Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Alophe, 1812-1883
2. Coindre, Victor, active 1838-1860
3. Hullmandel & Walton. ltg

Description

1. 2 prints : lithograph, b&w; 34 x 26 cm. or smaller.

Summary

1. Illustrations from the covers of sheet music intended for home performance. Although they depict scenes from Jean Coralli's ballet La péri, these images have been put to the service of other musical compositions without identifying the ballet.

Subject

1. Péri (Choreographic work : Coralli)

Genre/Form

1. Sheet music covers.

Contents

1. Le bouquet de perles, valses brillantes, Fanny Elssler, Marie Taglioni, Fanny Cerrito, Carlotta Grisi, Lucie [sic] Grahn / Hullmandel & Walton lith. -- Angela, valse brillante pour le piano par Paul Henrion; Paris, Colombier / Victor Coi[ndre; incomplete signature on stone] , Imp. Guillet.

Call number

1. *MGZFA-19 Peri 1-2

Biography (note)

1. La péri (choreography, Jean Coralli; music, Friedrich Burgmüller; scenario, Théophile Gautier and Coralli) was first presented at the Paris Opéra in 1843. Purportedly set in Egypt, it depicted an Orientalist dream world where a peri, a type of fairy with roots in Zoroastrianism, takes over the body of a murdered slave girl in order to achieve union with her mortal lover. A high point of the ballet was the Act I pas de songe, in which the Peri (danced by Carlotta Grisi) leapt from a platform representing the celestial realm into the waiting arms of her lover Achmet (danced by Lucien Petipa). The music cover for Le bouquet de perles "borrows" the image of this leap from a lithograph by Alophe, published in Le Ménestrel. The music cover for Angela is based on a lithograph, held by the Musée des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, depicting the lovers' pas de deux with the ensemble of peris in the background. Although it is not an exact copy (for instance, the central figures of the Peri and Achmet have been reversed, and the position of the Peri's arms altered), the overall stage picture and certain details of costume and setting make it recognizable as a scene from La péri.

Title

1. [La péri on music covers] [graphic].

Imprint

1. [1843? or later]

Biography

1. La péri (choreography, Jean Coralli; music, Friedrich Burgmüller; scenario, Théophile Gautier and Coralli) was first presented at the Paris Opéra in 1843. Purportedly set in Egypt, it depicted an Orientalist dream world where a peri, a type of fairy with roots in Zoroastrianism, takes over the body of a murdered slave girl in order to achieve union with her mortal lover. A high point of the ballet was the Act I pas de songe, in which the Peri (danced by Carlotta Grisi) leapt from a platform representing the celestial realm into the waiting arms of her lover Achmet (danced by Lucien Petipa). The music cover for Le bouquet de perles "borrows" the image of this leap from a lithograph by Alophe, published in Le Ménestrel. The music cover for Angela is based on a lithograph, held by the Musée des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, depicting the lovers' pas de deux with the ensemble of peris in the background. Although it is not an exact copy (for instance, the central figures of the Peri and Achmet have been reversed, and the position of the Peri's arms altered), the overall stage picture and certain details of costume and setting make it recognizable as a scene from La péri.

Local note

1. Cataloging funds provided by Friends of Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Connect to:

1. NYPL Digital Collections

Added author

1. Alophe, 1812-1883. Associated name
2. Coindre, Victor, active 1838-1860. Lithographer
3. Hullmandel & Walton. Lithographer
4. Moore, Lillian. Donor

Research call number

1. *MGZFA-19 Peri 1-2