Leo Delibes (1836-1891), as well as being a prolific composer of operas and operettas, was the greatest French ballet composer of the nineteenth century. His most famous ballets are Coppelia and Sylvia, of which latter Tchaikovsky generously wrote, "what a wealth of melody! It brought me to shame for, had I known of this music, I would never have written Swan Lake." In 1866, never having written a ballet, Delibes was asked to collaborate with Austrian ballet director Ludwig Minkus in an "oriental" piece entitled La Source (The Spring), which was choreographed by Arthur Saint-Leon, the Maitre de Ballet of the St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet. It met with great success, particularly Delibes' contribution, when premiered in Paris; later in Vienna, the title became Naila, die Quellenfee (Nana, the Nymph of the Spring, or Water Nymph). Delibes found another use for his gracefully melodious Waltz in 1867 by adapting it for the "Pas des flours" inserted into the ballet Le Corsaire, which had been written by his teacher Adolphe Adam in 1856, the year of his death, and was now being presented in honour of the Exposition universelle in Paris; later on, the "Pas des fleurs" was expanded into "Le jardin anime". With its several appellations, tracing the history of the waltz has been a complicated task.
The great Hungarian pianist Ernst von (originally Erno) Dohnanyi (1877-1960) made the present expanded working of the waltz, which is a transcription so free as to be in effect a paraphrase, in 1897, the year in which he graduated from the Budapest Academy. It follows in the tradition of his compatriot Liszt, but with the addition of the piquant chromaticisms that were to be a lifelong feature of his compositions and a testament to his mischievous personality: his most popular work, the Variations on a Nursery Song for piano and orchestra, was pointedly dedicated "to the enjoyment of lovers of humour and to the annoyance of others." Like Liszt, Dohnanyi was also a fine conductor and a dedicated teacher (his students included Georg Solti and Annie Fischer).
(Naxos Music Library)
Please take note that the audio AND sheet music ARE NOT mine. Feel free to change the video quality to a minimum of 480p for the best watching experience.
Performers: Ilona Prunyi (Hungaroton, 2000) ([ Ссылка ])
Original sheet music: imslp.org/wiki/Pas_de_fleurs_(Delibes%2C_L%C3%A9o) (Rozsavolgyi & Co., 1916)
