Tsar Kandavl or Le Roi Candaule

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Le Roi Candaule (King Candaules) is a grand ballet in four acts and six scenes. It was choreographed by Marius Petipa, with music by Cesare Pugni and a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges. The story, drawn from Herodotus, tells of King Candaules of Lydia and the dangers of hubris. The work premiered on 29 October 1868 at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in St. Petersburg and was a great success, with the dancer Henriette d’Or in the role of Queen Nisia. It soon moved to Moscow and continued to be performed with acclaim. Petipa revived it in 1891 with additional music by Riccardo Drigo, and again in 1903. Le Roi Candaule was written in the Stepanov notation and is part of the Sergeyev Collection at the Harvard University Theatre Library.

Plot in brief

- Act I: In Lydia, King Candaules grows proud and asks the oracle Pythia to reveal the future. Pythia hints that a rightful king once hidden away will reclaim the throne. A young man named Gyges learns he has a destined role in the coming events.

- Act II: A grand camp scene on the Lydia–Libya border. A triumphal procession celebrates the king and his queen, Nisia. The people honor Nisia as a goddess, but the gods warn that pride invites punishment.

- Act III: In the Queen’s bathing place, priests demand that Nisia renounce her title to appease the gods. She agrees under pressure, and ominous signs continue to appear.

- Act IV: In the king’s bedchamber, Nisia contemplates revenge. The oracle Pythia presents a poisoned cup and hints at Gyges’s fate. Candaules dies, Gyges becomes king, and Nisia’s scheming leads to tragedy. In the wedding celebration that follows, a ghostly omen and a divine vision mark Nisia’s downfall, and Venus appears in the heavens as a final warning.

Notes and later influence

- In 1935, Agrippina Vaganova added a divertissement from Le Roi Candaule to La Esmeralda, called Pas de Diane (renamed Diane et Actéon Pas de deux). This version, performed by Diana and Actaeon, became a famous specialty for dancers such as Galina Ulanova and Vakhtang Chabukiani.

- The ballet’s mythic content contains some traditional but inaccurate elements (for example, the idea that Endymion is Diana’s lover). In myth, Diana’s well-known love is Orion, and Endymion is associated with Luna.