Limelight · Ballet

Aschenbrödel (1901)

Aschenbrödel (Cinderella) is a full-length ballet score that Johann Strauss II left unfinished at his death in 1899 and that the ballet composer Josef Bayer completed and orchestrated in 1900. Its scenario, chosen through a public competition judged by Eduard Hanslick, Gustav Mahler, Nikolaus Dumba, Strauss and Rudolf Lothar, relocated the Cinderella story to a modern Viennese department store, The Four Seasons, with Grete (Cinderella) working in the women's fashions department and courted by two brothers who own the store.

What it contains

Classical Ballet · Act IIViennese Waltz · Act IViennese Waltz · Act IIClassical Ballet · Act IIMazurka · Act IIPolka · Act IIIQuadrille · Act IIQuadrille · Act II
  • Classical Ballet — Welcome with Flowers · Act II, Flora's floral divertissement leading into the "Flowertorch Polonaise" — A dedicated prima-ballerina guest role appearing only for this divertissement, danced against soloists, corps and student dancers in a large-scale grand-pas structure typical of turn-of-the-century ballet. Source: "the ballerina (the part is referred to as "Floral") appears only in the ballroom (act 2) for the floral divertissement"
  • Viennese Waltz — Waltz of the Doves · Act I, "Waltz of the Doves", Grete's solo — A Strauss waltz solo for the lead performed with trained birds, using turning waltz phrasing as the emotional register for Grete's introduction. Source: "dances the "Waltz of the Doves""
  • Viennese Waltz — Cinderella Waltz · Act II, "Cinderella Waltz", Grete's principal solo — Grete's largest solo of the ball scene, structured as a named waltz number in Strauss's own idiom. Source: "Grete's big solo, the "Cinderella Waltz""
  • Classical Ballet — Masked Game · Act II, "Masked Game" — A formal pas de trois for the two stepsisters and Gustav, using the classical three-dancer ensemble structure within a demi-caractère comic register. Source: "A pas de trois, "Masked Game", is for the stepsisters and Gustav"
  • Mazurka · Act II, mazurka for the stepsisters — A named mazurka performed by the comic stepsister roles, using the mazurka's hop-step rhythmic pattern as character dance within the ball divertissement. Source: "a mazurka for the stepsisters"
  • Polka — Amoretten Polka · Act III, "Amoretten Polka" — A named polka opening Act III, using the polka's quick two-step hopping figure as a light comic curtain-raiser. Source: "An "Amoretten Polka" is the first dance in act 3"

What is danced

The article preserves what is effectively a printed programme, and it is unusually detailed for a work this obscure: named solos, pas de trois, and full ensemble numbers are listed act by act. Act I is built from character solos rather than group dances — a self-portrait solo for the male lead Franz (including dance-mimed 'driving' business the source compares to Massine's later style), a duet-style 'Promenade Adventure' for the two stepsisters, a mimed 'Love Letter Delivery' for the travesty valet role Piccolo, and Grete's 'Waltz of the Doves', danced with trained birds.

Act II, the ball, is where the formal ballet vocabulary concentrates: a 'Marveilleusen Quadrille' for the male lead and female corps, a pas de trois ('Masked Game') for the two stepsisters and Gustav, a solo for Grete named for her costume ('Blue Domino'), a 'Confections Waltz' for nine female soloists and corps, a 'Salon Quadrille' for four couples, a mazurka for the stepsisters, Grete's principal solo (the 'Cinderella Waltz'), and the prima ballerina role 'Flora' entering for a floral divertissement that builds into the 'Flowertorch Polonaise' — the largest ensemble number, combining Flora, Grete, thirteen female soloists, Gustav, four male soloists, the adult female corps and a group of female students.

Act III is comparatively compact: an 'Amoretten Polka' opens it, followed by a 'Bridal-Treasure Waltz', an 'Old Vienna Porcelain' number for Piccolo with four solo women and four solo men (apparently representing a wedding gift), and a closing 'Jewels Waltz' for Piccolo, nine female soloists and the corps. The source itself flags the significance of this structure: it notes that the programme's mix of named social-dance forms (quadrille, mazurka, polka, waltz, polonaise) staged as demi-caractère divertissements is a marker of how Viennese ballet of this period differed from the Petersburg model.

Context

The commission grew out of Vienna's operatic and critical establishment rather than a ballet company: Hanslick pushed Strauss toward a full ballet score after hearing the act 3 ballet music in his opera Ritter Pázmán, and the scenario itself was the product of a public competition rather than a working choreographer's brief. Mahler, then director of the Vienna Court Opera and its ballet company, sat on the judging panel but later refused to stage the finished score, reportedly doubting its originality once Bayer had completed the orchestration — a decision the article treats as controversial among Strauss's contemporaries and biographers.

