Delibes: Coppelia

Tonality

Without a unique tone. Like all ballet, it runs a lot of tonalities along its numbers.

From the atril

Coppelia It premiered at the Paris Opera in May 1870, a few weeks before the French-Prussian war broke out, and is now one of the most represented ballets in the world. It is inspired by a story by E. T. A. Hoffmann: young Franz falls in love with Coppelia, a girl who reads on her balcony, not knowing that it is a mechanical doll built by the mysterious Dr. Coppélius. His fiancée, Swanilda, is disguised as a doll to unmask the deception.

Delibes gave the ballet a score of true symphonic quality, with recurring themes for the characters and a brilliant orchestration. The national dances are famous: the mazurca and the czarda of the first act have a contagious energy, the waltz of Swanilda is of a lovely grace, and in the workshop of Coppélius the music imitates with humour the rigid movements of the automatas. For the pits musicians, it is a grateful and demanding score at the same time: it is necessary to accompany the dancers with flexibility without ever losing the glow.

What to hear

• The dungeon and the czard of the first act.
• Swanilda's waltz.
• The music of automates at the Coppélius workshop.