Ballet La Hija del Faraón (La Fille du Pharaon)

«La hija del Faraón» tuvo su premier en el Teatro Mariinsky de St.Petersburgo el 18 de enero de 1862 por el  Ballet Clásico Imperial.

La coreografía es del maestro Marius Petipa, quien fue inspirado por la novela «La  Momie de Le Roman » del escritor francés Théophile Gautier. La música fué escrita por César Pugni y la reeconstruccion del ballet, diseño y trajes de la época por Pierre Lacotte. Libreto Vernoy de Saint-Georges y Marius Petipa.

Ballet tres actos y ocho escenas.

Con coreografía de Marius Petipa a partir de la novela de Théophile Gautier, el ballet La Hija del Faraón cosechó un gran éxito en el momento de su creación en 1862, antes de caer en el olvido en el siglo XX porque no respondía a los criterios del realismo socialista entonces en vigor en el panorama artístico de la Unión Soviética.

En el año 2000, el coreógrafo Pierre Lacotte recuperó esta producción para el Bolshói de Moscú, con nueva escenografía y nuevo vestuario.

Los sueños de opio, el vestuario, el maquillaje y la escenografía de inspiración egipcia, así como la propia trama trasladan al espectador a un universo exótico, como en La Bayadera, creada unos años después. La dificultad de las variaciones en las que se se mueven los bailarines principales es similar al fasto de las escenas que reúnen a la totalidad o a casi la totalidad del cuerpo de baile del Teatro del Bolshói.  Por último, la Orquesta del Teatro del Bolshói, que también firma la adaptación de la partitura original, interpreta con alegría la música de Cesare Pugni.

Cesare Pugni / Pierre Lacotte, La hija del faraón

• Acto I – Escena 1
• Acto I – Escena 2
• Acto I – Escena 3
• Acto II – Escena 4
• Acto III – Escena 5
• Acto III – Escena 6
• Acto III – Escena 7
• Acto III – Escena 8

Acto 1
El Sr.Wilson, explorador inglés, se encuentra en un viaje por el Antiguo Egipto junto a su criado. Para refugiarse de una tormenta del desierto, varios comerciantes del lugar, muy amablemente, los conducen hacia el interior de una pirámide, donde antiguamente Aspicia, hija de un Faraón, fue enterrada. Los comerciantes le invitan a fumar opio, y Wilson cae en un sueño profundo. Wilson bajo el efecto del opio sueña que aparece Aspicia y el se transforma en el egipcio TA-Hor. Ambos están enamorados y desean estar juntos. Salen de cazan y comparten su amor.

Acto 2
El Faraón, padre de la princesa, acuerda en un contrato casar Aspicia con el rey de Nubia por razones  esencialmente políticas. El día de la boda, TA-Hor se escapa con Aspicia. El Faraón y el rey de Nubia  intentan capturar a la novia de las manos de su amante, pero TA-Hor y Aspicia se ocultan en la choza de un  pescador en el Nilo. Al día siguiente, TA-Hor sale a pescar y el rey de Nubia llega, intentando llevarse a  Aspicia. Ella, antes de irse con el prefiere morir, y el rey de nubia ante su gran rechazo la empuja y ella salta al río Nilo. Cuando TA-Hor vuelven a la choza, el rey lo captura y lo lleva frente al Faraón culpandolo de la tragedia. El dios del Nilo, en el fondo del río, permite que Aspicia no muera y le concede el deseo de ver nuevamente a su amado Ta-Hor. De esta manera, Aspicia es levantado y puesta en la tierra, pues TA-Hor está a punto de ser condenada a muerte por la mordedura de una serpiente venenosa.

Acto 3
Aspicia entra en escena e impide la condena. Frente a su padre, culpa al rey de Nubia por causar su salto al río, demostrando la inculpabilidad de su querido  y pide a su padre que lance TA-Hor al rio junto a ella. Cuando el Faraón rechazan su pedido, ella intenta tocar la serpiente venenosa. Al ver la reacción de su hija el Faraón se aplaca, concede el deseo y la pareja celebra su amor. El señor Wilson finalmente se despierta con el sarcófago de Aspicia delante y comprende que todo fue un sueño.

«La Fille du Pharaon»

• Libretto by Jean-Henry Saint-Georges and Maurice Petipa after the story «Le roman de la momie» by Theophile Gautier, version by Pierre Lacotte.
• Author of the score’s version: Alexander Sotnikov
• Choreographer: Pierre Lacotte (after the ballet of the same name by Marius Petipa)
• Designer: Pierre Lacotte
• Lighting Designer: Mikhail Sokolov

Act I
Scene 1
A young Englishman, Lord Wilson, is traveling through Egypt with his servant, John Bull. At the foot of a pyramid they meet a caravan of Arab merchants who kindly invite them into their tent. Suddenly, a very powerful storm gets up and the travelers and merchants hurry to take shelter in the nearest pyramid.

Scene 2
The caretaker of the pyramid requests his uninvited guests not to make a noise and points to a tomb right at the back of the pyramid; in it lies Aspicia, the daughter of one of Egypt’s most powerful Pharaohs. Settling down in a corner of the pyramid, the Arab merchants light up their opium pipes. Lord Wilson also asks for a chibouk… He falls asleep and soon all are wreathed in a light cloud of smoke. Fantastic dreams now take form: the walls of the sepulchre disappear and the mummies come to life and leave their sarcophagi. After them comes Aspicia, their mistress, and daughter of the mighty Pharaoh. Bending over the Englishman, she lays her hand on his heart. At that very minute, a magical metamorphosis takes place: Lord Wilson and his servant become Egyptians. The former is called Taor, the latter — Passiphonte.
Enchanted by Aspicia’s beauty, Taor tries to follow her but the princess disappears in a limpid haze.