Staging history

The ballet was not premiered in Vienna at all: Berlin's Royal Opera took it up first, its choreographer Emil Graeb and writer Henrich Regel revising the scenario, and the premiere took place there on 2 May 1901. Strauss's own biographer, Ignaz Schnitzer, judged Bayer's orchestration and the revised, 'puritanical' Berlin scenario a poor fit for Strauss's intended Viennese light-heartedness. Vienna itself did not stage it until 4 October 1908, once Felix Weingartner succeeded Mahler and championed the score, conducting the premiere himself; it then ran for forty-six performances over seven seasons before World War I, after which it was neglected until a 1975 revival.

How to watch it

Watch for the way social ballroom dance forms are used as characterisation rather than pure divertissement filler: the quadrilles and mazurka are given to the comic stepsister roles, while the named waltzes (Waltz of the Doves, Cinderella Waltz, Bridal-Treasure Waltz, Jewels Waltz) mark Grete's emotional high points. The prima ballerina role 'Flora' functions as a guest turn confined entirely to the Act II floral divertissement rather than as the ballet's narrative lead, a convention worth noting when comparing this structure to Petersburg-style grand ballets of the same years.

Structure

  1. Act I · Franz's Self-portrait
    Franz introduces himself to the female characters and audience, including mimed business about driving an automobile.
  2. Act I · Promenade Adventure
    The two stepsisters, danced by real sisters Lydia and Olga Berger, have a comic promenade episode.
  3. Act I · Love Letter Delivery
    Piccolo, the travesty valet role, delivers a love letter to Grete.
  4. Act I · Waltz of the Doves
    Grete dances a waltz solo with her trained birds.
  5. Act II · Marveilleusen Quadrille
    Opening ensemble number of the ball for Franz and the female corps.
  6. Act II · Masked Game
    A pas de trois for the stepsisters and Gustav.
  7. Act II · Blue Domino
    Grete's solo, named for the costume she wears on arriving at the party.
  8. Act II · Confections Waltz
    Ensemble waltz for nine female soloists and the female corps, tied to refreshments being served.
  9. Act II · Salon Quadrille
    A quadrille danced by four couples.
  10. Act II
    A mazurka danced by the two stepsisters.
  11. Act II · Cinderella Waltz
    Grete's principal solo of the ball scene.
  12. Act II · Welcome with Flowers
    The ballerina role 'Flora' enters with a floral welcome.
  13. Act II · Flowertorch Polonaise
    The largest ensemble number, combining Flora, Grete, soloists, Gustav, corps and student dancers.
  14. Act III · Amoretten Polka
    Opening dance of Act III.
  15. Act III · Bridal-Treasure Waltz
    Waltz for Grete, a female soloist, Piccolo, Gustav and the female students.
  16. Act III · Old Vienna Porcelain
    A number for Piccolo with four solo women and four solo men, apparently representing a wedding present.
  17. Act III · Jewels Waltz
    Closing waltz for Piccolo, nine female soloists and the corps, apparently the bridegroom's gift to his bride.

Structure read from an encyclopaedia article, not from a libretto or score we hold. Confirm against a programme before treating the numbering as authoritative.

Credits

  • composer: Johann Strauss II
  • composer: Josef Bayer

Questions

Did Johann Strauss II finish this ballet himself?
No. He completed the principal musical material and sketched the whole work but died in 1899 before orchestrating it; Josef Bayer finished the orchestration in 1900.
Where did Aschenbrödel premiere?
According to the article, it premiered in Berlin at the Royal Opera on 2 May 1901, with choreography by Emil Graeb and a scenario revised by Henrich Regel; Vienna did not stage it until 1908.
Why did Mahler refuse to stage it in Vienna?
The article says Mahler doubted the score's originality once Josef Bayer, himself a ballet composer, had completed it, and that budget constraints also affected the decision, though this is disputed by his separate eagerness to stage Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty.
What is the plot setting?
A modern department store called The Four Seasons, where Grete (Cinderella) works in women's fashions and is courted by the store owner's younger brother Franz, with a stepmother supervisor and two idle stepdaughters providing the rivalry.
This entry was written from “Aschenbrödel” on English Wikipedia (revision 1352274145), used under CC BY-SA 4.0. The link points at the exact revision this text was written from, so it shows the words we actually used rather than whatever the article says today. Credits and premiere data come from Wikidata (CC0), cited per field.
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