Two versions ofBarabau

Abstract

Since its first performance by the Diaghilev Ballets Russes in 1925, Vittorio Rieti's witty score for Barabau has inspired a number of versions of this comic ballet. But the two most important ones were both presented in London: the original production by George Balanchine and one eleven years later choreographed by Ninette da Valois. Diaghilev introduced Balanchine to Rieti in 1925. Over the years, the choreographer was eventually to use six of the musician's scores, for Barabau, 1925; Le Bal, 1929; Waltz Academy, 1944; Night Shadow, 1946; The Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne, 1948; and Native Dancers, 1959. Of these productions, the first two were created under the auspices of Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes. Barabau was Balanchine's first ballet to an original dance score for that company. However, the music was not commissioned by the impresario but was conceived by the composer prior to any contact with the Ballets Russes.1 Rieti based the original version of the composition, a short a capplla choral number, on a Tuscan folk melody, using an Italian nursery rhyme as its text: 2