La Fille mal gardée
Choreography · Jean Dauberval (1789)
music by Ferdinand Hérold (1828 score), as arranged and expanded by John Lanchbery (1960); no single composer — the original 1789 production used a pastiche of popular airs, and Peter Ludwig Hertel composed a separate score used for most 19th-20th century Russian revivals (Petipa/Ivanov, Gorsky).
Lise, daughter of the widowed farm-owner Simone, is in love with the young farmer Colas, but her mother wants her to marry Alain, the rich but simple-minded son of the vineyard-owner Thomas. Through a day of farm work, a harvest celebration, and a rainstorm, the lovers repeatedly outwit Simone's watchfulness to steal moments together. When Simone locks Lise away to force the match with Alain, Colas is discovered hiding in her room, and the resulting scandal — rather than a punishment — leads Simone to relent and bless Lise and Colas's marriage instead.