The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, 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.
- 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
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.
12 February 1954, Bolshoi Theater, Moscow, conducted by Yuri Fayer. Choreography by Yuri Grigorovich. Dancers included (one of the title roles), Raisa Struchkova (Yekaterina), Galina Ulanova (Yekaterina's sister), Aleksey Yermolayev (Severyan), Maya Plisetskaya (Icy Rusalka of the Copper Mountain), (Danila's brother), (one of the good bailiffs), and (Danila) and more.[1]
| 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 |
As usual, Prokofiev extracted music from the ballet for concert performance.
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 | |
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 | |
There are no available recordings.
Available recordings: