Балет «Свадьба Пелея и Фетиды» (1653), сохранившийся в изображениях

Abstract

The article is devoted to the ballet “Les Noces de Pelée et de Thetis” which was produced in 1693 in the Petit Bourbon Palace in Paris (according to the rules of the French theater of that time period) in order to complement the opera with the same name composed by Carlo Caproli. The basis for the plot of the production was the myth widely disseminated in art works about the mortal Peleus and the Nereid Thetis, transformed in correspondence with the aesthetics of that time. The Dance entrées followed each scene of the Italian opera and were connected with its each content, in its turn, forming a consistent, logically delineated narration. The published libretto conveys the plot, and at times the outer form of the action quite vividly and fi guratively. A description of the decorations and machines used in the ballet has also been preserved, as the result of which in our time it becomes possible to create a visual impression from the production. In addition, important defi ning details capable of providing a perception not only of the protagonists’ outward appearances, but also of a concrete distribution of roles between the performers are the sketches for numerous costumes preserved up to our time. Thereby, it turns out that in 17th century musical performance a considerable role is played by its visual solution, which, having been preserved in iconographic materials, is capable of helping create an impression from the overall conception of the production a few centuries after it happened.