The premiere of the ballet Coppélia, on May 25, 1870, at the Paris Opera, was an overwhelming success, and paved the way for the future developments of the classical ballet of the nineteenth century. Coppélia had been in rehearsal since 1868, and had seen many setbacks. It took Delibes some time to compose the music, and in the meantime, the choreographer was obliged to look for a new prima donna, due to the illness of his lead dancer. Swanilda at the premiere was performed by a prodigy by the name of Giuseppina Bozzacchi. Franz was performed "en travestie" by another female star, Eugenie Fiocre, and Coppélia was played by a real, mechanical doll. Because the male lead was played by a woman dancer, there wasn't a classical pas de deux written for the lovers. Instead, the ballet closes with a divertissement called "Fete del la Cloche," which features the ringing of the village bell. It is filled with dances and festivities meant to close the Opera on a high note.
The music for Coppélia ranks with that of the ballets by Tchaikovsky. It is colorful, sensitive, full of nuance and spirit. Its lyricism inspires motion, and it advanced the technique of the leitmotif in theatrical music. Each of the characters is identified by its own leitmotif, and leitmotifs also set the mood and atmosphere of each number. Color and timbre are Delibes' forte. He uses both to exquisite effect, communicating emotional content with his diverse palette. He was well acquainted with Slavic music and eastern European dance forms. For the first time, the czardas, a Hungarian dance, is included among the dance numbers. There are also mazurkas and Slavic themes throughout the ballet. The ethnic and national color adds character to the work, and follows Romantic ballet traditions. Romanticism was on the wane when Delibes composed the score for Coppélia, and his evocative and impressionistic score prefigures future developments of the nineteenth century.
The librettist for Coppélia was Charles Nuttier. He took his story from E.T.A. Hoffmann's Der Sandmann, but he was also influenced by the comedy La Fille mal Gardee, which has characters derived from the commedia dell'arte. The story of Coppélia, though taken from Hoffmann's gothic tale, is a light-hearted love story, which features a mechanical doll as the heroine's arch rival and a comical villain. Although Dr. Coppelius is still a somewhat sinister figure, he is also the springboard for comic events. Coppélia was the first ballet to feature a mechanical doll coming to life as part of the plot, and it formed a precedent for future ballet plots of the century. ~ Rita Laurance, All Music Guide