Scene 3
Taor, and his servant Passiphonte, hurry off to the forest in search of Aspicia. They find her by a miracle, sleeping on a moss-covered rock. Nearby are her attendants, who are worn out by the intense heat. Taor cautiously walks up to the Princess and places his hand on her heart. Aspicia wakes up and recognizes the handsome youth. Oblivious to everything around them, they gaze at each other.

In the distance, hunting horns can be heard. Aspicia asks Taor to hide. Ramze, her slave, who has noticed the stranger, tries to persuade her mistress to leave. The hunters appear and warn Aspicia that there is a lion in the forest: Aspicia goes off with the hunters in pursuit of the lion. The lion is surrounded but, suddenly, he breaks out of the ring of hunters and makes for the Princess. Taor who, from his hiding place, is following the scene with horror, seizes a bow, left behind by one of the hunters, and neatly lodges an arrow right in the lion’s heart. Aspicia is saved. She loses consciousness but Taor catches her before she falls and carries her off to a place of safety.

A fanfare of trumpets announces that the Pharaoh and his suite are approaching. Seeing his daughter in the arms of a stranger, the Pharaoh gives orders that the latter should be arrested. Coming to, Aspicia tells her father that Taor has saved her life and should be rewarded. The Pharaoh’s rage turns to gratitude. He orders that the youth be freed and invites him to his palace.

Act II
Scene 4
Taor visits Aspicia in her sumptuous apartments and declares to her his love. The Pharaoh enters, surrounded by a brilliant suite of dignitaries and palace officials. They are followed by the King of Nubia who has come to ask for the hand of the Pharaoh’s daughter. The Egyptian potentate agrees to give his daughter in marriage to the King of Nubia and the two men sign a treaty of friendship. Hearing of this, Taor is out of his mind with despair. Aspicia tries to calm him down and promises she will never belong to anyone except him.
The Pharaoh commands that the festivities to mark his daughter’s wedding should start. Full of sadness, Taor reminds Aspicia that soon she is to marry the King of Nubia. They decide to run away.

At the height of the festivities, Taor is handed the key to a secret door through which the couple make their escape from the palace. The Pharaoh is furious when he hears of his daughter’s disappearance, and orders that the runaway couple should be apprehended. Noticing the secret door, the King of Nubia sets off, together with his bodyguards, in pursuit of Taor and Aspicia.

Act III
Scene 5
Taor and Aspicia are hiding in a fisherman’s hut on the banks of the Nile. At nightfall, the fishermen get ready to go fishing and invite their guests to come too. Aspicia, who is tired, decides not to go. Taor advises her to rest and goes off with the fishermen. No sooner has he departed, than the King of Nubia, accompanied by his bodyguards, enters the hut. Aspicia is only too well aware that her marriage to the King of Nubia will separate her forever from the man she loves. Therefore, to avoid being caught, she runs over to the window and throws herself into the Nile. Meanwhile, Taor and Passiphonte come back into the hut. The King of Nubia orders that they should be seized and threatens them with revenge for having abducted Aspicia.

Scene 6
The mighty God of the River Nile, the ruler of the underworld, gives Aspicia a warm welcome and recognizes her to be the daughter of the great Egyptian Pharaoh. But the young Princess has only one request — she wants to see Taor again. The God of the Nile fulfils her wish. In answer to his command Taor appears now at the top of a cliff, now in the limpid waters of waterfall. Longing to be reunited with her love one, Aspicia begs the ruler of the Nile to return her to dry land. The Nile God does as she bids.

Scene 7
The Pharaoh’s palace. The ruler of Egypt is in despair. He demands that Taor be brought into his presence and threatens to kill him if the latter does not tell him where Aspicia is hiding. But Taor has no idea where the Princess is. So the Pharaoh commands that the youth be condemned to death: he is to be bitten by a sacred snake. But at this very moment, the sounds of a joyful march can be heard in the distance: the fishermen have found Aspicia and are bringing her back to the palace.

The Princess throws herself into her father’s arms and tells him of her adventures, of her love for Taor and of how the King of Nubia threatened her and forced her to jump into the river. The Pharaoh tears up the treaty of friendship with the King of Nubia, and orders the latter to leave. Aspicia begs her father to give Taor his freedom, but the Pharaoh will not hear of it: he cannot forgive Taor for abducting his daughter. So then Aspicia declares that she is ready to die together with her loved one. And, going up to the sacred snake, she holds out her hand so that it will bite her. The Pharaoh rushes over to his daughter and holds her back. Touched by Aspicia’s selflessness and the depth of her feeling, he forgives Taor and gives his blessing to the young couple. At the height of the general rejoicing, the stage is enveloped in clouds.

Scene 8
In place of the palace, a pyramid now appears again. Lord Wilson wakes up and looks round him in astonishment. In the far corner of the pyramid, he notices the tomb of the Pharaoh’s daughter. His face lights up with a radiant smile as he remembers the wonderful dream he has just had.