Le Corsaire

[Holly Golightly]

I went thorugh the customary Amazon-cum-Google process, but if possible I would like to have a professional's advice on readings that talk about the development of "Le Corsaire". To be more precise, I would be interested in learing more about the different early productions that stemmed out of the inspiration of Byron's Corsair. I am not really sure if there is anything more on the subject, so if there isn't just pardon and ignore my ignorance !

 

Thank you for any help you might be able to provide,

Holly

[Mel Johnson]

There's just nothing free-standing out there that covers this ballet. You can find an entry on it in Beaumont's Stories of the Great Ballets, and an article in the International Encyclopedia of Dance, but nothing on its own. Bear in mind that this old ballet isn't even considered a standard yet, as its distribution is fairly thin worldwide. Come to think of it, you'll probably be better off not reading Byron either!

[Holly Golightly]

Ok that's still something, thank you! At least I have a notion why I couln't find more.

 

Come to think of it, you'll probably be better off not reading Byron either!

 

Unfortunately your advice comes 13 years late , even though that was not dance related, and surely - it holds barely anything in common with the stage productions (that's why I was so curious).

[Mel Johnson]

Right! Even though it sold like hotcakes when it was first published, The Corsair's virtues have faded with time, and can't stand in the same class with Don Juan. Although it's been fashionable lately to knock him, I still like Byron.

 

Said Dorothy Parker:

 

Byron and Shelley and Keats

Were a trio of Lyrical treats.

The forehead of Shelley was cluttered with curls,

And Keats never was a descendant of earls,

And Byron walked out with a number of girls,

But it didn't impair the poetical feats

Of Byron and Shelley,

Of Byron and Shelley,

Of Byron and Shelley and Keats.

[innopac]

There's just nothing free-standing out there that covers this ballet. You can find an entry on it in Beaumont's Stories of the Great Ballets, and an article in the International Encyclopedia of Dance, but nothing on its own.

 

The International Encyclopedia of Dance mentions an article by John Percival, "The Corsair Sails Again" in Dance and Dancers (London) January 1988, plus some other references.

 

But I am wondering why Le Corsaire wasn't kept alive in the West. It says in the encyclopedia that the Kirov in 1987 created a new interest in the ballet.

[balletbum74]

I bought a book of selected Lord Byron works that included The Corsair and it was so different from the ballet! Is there any mention anywhere of the very first Le Corsaire or is Sergeyev's the standard?

[innopac]

I bought a book of selected Lord Byron works that included The Corsair and it was so different from the ballet! Is there any mention anywhere of the very first Le Corsaire or is Sergeyev's the standard?

 

This link from wikipedia might interest you.