Fiametta

Marfa Muravieva in the Saint-Léon/Minkus Fiametta, Paris, 1864

Fiametta or Fiammetta, (also known as The Flame of Love, The Salamander or Néméa) is a ballet in four acts and four scenes, choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to music by Ludwig Minkus, first presented by the Ballet of the Moscow Imperial Bolshoi Theatre on November 12–24, 1863 (Julian/Gregorian calendar dates) at the Moscow Imperial Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, Russia, with Anna Sobeshchanskaya as Fiametta.

Revivals

Lithograph of rehearsals at the Paris Opera of the Saint-Léon/Minkus Fiametta, Paris, 1864

• Restaging by Arthur Saint-Léon under the title Fiametta or The Devil In Love for the Imperial Ballet, with Minkus revising his score, first presented on February 13–25, 1864 at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, St. Petersburg, Russia. Principal Dancers: Marfa Muravieva (as Fiametta), Lev Ivanov (as Count Friedrich), Vera Lyadova (as Cupid), Aleksandra Kemmerer (as Regonda), Christian Johansson (as Otto), and Maria Sokolova (as Terpsichore). Other interpreters of Fiametta were Praskovia Lebedeva, Mathilde Madaeva, Adèle Grantzow (November 15–27, 1865). Saint-Léon's 1864 staging of this work was the first Russian production of a ballet to make use of such stage devices as electric lighting and shadow effects with the aid of convex mirrors.^{[note 1]}
• Restaging by Arthur Saint-Léon under the title Néméa ou l'Amour Vengé (Nemea or The Avenged Love) in two acts and four scenes for the Ballet of the Académie Royale de Musique, with Minkus revising his score, first presented on July 11, 1864 at the Académie Royale de Musique in Paris. For this production Saint-Léon changed the name of the names of the principal characters of Fiametta and Count Friedrich to Néméa and Count Molder. Principal Dancers: Marfa Muravieva (as Néméa), Eugénie Fiorcre (as Cupid), Louis Mérante (as Count Molder).
• Restaging by Arthur Saint-Léon under the title Fiamma d'amore for Teatro Comunale di Trieste, with Giuseppe Camorano revising Minkus' score, first presented on March 15, 1868 in Trieste. Principal Dancers: Adèle Grantzow (as Fiametta).
• Revival by Marius Petipa under the title Fiametta for the Imperial Ballet in four acts, first presented on December 6–18, 1887 at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, Russia. Principal Dancers: Elena Cornalba (as Fiametta), Alexandre Shiryaev (as Cupid), and Pavel Gerdt (as Count Fiedrich).

Note

1. An andante for solo cello (the Adagio from the Grand pas d'action) from Minkus' score for this ballet was a staple of the soloist repertoire in Imperial Russia, and is still occasionally heard.