Marco Spada | Hallberg, Obraztsova, Smirnova, Chudin (Bolshoi 2014)

Title: Marco Spada (Ballet in three acts)
Music: Daniel-François-Esprit Auber
Original Libretto: Eugène Scribe
Choreographer: Pierre Lacotte
Sets and Costumes: Pierre Lacotte
Music Director: Alexei Bogorad
Assistant Choreographer: Anne Salmon, Gil Isoart
Lighting Designer: Damir Ismagilov
Synopsis: https://2011.bolshoi.ru/en/performances/691/libretto/
Recorded Live at the Bolshoi Theatre on March 30, 2014

Before the ballet version, “Marco Spada” was performed as an Opéra-comique in three acts on 21 December 1852 at the Salle Favart of the Opéra-Comique in Paris. The story revolves around the figure of Count Federici. He – although he is engaged to the Marchioness Sampietri, niece of the governor of Rome – loves Angela without knowing that she is the daughter of the bandit Marco Spada. In turn, the Marchioness is loved by Pepinelli, captain of the dragoons. At the end of a fight between the dragoons and the bandits, the dying Marco Spada declares that Angela is not his daughter. At this point there is no longer any obstacle to the marriage with Count Federici and Pepinelli can marry his beloved Marchioness.

Cast & Characters:
Marco Spada, a bandit - David Hallberg
Angela, his daughter - Eugenia Obraztsova
Marchioness Sampietri, the governor's daughter - Olga Smirnova
Prince Federici, the Marchioness's fiancé, in love with Angela - Semyon Chudin
Pepinelli, the captain of the dragoons, in love with the Marchioness - Igor Tsvirko
Brother Borromeo, the monastery's treasurer - Alexey Loparevich
Prince Osorio, the governor of Rome - Andrey Sitnikov
Bride - Anastasia Stashkevich
Groom - Vyacheslav Lopatin
Friends of the Marchioness Sampietri - Yulia Grebenshchikova, Olga Marchenkova, Anna Okuneva, Anna Tikhomirova
Friends of Marco Spada - Ivan Alekseev, Artemy Belyakov
Harlequins - Jan Godovsky, Anastasia Gubanova, Artur Mkrtchyan, Svetlana Pavlova, Alexander Smolyaninov, Daria Khokhlova
Marquise's maids - Anna Voronkova, Alesya Gradova, Elizaveta Kruteleva, Yulia Lunkina, Svetlana Pavlova, Anna Rebetskaya
Bandits - Anna Antropova, Maria Zharkova, Anna Leonova, Victoria Litvinova
Bandits - Karim Abdullin, Klim Efimov, Dmitry Efremov, Egor Khromushin

The first ballet version was a ballet-pantomime in three acts and six scenes, it saw its first performance (original title “Marco Spada ou La fille du bandit”) by Joseph Mazillier with music by Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (libretto by Eugène Scribe) at the Academie Royale de Danse et Musique (now the Paris Opera) on 1 April 1857 with performers Carolina Rosati, Amalia Ferraris, Lucien Petipa, Domenico Segarelli, Louis Mérante, Eugène Coralli. Despite its fun, fresh and joyful plot, the complex choreography and the high technical level required of both the soloists and the corps de ballet determined its disappearance from the Western repertoire for more than a century.

In 1981 Pierre Lacotte created a reconstruction of the ballet for Rudolf Nureyev (Marco Spada) who appeared in it at the Rome Opera. The premiere also featured the stars of the Paris Opera Ghislaine Thesmar (Angela) and Michaël Denard (Federici) with Francesca Zumbo (Marchesa Smapietri) and Alfredo Rainò (Pepinelli). While in 1984 it was the star Diana Ferrara in the leading roles paired with Raffaele Paganini.

Pierre Lacotte then created a new version of the ballet for the Bolshoi Theatre. This particular production differed from the version created for Rudolf Nureyev by a larger number of characters, and also by changes in the choreography of the main roles. The Bolshoi included it in its repertoire in 2014. The premiere took place on 8 November 2013 at the Bolshoi Theatre.