Le diable à quatre (ballet)

Frontispiece from a piano reduction of pieces taken from the Mazilier/Adam Le diable à quatre. 1845. The frontispiece depicts, from left to right - Lucien Petipa, Jean Coralli, Carlotta Grisi, Maria Mazilier, and Joseph Mazilier.

Le diable à quatre (aka The Devil to Pay) is a ballet in 2 acts / 3 scenes, with choreography by Joseph Mazilier and music by Adolphe Adam, first presented by the Ballet of the Académie Royale de Musique on August 11, 1845. Principal dancers were Carlotta Grisi (as Mazourka) and Lucien Petipa (as Count Polinski).

Revivals/Restagings

• Restaging by the ballerina Ekaterina Sankovskaya for the Ballet of the Moscow Imperial Bolshoi Theatre, first presented December 15/27 (Julian/Gregorian calendar dates), 1846 in Moscow, Russia.

• Restaging by Jules Perrot for the Imperial Ballet in 4 Acts/5 Scenes, with Cesare Pugni extensively revising and adapting Adam's score. First presented on November 14–26, 1850 at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia.

• Revival by Marius Petipa for the Imperial Ballet under the title La femme capricieuse, with Ludwig Minkus revising Adam's score in Pugni's 1850 revision. First presented on January 23/February 4, 1885 at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. For this revival Petipa changed the name of the principal Ballerina's role from Mazourka to Countess Berta. Principal dancers - Eugeniina Sokolova (as Mazourka), Mariia Gorshenkova (as the Basket Maker), and Pavel Gerdt (as Count Polinski).

Notes

• The male variation from the famous Paquita pas de trois (aka Minkus pas de trois) is set to a variation from Adam's score for Le diable à quatre.
• The male variation taken from the famous Flower Festival at Genzano pas de deux is set to a variation from Adam's score for Le diable à quatre.

Gallery

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  Marie Surovshchikova-Petipa as Mazourka, St. Petersburg, 1861
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  Act II-Scene 3, with Carlotta Grisi and Lucien Petipa, Paris, 1845

Recordings

• Richard Bonynge conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in a recording of an 1850 edition of Adolphe Adam's score for Le diable à quatre as staged in Beriln. The recording was released on the label Decca on both CD and LP.