After the extraordinary success of the Italian Prima BallerinaVirginia Zucchi's performances in La Esmeralda in St Petersburg, Petipa went on to produce some of the finest ballets in his repertoire for Italian ballerinas. One of these great ballets was The Vestal, which was created for the benefit performance of Elena Cornalba. The ballet was a phenomenal success and among ballet historians, it is considered the predecessor of The Sleeping Beauty. Many critics who saw the première commented unanimously that the work was the epitome of the Ballet à Grand Spectacle. Set in Ancient Rome, the ballet was built on fantastical themes, complete with gods and goddesses, Emperors, and the like. The sets, costumes, and props were considered the best yet seen on the Imperial stage. Mikhail Ivanov's music proved to be the first successful score for the ballet that was provided by a symphonic composer.[1]
Although the ballet was not notated and is not performed today, at least two variations from the ballet's score are used in different pieces. One variation is that entitled L'Armour, which was composed and added to the score by Riccardo Drigo as a variation for Cupid, the God of Love. This variation was performed with great acclaim by the ballerina, Maria Anderson and appears in the Bolshoi Ballet's staging of the Paquita Grand Pas Classique, staged by Russian choreographer, Yuri Burlaka. Burlaka also utilised another supplemental variation by Drigo for his Awakening of Flora Pas de quatre; this variation is entitled L'Echo and was composed and added to the score by Drigo for Elena Cornalba.
