Birthday Offering (1956)

Pièce d'occasion in one scene

Abbreviations:
M Music by
S Scenery by
C Costumes by
D Danced by
FP First performance
NP New production
R Reproduced by
ST Staging (indicates that the ballet was produced in substantially its original form)

M Alexander Glazunov, arranged by Robert Irving
(1 Overture, L'Eté from The Seasons, ballet, opus 67
2 Valse de concert No 1, opus 47
3 Grand adagio from Scènes de ballet, opus 52, and Coda from Ruses d'amour, ballet, opus 61
4 1st variation, Marionettes from Scènes de ballet
5 2nd variation, La Givre from The Seasons
6 3rd variation, La Glace from The Seasons
7 4th variation, La Grêle from The Seasons
8 5th variation, La Neige from The Seasons
9 6th variation, L'Eté from The Seasons
10 7th variation, from Ruses d'amour
11 Mazurka, opus 25 No 2, orchestrated by Robert Irving
12 Pas de deux, Grand pas des fiancées from Ruses d'amour
13 Finale, Valse de concert No 1, reprise)
C André Levasseur

D Margot Fonteyn, Beryl Grey, Violetta Elvin, Nadia Nerina, Rowena Jackson, Svetlana Beriosova, Elaine Fifield, Michael Somes, Alexander Grant, Brian Shaw, Philip Chatfield, David Blair, Desmond Doyle, Bryan Ashbridge
FP Sadler's Wells Ballet, Royal Opera House, London, 5 May 1956

NP Royal Ballet; with new solo for David Blair M Variation III from Grand pas d'action, Raymonda Act II, ballet, opus 57
D Margot Fonteyn, Svetlana Beriosova, Georgina Parkinson, Antoinette Sibley, Merle Park, Lynn Seymour, Maryon Lane, David Blair
FP Royal Opera House, London, 24 March 1965

NP Royal Ballet; with new solo for Rudolf Nureyev M Entrée des jongleurs from Raymonda Act II
D Margot Fonteyn, Antoinette Sibley, Georgina Parkinson, Monica Mason, Merle Park, Ria Peri, Jennifer Penney, Rudolf Nureyev
FP Royal Opera House, London, 29 March 1968

ST Ballet for All; Entrée, Variations, and Finale only
FP Spa Pavilion, Felixstowe, 13 October 1972

ST Royal Ballet School
FP Royal Opera House, London, 7 July 1978

NP Birmingham Royal Ballet; SC Peter Farmer
D Jennifer Gelfand, Sergiu Pobereznic
FP Hippodrome, Birmingham, 27 September 1995

NP Royal Ballet School: R Gailene Stock, Gary Norman, Jacqueline Barrett, Anthony Dowell, Anya Sainsbury; C Anthony Dowell after André Levasseur
D Adeline Kaiser/Annie Carroll, Yasuo Atsuji/Pietro Zambello, Claire Calvert, Jacqueline Clark, Quenby Hersh, Angela Kenny, Moe Nieda, Callie Roberts, Charles Andersen, Paulo Arrais, Yannick Bittencourt, Jade Hale-Christofi, John Marsom, Valentino Zuchetti
FP International Ballet Academy Festival, Kennedy Center, Washington DC, 26 January 2006

By other companies:

ST Margot Fonteyn World Tour; abridged version
D Margot Fonteyn, Annette Page, Shirley Grahame, Pamela Moncur, Royes Fernandez, Ronald Hynd, Alexander Grant, Laurence Ruffell
FP Herod Atticus Theatre, Athens, 10 August 1963

ST Festival of Ballet Stars
FP Sydney, Australia, 26 June 1978

NP Palm Beach Festival; pas de deux version, under the title A Birthday Offering (Entrée, variations, adagio)
D Antoinette Sibley, Anthony Dowell
FP West Palm Beach Auditorium, Palm Beach FL, 23 March 1983

NP Australian Ballet; R Alexander Grant and Faith Worth; SC Kenneth Rowell
D Christine Walsh, Fiona Tonkin, Miranda Coney, Elizabeth Toohey, Justine Miles, Ulrike Lytton, Lisa Pavane, David Ashmole, Steven Heathcote, Adam Marchant, David McAllister. Robert Marshall, Ray Wilson, Ricardo Ella
FP Canberra Theatre, Canberra, 8 June 1989

ST American Ballet Theatre; R Faith Worth and Margot Fonteyn
D Susan Jaffe, Cheryl Yeager, Amanda McKerrow, Julie Kent, Leslie Browne, Alessandra Ferri, Christine Dunham, Ross Stretton, John Gardner, Guillaume Graffin, Ethan Brown, Loren Schmalle, Wes Chapman, Jeremy Collins
FP Jesse H Jones Hall, Houston TX, 25 October 1989