Cesare Pugni (Italian pronunciation:[ˈtʃeːzareˈpuɲɲi,ˈtʃɛː-];
Russian: Цезарь Пуни,
romanized: Cezar' Puni; 31 May 1802, in Genoa – 26 January [
O.S. 14 January] 1870) was an Italian composer of ballet music, a pianist and a violinist. In his early career he composed operas,
symphonies, and various other forms of orchestral music. Pugni is most noted for the ballets he composed for
Her Majesty's Theatre in London (1843–1850), and for the Imperial Theatres in
St. Petersburg, Russia (1850–1870). The majority of his ballet music was composed for the works of the ballet master
Jules Perrot, who mounted nearly every one of his ballets to scores by Pugni. In 1850 Perrot departed London for Russia, having accepted the position of Premier maître de ballet of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres at the behest of
Carlotta Grisi, who was engaged as Prima ballerina. Cesare Pugni followed Perrot and Grisi to Russia, and remained in the imperial capital even after Grisi's departure in 1853 and Perrot's departure in 1858. Pugni went on to compose for Perrot's successors
Arthur Saint-Léon and
Marius Petipa, serving as the Imperial Theatre's official composer of ballet music until his death in 1870. He was also the grandfather of Russian painter
Ivan Puni, also known as Iwan Puni and Jean Pougny.
Cesare Pugni was one of the most prolific composers of ballet music, having composed close to 100 known original scores for the ballet and adapting or supplementing many other works. He composed myriad incidental dances such as
divertissements and
variations, many of which were added to countless other works.
Lalla Rookh. Choreography by J. Perrot. 11 June 1846. The music for the second and third tableaux contained passages based on
Félicien David's 1844 symphonic ode Le désert.
Le Jugement de Paris. Choreography by Perrot. 23 July 1846.
Coralia, ou Le Chevalier inconstant. Choreography by
Paul Taglioni. 16 February 1847.
Méphistophéla. Choreography by P. Taglioni. 1847 – never premiered.
Théa, ou Le Fée aux fleurs. Choreography by P. Taglioni. 18 March 1847.
Orinthia, ou Le Camp des Amazones. Choreography by P. Taglioni. 15 April 1847.
Les Eléments. Choreography by J. Perrot. 26 June 1847. Music composed jointly with
Giovanni Bajetti.
Fiorita et la Reine des elfrides. Choreography by P. Taglioni. 19 February 1848.
Les Quatre saisons. Choreography by J. Perrot. 13 June 1848.
Electra, ou La Pléiade perdue. Choreography by P. Taglioni. 17 April 1849.
La Prima Ballerina, ou L'embuscade. Choreography by P. Taglioni. 14 June 1849.
Les Plaisirs de l'hiver, ou Les Patineurs. Choreography by P. Taglioni. 5 July 1848.
Les Métamorphoses (also known as Satanella). Choreography by P. Taglioni. 12 March 1850.
Les Graces. Choreography by P. Taglioni. 2 May 1850.
Les Délices du sérail. Choreography by Louis François Gosselin. 15 July 1850.
The Paris Opéra
La Fille de marbre (Paris production of Perrot's Alma). Choreography by A. Saint-Léon. Music by
Michael Costa, adapted by Pugni. 20 October 1847.
La Vivandière (revival). Choreography by A. Saint-Léon, with Pugni adapting his original score. 20 October 1848.
Le Violon du diable (new version of Saint-Léon's Tartini il Violinista, originally staged for the
Teatro La Fenice in Venice on 29 February 1848 with music
Giovanni Felis with Saint-Léon composing the violin solos). Choreography by A. Saint-Léon, with Pugni adapting Felis and Saint-Léon's score. 19 January 1849.
Stella, ou Les Contrebandiers. Choreography by A. Saint-Léon. 22 February 1850.
Le Marché des Innocents (Paris production of Le Marché des parisien). Choreography by Marius Petipa and Lucien Petipa. 29 May 1861.
