Misconceptions
The ballet-going public knows the Romantic ballet La Sylphide as being choreographed by the Danish ballet master August Bournonville. That is indeed the La Sylphide audiences are most familiar with today but was not the version given in 1832.
The original production of La Sylphide was first presented by the Paris Opera Ballet at the Salle Le Peletier in 1832, and was choreographed by Filippo Taglioni himself to the music of Jean-Madeliene Schnietzhoeffer, with libretto by Adolphe Nourrit after a story by Charles Nodier. The leading roles were danced by Marie Taglioni and Joseph Mazilier.
Bournonville originally intended to stage the 1832 version in Denmark, but the Paris Opéra demanded to high a price for the orchestral parts of Schnietzhoeffer's score. In light of this, Bournonville decided to stage his own version of La Sylphide on the same scenario, with a new score by Herman Severin Løvenskiold. The production premiered in 1836 with the prodigy Lucile Grahn and Bournonville in the principal roles. Due to the strong tradition of the Royal Danish Ballet this version is still being performed in Denmark to this day, and has since been staged throughout the world.
In 1972 the ballet master Pierre Lacotte revived Filippo Talgioni's original La Sylphide for the Paris Opera Ballet, with the noted ballerina Ghislaine Thesmar as the Sylph. Schnietzhoeffer's original score was reconstructed from a manuscript held at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. As Taglioni's original choreography was lost long ago, Lacotte choreographed the ballet in the style of the epoch. The Paris Opera Ballet has since released the production onto DVD/video twice.
Read more about this topic: Filippo Taglioni