Homepage   >   Ballet

COPPÉLIA

Clément Philibert Léo Delibes

Libretto: Charles Nuitter a Arthur Saint - Léon
Libretto changes: Jiří Pokorný

No series of romantic ballets would be complete without Coppélia, a puppet which is brought to life, and which is always played by most large ballet ensembles. The composer Clément Philibert Léo Delibes (1836–1891) was inspired by the fairy tale story by Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (1776–1822) Der Sandmann (The Sandman) and let us add, that another story by this all-round artistically talented Prussian parliamentarian, The Nutcracker, acquired its ballet form in 1892, thanks to P. I. Tchaikovsky. Coppélia had its premiere in the Paris Opera in 1870, and in the history of ballet has its place guaranteed, thanks to the choreographically grateful puppet. But so as not to take credit away from the composer, also thanks to its music, which is possibly the best of the composer's opuses. Léo Delibes was, in his time, a successful composer of operetta music – he wrote operettas for Offenbach's theatre Bouffes Parisiens – and as well as Coppélia, his Sylvie from 1876 also has its place. Every new study of Coppélia means a great opportunity for a ballet ensemble to show its precision and prowess in its classical repertoire, and for audiences it is always a pleasant and varied performance with beautiful music. For lovers of ballet, this is of course a real treat, which is worth sampling again and again.

Premiere on 13th O ctober 2007 in the Great theatre.

“That Coppélia belongs among the league of ‘world class’ ballet works such Swan Lake, is mainly thanks to its music. Delibes was the first in history to use symphonic art, at the turn of the 19th century, to create the characteristics of the characters themselves, and to describe and emphasise the heroes of the story.”

Jiří Needrle, MF DNES (daily newspaper), 7th O ctober 2005