Diavolina (Paris production of Graziela, ou Les Dépits amoureux). Choreography by A. Saint-Léon. 6 July 1863. Pugni utilized a suite of traditional Neapolitan airs called Passatempi Musicali for this score, as well as the Chasse aux Hirondelles by composer
Maximilien Graziani.
Don Zeffiro. Choreography by A. Saint-Léon.
Théâtre Italien, Paris. 26 April 1865.
Gli Elementi. Choreography by A. Saint-Léon. Théâtre Italien, Paris. 19 February 1866.
Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, St. Petersburg
La Guerre des femmes, ou Les Amazons du neuvième siecle. Choreography by J. Perrot. 23 November [
O.S. 11 November] 1852.
Gazelda, ou Les Tziganes. Choreography by J. Perrot. 24 February [
O.S. 12 February] 1853.
Marcobomba (also known as El Marcobomba). Choreography by J. Perrot, M. Petipa and J. Petipa. 5 December [
O.S. 23 November] 1854.
Armida. Choreography by J. Perrot. 20 November [
O.S. 8 November] 1855.
La Débutante. Choreography by J. Perrot. 29 January [
O.S. 17 January] 1857. Pugni arranged this score from airs taken from his 1850 adaptation of Adolphe Adam's score for Perrot's La Filleule des fées (staged in St. Petersburg as L'Elève des fées in 1850), and his 1852 adaptation of
Edouard Deldevez and
Jean-Baptiste Tolbecque's score for Mazilier's Vert-Vert.
La Petite marchande de bouquets. Choreography by J. Perrot and M. Petipa. 19 February [
O.S. 7 February] 1857.
L'Ile des muets. Choreography by J. Perrot. Music by Pugni and
Théodore Labarre. 19 February [
O.S. 7 February] 1857.
Le Marché des parisien (also known as Le Marché des innocents). Choreography by M. Petipa. 5 May [
O.S. 23 April] 1859.
Le Dahlia bleu. Choreography by M. Petipa. 12 May [
O.S. 30 April] 1860.
Graziela, ou Les Dépits amoureux (also known as Graziella, ou la Querelle amoureuse). Choreography by A. Saint-Léon. 23 December [
O.S. 11 December] 1860. Pugni utilized a suite of traditional Neapolitan airs called Passatempi Musicali for this score, as well as the Chasse aux Hirondelles, all originally written by the composer
Maximilien Graziani.
Les Nymphes et le satyre. Choreography by A. Saint-Léon. 15 September [
O.S. 3 September] 1861.
Expanded editions of his own work for the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, St. Petersburg
Le rêve du peintre (St. Petersburg production of Le Délire d'un peintre). Choreography by J. Perrot. 19 October [
O.S. 31 October] 1848.
La Esmeralda. Choreography by J. Perrot,
Marius Petipa and F. Elssler. 2 January [
O.S. 21 December 1848] 1849.
La Naïade et le pêcheur (St. Petersburg production of Ondine, ou La naïade). Choreography by J. Perrot. 11 February [
O.S. 30 January] 1851.
Le Jugement de Paris. Choreography by J. Perrot. 18 February [
O.S. 6 February] 1851.
Markitenka (St. Petersburg production of La Vivandière). Choreography by J. Perrot after A. Saint-Léon. 25 December [
O.S. 13 December] 1855.
Éoline, ou la Dryade. Choreography by J. Perrot. 16 November [
O.S. 4 November] 1858.
La Danseuse en voyage (St. Petersburg production of La Prima Ballerina, ou L'embuscade). Choreography by Marius Petipa. 16 November [
O.S. 4 November] 1864.
Adaptations of scores by other composers for the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, St. Petersburg
La Femme capricieuse (St. Petersburg production of Le Diable à Quatre). Choreography by J. Perrot after J. Mazilier. Music by Adolphe Adam. 26 November [
O.S. 14 November] 1850.
