alexander III requested that the Imperial Theatre's director Ivan Vsevolozhsky invite Zucchi to perform with the Imperial Ballet. Zucchi agreed, and chose Paul Taglioni's 1864 version of La fille mal gardée to the music of Hertel for her début. The director Vsevolozhsky was required to pay an extremely high price to obtain Hertel's score from Berlin, while Zucchi herself commanded large fees plus a benefit performance in her contract.
The production of La fille mal gardée was staged jointly by the Imperial Ballet's premier maître de ballet Marius Petipa and the company's régisseur and second ballet master Lev Ivanov, while Zucchi herself would assist with staging some of the dances she had known from Paul Taglioni's version. The production also incorporated dances from the Imperial Ballet's old production to the music of Hérold. The reasons for the joint staging by both Petipa and Ivanov are not entirely clear, though it may be due to the fact that Ivanov was needed to stage the numbers brought out from the old production of the ballet. Petipa was responsible for the setting of all of the new dances, and even commissioned the composer Ludwig Minkus to score music for two additional variations for Zucchi.
The production premiered under its traditional title in Russia La précaution inutile (Vain Precaution) on . Zucchi's performance as Lise instantly became a legend in Russia, where she was soon known as "The Divine Virginia". During the famous mimed scene known as "When I'm Married", contemporary accounts tell us that Zucchi's performance made such an impression that it brought many in the audience to tears. The ballerina was much celebrated for the famous Pas de ruban, for which Lise and Colas dance a pas elaborated by the use of ribbons, with Colas pretending to be a horse and Lise running along.