L'Oiseau Phénix

L'Oiseau Phénix

L'Oiseau Phénix. Ballet based on a Canadian legend collected by Marius Barbeau. The music, scored for medium orchestra, was composed by Clermont Pépin, and the choreography was by Ludmilla Chiriaeff. Paired with Stravinsky's Les Noces, the ballet was premiered 1 Sep 1956 under Pépin's baton by Les Grands Ballets Canadiens at the St-Denis Theatre as part of the Montreal Festivals. According to the plot, every night a phoenix steals golden apples from the apple tree of a rich peasant. Each of his three sons is summoned in turn to watch the tree closely. The first falls asleep; the second gets drunk; but the third and youngest manages to capture the bird, which immediately turns into a beautiful young maiden before the eyes of the amazed villagers. The youth is given her hand in marriage, and the ballet ends with a wedding and merry-making. The introduction, "Ronde villageoise," in a transcription for two pianos by the composer, was recorded in 1968 by Victor Bouchard and Renée Morisset (CBC SM-61).