text: who wrote swan lake?   swan lake (russian: лебединое озеро) is one of the most famous and critically-acclaimed ballets, with music by tchaikovsky.  the original ballet was first performed at the bolshoi theatre in moscow, russia on february 20, 1877 and remained in the repertoire until 1883. after tchaikovsky's death, the ballet was revised by his brother modest and the conductor riccardo drigo. this revised version received its premiere at the mariinsky theatre in saint petersburg on january 15, 1895 with choreography by marius petipa and lev ivanov, and many later stagings have followed their work more or less closely.  a single dancer dances the twin roles of odette and odile, which is one of the most taxing of all roles because it requires acting two entirely contrasting characters, as well as the strenuous showpiece dancing itself, including thirty-two fouettés. this feat was put into the choreography because it was a party piece of pierina legnani, first prima ballerina assoluta of the maryinsky ballet. pavel gerdt played prince siegfried.  the ballet's premiere in st. petersburg was very poorly received. it had lackluster costumes and scenery, unusual choreography, and a mediocre orchestra. it also departed from the traditional russian format of ballet, which used a story with just enough plot to sustain the virtuoso dancing; tchaikovsky's ballet, on the other hand, included a well-unified storyline which lost much of the audience. a later revival in the year after tchaikovsky's death was acclaimed as a masterpiece, however, having used phenomenal talent in all aspects.