La Belle flamande (St. Petersburg production of La Jolie Fille du Gand). Choreography by J. Mazilier after Albert Decombe. Music by Adolphe Adam. 5 November [
O.S. 25 October] 1851.
Faust. Choreography by J. Perrot. Music by
Giacomo Panizza. 14 February [
O.S. 2 February] 1854.
La Fille de marbre (St. Petersburg production of Alma). Choreography by J. Perrot. Music by M. Costa, adapted by Pugni. 19 February [
O.S. 7 February] 1856.
Le Corsaire. Choreography by J. Perrot and M. Petipa after J. Mazilier. Music by Adolphe Adam. 24 January [
O.S. 12 January] 1858.
Jovita, ou Les Boucaniers mexicains. Choreography by A. Saint-Léon after J. Mazilier. Music by
Théodore Labarre. 27 September [
O.S. 15 September] 1859.
Saltarello, ou La Dansomanie. Choreography by A. Saint-Léon. Music by Arthur Saint-Léon. 20 October [
O.S. 8 October] 1859.
La Perle de Séville. Choreography by A. Saint-Léon. Music by
Santos Pinto. 5 February [
O.S. 24 January] 1861.
Météora, ou Les Étoiles de Grandville. Choreography by A. Saint-Léon. Music by
Santos Pinto. 7 March [
O.S. 23 February] 1861.
Théolinda l'orpheline (St. Petersburg production of Le Lutin de la vallée) Choreography by A. Saint-Léon. Music by
Eugène Gautier. 18 December [
O.S. 6 December] 1862.
Satanella (St. Petersburg production of Le Diable amoureux). Choreography by M. Petipa after Joseph Mazilier. Music by
Napoléon Henri Reber and
François Benoist. 30 October [
O.S. 18 October] 1866.
La Basilic. Choreography by A. Saint-Léon. Music by
Massimiliano Graziani. 16 February [
O.S. 4 February] 1869.
Cesare Pugni (Italian pronunciation:[ˈtʃeːzareˈpuɲɲi,ˈtʃɛː-];
Russian: Цезарь Пуни,
romanized: Cezar' Puni; 31 May 1802, in Genoa – 26 January [
O.S. 14 January] 1870) was an Italian composer of ballet music, a pianist and a violinist. In his early career he composed operas,
symphonies, and various other forms of orchestral music. Pugni is most noted for the ballets he composed for
Her Majesty's Theatre in London (1843–1850), and for the Imperial Theatres in
St. Petersburg, Russia (1850–1870). The majority of his ballet music was composed for the works of the ballet master
Jules Perrot, who mounted nearly every one of his ballets to scores by Pugni. In 1850 Perrot departed London for Russia, having accepted the position of Premier maître de ballet of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres at the behest of
Carlotta Grisi, who was engaged as Prima ballerina. Cesare Pugni followed Perrot and Grisi to Russia, and remained in the imperial capital even after Grisi's departure in 1853 and Perrot's departure in 1858. Pugni went on to compose for Perrot's successors
Arthur Saint-Léon and
Marius Petipa, serving as the Imperial Theatre's official composer of ballet music until his death in 1870. He was also the grandfather of Russian painter
Ivan Puni, also known as Iwan Puni and Jean Pougny.
Cesare Pugni was one of the most prolific composers of ballet music, having composed close to 100 known original scores for the ballet and adapting or supplementing many other works. He composed myriad incidental dances such as
divertissements and
variations, many of which were added to countless other works.
Lalla Rookh. Choreography by J. Perrot. 11 June 1846. The music for the second and third tableaux contained passages based on
Félicien David's 1844 symphonic ode Le désert.
Le Jugement de Paris. Choreography by Perrot. 23 July 1846.
Coralia, ou Le Chevalier inconstant. Choreography by
Paul Taglioni. 16 February 1847.
Méphistophéla. Choreography by P. Taglioni. 1847 – never premiered.
