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 The Stone Flower 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.

Vladimir Preobrazhensky in a scene from the ballet (1954)

Numbers

Prologue

1 The Mistress of the Copper Mountain

2 Danila and his work

Act I

Scene 1

3 Danila in search of the flower

4 Danila meets some fellow villagers

5 Scene and Duet of Katerina and Danila

6 Interlude

Scene 2

7 Round Dance

8 Katerina dances with her friends

9 The Peasant Girls' Dance

10 Danila's and Katerina's Dance

11 The unmarried men's dance

12 Severyan's Dance

13 Altercation over the malachite vase

14 Scene of Katerina and Danila

15 Danila's Meditation

Scene 3

16 Danila enticed away by the Mistress of the Copper Mountain

Act II

Scene 4

17 The Mistress shows Danila the treasures of the earth

18 Duet of the Mistress and Danila

19 Scene and Waltz of the Diamonds

20 Dance of the Russian precious stones

21 Waltz

22 Danila's Monologue and the Mistress' Reply

23 The Mistress shows Danila the stone flower

24 Severyan and the Workers; The Mistress' Warning

Scene 5

25 Scene and Katerina's Dance

26 Severyan's Arrival

27 "Where are you, sweet Danila?"

28 The Appearance of the Mistress; Katerina's Joy

Scene 6

29 Ural Rhapsody

30 Interlude

31 Russian Dance

Scene 7

32 Gypsy Dance

33 Severyan's Dance

34 Solo of the Gypsy Girl and Coda

35 Katerina's Appearance and Severyan's Rage

36 The Appearance of the Mistress and Scene of Severyan transfixed to the earth

37 Severyan follows the Mistress

38 Severyan dies

Scene 8

39 Katerina sits by the fire and yearns for Danila

40 Scene and Dance of Katerina and the skipping of the Fire Spirits

41 Katerina follows the Fire Spirits

42 Dialogue of Katerina and the Mistress

43 Danila turned to stone

44 The Joy of the reuniting of Katerina and Danila

45 The Mistress presents gifts to Katerina and Danila

46 Epilogue

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

12 February 1954, Bolshoi Theater, Moscow, conducted by Yuri Fayer. Choreography by Yuri Grigorovich. Dancers included Marina Kondratieva (one of the title roles), Raisa 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.

Recordings

Orchestra	Conductor	Record Company	Year of Recording	Format
Radio Philharmonie Hannover des NDR	Michail Jurowski	CPO	1995/7	CD
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra	Gianandrea Noseda	Chandos Records	2003	CD
Bolshoi Theater Orchestra	Gennady Rozhdestvensky	Melodiya	1968	CD/LP

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:

Orchestra	Conductor	Record Company	Year of Recording	Format
Royal Scottish National Orchestra	Neeme Järvi	Chandos Records	1989	CD
Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra	Arnold Katz	Russian Season	1997	CD
Lahti Symphony Orchestra	Dima Slobodeniouk	BIS	2020	CD
USSR Radio/TV Large Symphony Orchestra	Gennady Rozhdestvensky	Melodiya		LP

Gypsy Fantasy, Op. 127 (1951)

Available recordings:

Orchestra	Conductor	Record Company	Year of Recording	Format
Lahti Symphony Orchestra	Dima Slobodeniouk	BIS	2020	CD
Moscow Radio/TV Symphony Orchestra	Gennady Rozhdestvensky	Melodiya		LP

Urals Rhapsody, Op. 128 (1951)

There are no available recordings.

The Mistress of the Copper Mountain, Op. 129

Available recordings:

Orchestra	Conductor	Record Company	Year of Recording	Format
Lahti Symphony Orchestra	Dima Slobodeniouk	BIS	2020	CD

See also

• List of ballets by title

External links

• The Tale of the Stone Flower at prokofiev.org