About the work
La Flûte magique is a one-act comic ballet that Lev Ivanov choreographed for students of the Imperial Theatre School in St Petersburg, to music by Riccardo Drigo. It premiered at the school's theatre on 4 February 1893, with thirteen-year-old Mikhail Fokine as Luc; by April of the same year the Mariinsky Theatre had taken the ballet into its repertoire with Pavel Gerdt and Anna Johansson in the leading roles.
Plot
The peasant girl Lise loves the poor but proud Luc, but her calculating parents want her to marry the wealthy, elderly Marquis instead. A magic flute that forces anyone who hears it to dance throws the wedding party into confusion and, in the end, helps the two young lovers come together.
Cultural significance
Despite sharing its title with Mozart's opera, the ballet has no connection to it; it belongs to the tradition of comic peasant ballets such as La Fille mal gardée and also marked one of the first major stage roles of the future choreographer Mikhail Fokine.