Théa, ou Le Fée aux fleurs. Choreography by P. Taglioni. 18 March 1847.
Orinthia, ou Le Camp des Amazones. Choreography by P. Taglioni. 15 April 1847.
Les Eléments. Choreography by J. Perrot. 26 June 1847. Music composed jointly with
Giovanni Bajetti.
Fiorita et la Reine des elfrides. Choreography by P. Taglioni. 19 February 1848.
Les Quatre saisons. Choreography by J. Perrot. 13 June 1848.
Electra, ou La Pléiade perdue. Choreography by P. Taglioni. 17 April 1849.
La Prima Ballerina, ou L'embuscade. Choreography by P. Taglioni. 14 June 1849.
Les Plaisirs de l'hiver, ou Les Patineurs. Choreography by P. Taglioni. 5 July 1848.
Les Métamorphoses (also known as Satanella). Choreography by P. Taglioni. 12 March 1850.
Les Graces. Choreography by P. Taglioni. 2 May 1850.
Les Délices du sérail. Choreography by Louis François Gosselin. 15 July 1850.
The Paris Opéra
La Fille de marbre (Paris production of Perrot's Alma). Choreography by A. Saint-Léon. Music by
Michael Costa, adapted by Pugni. 20 October 1847.
La Vivandière (revival). Choreography by A. Saint-Léon, with Pugni adapting his original score. 20 October 1848.
Le Violon du diable (new version of Saint-Léon's Tartini il Violinista, originally staged for the
Teatro La Fenice in Venice on 29 February 1848 with music
Giovanni Felis with Saint-Léon composing the violin solos). Choreography by A. Saint-Léon, with Pugni adapting Felis and Saint-Léon's score. 19 January 1849.
Stella, ou Les Contrebandiers. Choreography by A. Saint-Léon. 22 February 1850.
Le Marché des Innocents (Paris production of Le Marché des parisien). Choreography by Marius Petipa and Lucien Petipa. 29 May 1861.
Diavolina (Paris production of Graziela, ou Les Dépits amoureux). Choreography by A. Saint-Léon. 6 July 1863. Pugni utilized a suite of traditional Neapolitan airs called Passatempi Musicali for this score, as well as the Chasse aux Hirondelles by composer
Maximilien Graziani.
Don Zeffiro. Choreography by A. Saint-Léon.
Théâtre Italien, Paris. 26 April 1865.
Gli Elementi. Choreography by A. Saint-Léon. Théâtre Italien, Paris. 19 February 1866.
Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, St. Petersburg
La Guerre des femmes, ou Les Amazons du neuvième siecle. Choreography by J. Perrot. 23 November [
O.S. 11 November] 1852.
Gazelda, ou Les Tziganes. Choreography by J. Perrot. 24 February [
O.S. 12 February] 1853.
Marcobomba (also known as El Marcobomba). Choreography by J. Perrot, M. Petipa and J. Petipa. 5 December [
O.S. 23 November] 1854.
Armida. Choreography by J. Perrot. 20 November [
O.S. 8 November] 1855.
La Débutante. Choreography by J. Perrot. 29 January [
O.S. 17 January] 1857. Pugni arranged this score from airs taken from his 1850 adaptation of Adolphe Adam's score for Perrot's La Filleule des fées (staged in St. Petersburg as L'Elève des fées in 1850), and his 1852 adaptation of
Edouard Deldevez and
Jean-Baptiste Tolbecque's score for Mazilier's Vert-Vert.
La Petite marchande de bouquets. Choreography by J. Perrot and M. Petipa. 19 February [
O.S. 7 February] 1857.
L'Ile des muets. Choreography by J. Perrot. Music by Pugni and
Théodore Labarre. 19 February [
O.S. 7 February] 1857.
Le Marché des parisien (also known as Le Marché des innocents). Choreography by M. Petipa. 5 May [
O.S. 23 April] 1859.
