Watch The Stone Flower Here:
to tell the tale of the young stonemason Danila, who must choose between his village sweetheart Katerina
and a magical temptress. It is based on several fairy tales from the Urals collected by Pavel Bazhov
and set in the middle of the 19th century.
At the time, Sergei Prokofiev was working within the Soviet Realism doctrine imposed on many Russian artists,
and had to conform to the musical demands of the state within the story and content of his new ballet.
Despite Prokofiev’s resignation after a hard struggle with this political situation,
he had not lost his orchestral brilliance, and the music of this,
his last ballet is full of catchy tunes and a feeling of joyousness,
on par with such scores as Peter and the Wolf and the Symphony No. 7.
The premiere took place in Moscow four years after Prokofiev's death.
At first it was not a great success, however three years later and with new choreography by Yuri Grigorovich,
Prokofiev’s Stone Flower finally bloomed gloriously. The young choreographer simplified the story
and focussed on the art of the dance, and this ballet became his first major success.
The present version retains this choreography from 1957 which has become the standard for Russian ballet companies.
Featured dancers:
Nikolai Dorokhov, Lyudmilla Semenyaka, Nina Semizorova, Yuri Vetrov
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