Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme | |
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Choreographer | George Balanchine |
Music | Richard Strauss |
Libretto | after Molière |
Based on | Molière's Le Bourgeois gentilhomme |
Premiere | 1932 Opéra de Monte-Carlo |
Original ballet company | Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo |
Characters | Mr. Jourdain Lucille Cléonte |
Design | Alexandre Benois |
Setting | 17th-century France |
Created for | David Lichine and Tamara Toumanova |
Genre | neoclassical ballet |
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme | |
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Choreographer | George Balanchine with Jerome Robbins |
Music | Richard Strauss |
Libretto | after Molière |
Based on | Molière's Le Bourgeois gentilhomme |
Premiere | April 8, 1979 New York State Theater, Lincoln Center |
Original ballet company | New York City Opera |
Characters | Mr. Jourdain Lucille Cléonte |
Design | Rouben Ter-Arutunian |
Setting | 17th-century France |
Created for |
Rudolf Nureyev Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux Patricia McBride |
Genre | neoclassical ballet |
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme refers to two different ballets by George Balanchine set to Richard Strauss's Concert Suite (1924), with a libretto after Molière's 17th-century comédie-ballet of the same name.
The first Balanchine Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme ballet was produced in 1932 by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. In 1979, Balanchine (with the assistance of Jerome Robbins) created all-new choreography for Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, which premiered on 8 April 1979, with the New York City Opera at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, in New York City. This production was notable for being the first ballet Balanchine ever choreographed for Rudolf Nureyev (who at the time was 41 years old).
Balanchine's first Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme ballet was performed in 1932 by Wassily de Basil & René Blum's Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, featuring David Lichine and Tamara Toumanova, with sets by Alexandre Benois.
In 1944, the ballet was performed by the second iteration of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, with Nicholas Magallanes (taking over for an injured Frederic Franklin), Maria Tallchief, and Nathalie Krassovska.