Le Dahlia bleu. Choreography by M. Petipa. 12 May [
O.S. 30 April] 1860.
Graziela, ou Les Dépits amoureux (also known as Graziella, ou la Querelle amoureuse). Choreography by A. Saint-Léon. 23 December [
O.S. 11 December] 1860. Pugni utilized a suite of traditional Neapolitan airs called Passatempi Musicali for this score, as well as the Chasse aux Hirondelles, all originally written by the composer
Maximilien Graziani.
Les Nymphes et le satyre. Choreography by A. Saint-Léon. 15 September [
O.S. 3 September] 1861.
Expanded editions of his own work for the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, St. Petersburg
Le rêve du peintre (St. Petersburg production of Le Délire d'un peintre). Choreography by J. Perrot. 19 October [
O.S. 31 October] 1848.
La Esmeralda. Choreography by J. Perrot,
Marius Petipa and F. Elssler. 2 January [
O.S. 21 December 1848] 1849.
La Naïade et le pêcheur (St. Petersburg production of Ondine, ou La naïade). Choreography by J. Perrot. 11 February [
O.S. 30 January] 1851.
Le Jugement de Paris. Choreography by J. Perrot. 18 February [
O.S. 6 February] 1851.
Markitenka (St. Petersburg production of La Vivandière). Choreography by J. Perrot after A. Saint-Léon. 25 December [
O.S. 13 December] 1855.
Éoline, ou la Dryade. Choreography by J. Perrot. 16 November [
O.S. 4 November] 1858.
La Danseuse en voyage (St. Petersburg production of La Prima Ballerina, ou L'embuscade). Choreography by Marius Petipa. 16 November [
O.S. 4 November] 1864.
Adaptations of scores by other composers for the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, St. Petersburg
La Femme capricieuse (St. Petersburg production of Le Diable à Quatre). Choreography by J. Perrot after J. Mazilier. Music by Adolphe Adam. 26 November [
O.S. 14 November] 1850.
La Belle flamande (St. Petersburg production of La Jolie Fille du Gand). Choreography by J. Mazilier after Albert Decombe. Music by Adolphe Adam. 5 November [
O.S. 25 October] 1851.
Faust. Choreography by J. Perrot. Music by
Giacomo Panizza. 14 February [
O.S. 2 February] 1854.
La Fille de marbre (St. Petersburg production of Alma). Choreography by J. Perrot. Music by M. Costa, adapted by Pugni. 19 February [
O.S. 7 February] 1856.
Le Corsaire. Choreography by J. Perrot and M. Petipa after J. Mazilier. Music by Adolphe Adam. 24 January [
O.S. 12 January] 1858.
Jovita, ou Les Boucaniers mexicains. Choreography by A. Saint-Léon after J. Mazilier. Music by
Théodore Labarre. 27 September [
O.S. 15 September] 1859.
Saltarello, ou La Dansomanie. Choreography by A. Saint-Léon. Music by Arthur Saint-Léon. 20 October [
O.S. 8 October] 1859.
La Perle de Séville. Choreography by A. Saint-Léon. Music by
Santos Pinto. 5 February [
O.S. 24 January] 1861.
Météora, ou Les Étoiles de Grandville. Choreography by A. Saint-Léon. Music by
Santos Pinto. 7 March [
O.S. 23 February] 1861.
Théolinda l'orpheline (St. Petersburg production of Le Lutin de la vallée) Choreography by A. Saint-Léon. Music by
Eugène Gautier. 18 December [
O.S. 6 December] 1862.
Satanella (St. Petersburg production of Le Diable amoureux). Choreography by M. Petipa after Joseph Mazilier. Music by
Napoléon Henri Reber and
François Benoist. 30 October [
O.S. 18 October] 1866.
La Basilic. Choreography by A. Saint-Léon. Music by
Massimiliano Graziani. 16 February [
O.S. 4 February] 1869.