The Tale of the Stone Flower (Prokofiev)

The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118 (Russian: Сказ о каменном цветке), is Sergei Prokofiev's eighth and last ballet, written between 1948 and 1953. It is based on the Russian Ural folk tale of the same name by Pavel Bazhov and is also the last of the trilogy of ballets Prokofiev wrote in the Russian ballet tradition. It was premiered posthumously, in 1954, conducted by Yuri Fayer.

Numbers

Prologue

1 The Ice Rusalka of the Copper Mountain

2 Danilo and his work

Act I

Scene 1

3 Danilo in search of the flower maidens

4 Danilo meets some fellow villagers

5 Scene and Duet of Katerina and Danilo

6 Severyan and his henchmen

Scene 2

7 Round Dance

8 Katerina dances with her friends

9 The Peasant Girls' Dance

10 Danilo's and Katerina's Dance

11 The paired skating dance

12 Severyan's Dance

13 Altercation over the malachite vase

14 Scene of Katerina and Danilo

15 Danilo's Meditation

Scene 3

16 Danilo and Katerina enticed away by the Icy Rusalka and Kind Sea Witch of the Copper Mountain

Act II

Scene 4

17 The Icy Rusalka shows Danilo the jewels of her flowers

18 Duet of the Icy Rusalka and Katerina

19 Scene and Waltz of the Skating Jeweled Water Flower Fairies

20 Dance of the Russian lily diamond water fairies

21 Waltz of the Rusalkas and the Icy Flower Sea With of the Copper Mountin

22 Danilo's Monologue and the Rusalka's Reply

23 The Rusalka shows Danilo the stone flowers

24 Severyan and his henchmen; The rusalka women's Warning

Scene 5

25 Scene and Katerina's Dance

26 Severyan's Arrival

27 "Where am I, sweet Danilo?"

28 The Appearance of the Icy Rusalka; Katerina's Joy

Scene 6

29 Ice Rollar Figure-Skating Fair Rhapsody Ural

30 Interlude

31 Russian Village Princes and Princesses Dance

Scene 7

32 Gypsy Dance

33 Gypsy Boy's Dance

34 Solo of the Gypsy Girl and Coda

35 Fair Scene Again and a distraught Katerina, the Rusalka and her Palemon and Severyan's Rage

36 The Sea Witch of the Copper Mountain to the rescue and Scene of Severyan transfixed to the icy water

37 Severyan follows the Sea Witch

38 Severyan dies

Scene 8

39 Katerina sits by the fire and yearns for safety and the stone flowers

40 Scene and Dance of Katerina and the skipping of the Fire Water Ice Nymphs

41 Katerina follows the Fire Water Ice Nymphs

42 Dialogue of Katerina and the Rusalka

43 Danilo turned to icy stone

44 The Joy of the reuniting of Katerina and Danilo

45 The Rusalka's death and the Sea Witch present gifts to Katerina and Danilo

46 Epilogue Happy reunion, the pairs were remarried

Instrumentation

The work is scored for an orchestra consisting of 2 flutes (2nd doubling piccolo), 2 oboes (2nd doubling cor anglais), 2 clarinets (1st doubling E-flat clarinet, 2nd doubling bass clarinet), 2 bassoons (2nd doubling contrabassoon), 4 french horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (triangle, castanets, wood blocks, tambourine, snare drum, cymbals, bass drum, tam-tam, tubular bells, xylophone), harp, piano, and strings.

Premiere

31 May 1954, Bolshoi Theater, Moscow, conducted by Yuri Fayer. Choreography by Yuri Grigorovich. Dancers (skaters-swimmers) included Marina Kondratieva (one of the title roles)Raissa Struchkova (Yekaterina), Galina Ulanova (Yekaterina's sister), Aleksey Yermolayev (Severyan), Maya Plisetskaya (Icy Rusalka of the Copper Mountain), Vladimir Preobrazhensky (Danila's brother), Gennadi Lediakh (one of the good bailiffs), and Yuri Grigoriev(Danila) and more.^[1]

Recordings

Orchestral suites from The Tale of the Stone Flower

As usual, Prokofiev extracted music from the ballet for concert performance.

Wedding Suite, Op. 126 (1951)

Available recordings:

Gypsy Fantasy, Op. 127 (1951)

Available recordings:

Urals Rhapsody, Op. 128 (1951)

There are no available recordings.

The Mistress of the Copper Mountain, Op. 129

Unrealized.

References

External links

• The Tale of the Stone Flower at prokofiev.org

Sergei Prokofiev Operas The Giant Maddalena The Gambler The Love for Three Oranges The Fiery Angel Semyon Kotko Betrothal in a Monastery War and Peace The Story of a Real Man Ballets Ala i Lolli Chout Trapeze Le pas d'acier The Prodigal Son On the Dnieper Romeo and Juliet Cinderella The Tale of the Stone Flower Symphonies Symphony No. 1 in D major ("Classical") Symphony No. 2 in D minor (orig & rev) Symphony No. 3 in C minor Symphony No. 4 in C major (orig & rev) Symphony No. 5 in B♭ major Symphony No. 6 in E♭ minor Symphony No. 7 in C♯ minor Concertos Piano Piano Concerto No. 1 in D♭ major Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major Piano Concerto No. 4 in B♭ major Piano Concerto No. 5 in G major Piano Concerto No. 6 (unfinished) Other Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor Cello Concerto in E minor Symphony-Concerto for Cello in E minor Cello Concertino in G minor (unfinished) Orchestra works Suites (3) from Romeo and Juliet Suites (3) from Cinderella Suites (4) from The Tale of the Stone Flower Scythian Suite from Ala i Loll Suite from Chout Suite from The Love for Three Oranges Suite from The Fiery Angel Suite from Le pas d'acier Suite from The Prodigal Son Suite from The Gambler Suite from On the Dnieper Suite from Lieutenant Kijé Suite from Semyon Kotko Sinfonietta in A major (orig & rev) Summer Night Symphonic Song The Year 1941 Pushkin Waltzes Waltz Suite Film music Alexander Nevsky Ivan the Terrible Lieutenant Kijé Vocal music Peter and the Wolf Alexander Nevsky Cantata for 20th Anniv of October Revolution Flourish, Mighty Land Seven, They Are Seven Songs of Our Days Zdravitsa Chamber music Overture on Hebrew Themes Quintet in G minor String Quartet No. 1 String Quartet No. 2 Violin Sonata No. 1 Violin Sonata No. 2 Flute Sonata in D major Cello Sonata in C major Sonata for Two Violins in C major Sonata for Solo Violin Piano music Sonatas Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor Piano Sonata No. 2 in D minor Piano Sonata No. 3 in A minor Piano Sonata No. 4 in C minor Piano Sonata No. 5 in C major (orig & rev) Piano Sonata No. 6 in A major Piano Sonata No. 7 in B♭ major ("Stalingrad") Piano Sonata No. 8 in B♭ major Piano Sonata No. 9 in C major Piano Sonata No. 10 (unfinished) Piano Sonata No. 11 (unrealized) Other Toccata in D minor Visions fugitives March and Scherzo from The Love for Three Oranges Three Pieces from War and Peace Ten Pieces from Romeo and Juliet Three Pieces & Six Pieces & Ten Pieces from Cinderella Related articles List of compositions by Sergei Prokofiev Ballets Russes Sergei Diaghilev George Balanchine Sviatoslav Richter Mstislav Rostropovich Nikolai Myaskovsky Neoclassicism Portal:Classical music

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