Q 01/05

What is Prince Siegfried celebrating with his tutor, friends and the peasants as Act 1 opens?

A) His birthday

B) His wedding

C) His coronation

D) His return from war

Answer · why

A) His birthday

The 1877 libretto calls it his coming of age; the party ends with the sighting of a flock of swans.

Q 02/05

In the story, Odette is a princess turned into a swan by whom?

A) A jealous fairy queen

B) Her own wish to escape marriage

C) A witch hired by her stepmother

D) An evil sorcerer's curse

Answer · why

D) An evil sorcerer's curse

The 1994 animated film The Swan Princess borrowed exactly the same plot.

Q 03/05

Where and when did Swan Lake receive its world premiere?

A) Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg, 1877

B) Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, 1877

C) Paris Opéra, 1877

D) La Scala, Milan, 1877

Answer · why

B) Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, 1877

The original choreographer was Julius Reisinger, and critics found his work "unimaginative and altogether unmemorable".

Q 04/05

The 1895 Petipa–Ivanov revival on which most modern productions are based was first staged where?

A) The Mariinsky, St Petersburg

B) The Bolshoi, Moscow

C) The Alexandrinsky, St Petersburg

D) The Hermitage, St Petersburg

Answer · why

A) The Mariinsky, St Petersburg

Petipa staged acts 1 and 3 and Ivanov the lakeside acts 2 and 4 for the Imperial Ballet in St Petersburg.

Q 05/05

Which conductor and composer revised Tchaikovsky's score for the 1895 revival?

A) Ludwig Minkus

B) Cesare Pugni

C) Riccardo Drigo

D) Léo Delibes

Answer · why

C) Riccardo Drigo

Tchaikovsky had died in November 1893, just as plans for the revival were coming together.