You can now watch 'El sombrero de tres picos' on YouTube

Until 31 August the Ballet Nacional de España is making available on its Youtube channel one of the most emblematic works in its repertoire, El sombrero de tres picos. Both Manuel de Falla’s score and Antonio Ruiz Soler’s choreography are masterpieces of rhythm stylisation and popular dances. This staging also uses the original designs, reproducing the curtains and the set design that Pablo Picasso made for the London premiere in 1919 of Léonide Massine’s version with Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes.

It is a recording of a BNE performance directed by Antonio Najarro at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid in 2016. The leading roles were performed by Miriam Mendoza (miller’s wife), José Manuel Benítez (miller) and Eduardo Martínez (magistrate). The Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid, conducted by Manuel Coves, played live Falla’s score with mezzo soprano Cristina Faus as guest artist. 

Also available to the public at no cost is the programme Homenaje a Antonia Mercé 'La Argentina', recorded in 1990 with Guillermina Martínez Cabrejas 'Mariemma' as artistic director, on the occasion of the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of her teacher 'La Argentina'. The choreographies, most of which are either original or revised by Mariemma, were performed by leading figures of Spanish dance. This is not a Ballet Nacional de España production, but it is a very good portrayal of the different styles of Spanish dance that the BNE seeks to preserve and spread. It is also available until 31 August on the Ballet Nacional de España YouTube channel.

This initiative is part of the online activities aimed at disseminating Spanish dance that the Ballet Nacional de España organised this summer to make up for the lack of stage performances. In July, the programme on the BNE YouTube channel also includes live streaming of the masterclasses by dancer and choreographers Manuel Reyes (9/07), Belén López (24/07) and Marcos Morau (31/07).

History of ‘El sombrero de tres picos’

Léonide Massine commissioned Manuel de Falla to compose the music of El sombrero de tres picos (The Three-Cornered Hat). The Russian choreographer fell in love with Spanish popular dances and wanted to create a ballet inspired by Spain for Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. In 1917 Manuel de Falla had composed the ballet-pantomime for chamber orchestra El corregidor y la molinera, based on the theatre adaptation by Gregorio Martínez Sierra and María Lejárraga of the novel written by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón in 1874. Falla adapted this score for Massine’s choreographic idea, that had bailaor Félix Fernández as advisor for the premiere in London in 1919. The bailaor was a brilliant flamenco soloist but was unable to adapt to the discipline of a choreographic piece. He spent the rest of his life in a British asylum. In 2004 the Ballet Nacional de España first performed El loco, a choreography by Javier Latorre inspired by his story, with music by Mauricio Sotelo and Juan Manuel Cañizares, and script by Francisco López.

However, Massine’s version was but an idealized stylisation of Spanish dance. It was not until 1958, when Antonio Ruiz Soler created a choreography of the libretto with Falla’s music, that the genuine language of Spanish dance was used. Premiered by Antonio and his Ballet Español at the Festival International de Música y Danza de Granada, El sombrero de tres picos was first performed by the Ballet Nacional de España in 1981, when Antonio became director of this public company. The BNE later staged revivals of Antonio’s version in 1986 and 2004. In 2016, the director of the BNE Antonio Najarro included it in the programme Homenaje a Antonio Ruiz Soler. This is one of the performances that is now available to watch.