Bolshoi: The Pharaoh's Daughter

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Ballet in three acts.
Libretto by Jean-Henry Saint-Georges and Maurice Petipa, after the novel Le Roman de la Momie by Théophile Gautier. Version by Pierre Lacotte.

First choreographed by Marius Petipa, The Pharaoh’s Daughter premiered in 1862, in a grandiose show the likes of which had never seen before, at St Petersburg’s Bolshoi Theatre.
Immensely popular with the public, The Pharaoh’s Daughter was given several revivals. In 1864, the ballet transferred from St Petersburg to Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre. However, during the Soviet era it was deemed ideologically immature and, dropped from the repertoire, it was virtually forgotten. In 2000 Pierre Lacotte was exclusively commissioned by the Bolshoi Theatre to resurrect Petipa’s mighty Egyptian fantasy, and he successfully gave new life to this forgotten masterpiece.

Synopsis
Young Englishman Lord Wilson is travelling through Egypt with his servant, John Bull. At the foot of a pyramid they meet a caravan of Arab merchants, who kindly invite them into their tent.
Suddenly a powerful storm breaks. The travellers and merchants are forced to take shelter inside the nearest pyramid. The caretaker asks his uninvited guests to keep quiet, as Aspicia, the daughter of one of Egypt's most powerful pharaohs, lies in a tomb nearby. Settling down in a corner, the merchants light their opium pipes, and Lord Wilson also asks for a chibouk. He falls asleep and begins to have fantastical dreams.
The pharaoh's daughter, Aspicia, comes to life and lays her hand over his heart. Lord Wilson is instantly transported into the past, where he becomes Ta-Hor, an ancient Egyptian. Ta-Hor and Aspicia fall in love, but she is betrothed to a Nubian king.

Music: Cesare Pugni
Score version: Alexander Sotnikov
Choreography: Pierre Lacotte (after the ballet of the same name by Marius Petipa)
Designer: Pierre Lacotte

With the Orchestra of the Bolshoi State Theatre of Russia
With the Bolshoi soloists and the Bolshoi Corps de Ballet