Sylvia is a full-length ballet in two or three acts, first choreographed by Louis Mérante to music by Léo Delibes in 1876. Sylvia is a typical classical ballet in many respects, yet it has many interesting features which make it unique. Sylvia is notable for its mythological Arcadian setting, creative choreographies, expansive sets, great influence on the arts and, above all, its remarkable score. The ballet's orgins are in Tasso's 1573 poem "Aminta," which describes the basic plot of Delibes' work. Jules Barbier and Baron de Reinach adapted this for the Paris Opera where it inspired the a great musician to compose Sylvia. This piano arrangement was composed in 1876 and the orchestral suite was done in 1880. When Sylvia premiered on June 14, 1876 at the Palais Garnier, it went largely unnoticed. In fact, the first seven productions of Sylvia were not successful. It was the 1952 revival, choreographed by Sir Frederick Ashton, that popularized the ballet.
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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1792: French Revolution: The National Convention voted to abolish the monarchy, and the First Republic was proclaimed. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Convention)
1823: According to Joseph Smith, Jr., the angel Moroni appeared to him and revealed the location of the hidden Golden Plates, which contained the ancient sacred texts of the Book of Mormon. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moroni_%28Mormonism%29)
1898: The Hundred Days' Reform in China was abruptly terminated when Empress Dowager Cixi (pictured) forced the reform-minded Guangxu Emperor into seclusion and took over the government as regent. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Days%27_Reform)
1937: J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, a prequel to The Lord of the Rings, was first published. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hobbit)
1942: The prototype model of the B-29 Superfortress flew for the first time. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-29_Superfortress)
_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:
"Hope is a good thing — maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies." -- "Andy Dufresne" in The Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Shawshank_Redemption)