Merci d'avoir remis cette version que j'avais du mal à retrouver, vu que les tarés de la grosse commission européenne avaient occulté tout ce qui ressemblait de près ou de loin à la géniale culture russe! Un plaisir de retrouver ce ballet du grand Prokofiev, un grand merci!
I love Grigorovich's choreography, I believe this was his first ballet. Thank you for uploading. I read the story in one of my Russian Fairy tale Books that has wonderful illustrations on lacquer boxes and will have a chance to compare to the costumes here. PS, I did some search and this was recorded in 91 or 92. Polikarpova left Mariinsky in 1992 for Hamburg ballet and Mr. Vilumanis was Mariinsky principal conductor between 1990-1994. In 1990 Polikarpova was just 20 so most likely recorded it shortly before leaving for Hamburg
Thank you for posting this rarity, a major (or at least big) work from Prokofiev's final years. Not sure it compares with the two earlier ballets - at times it feels like a bit of a re-hash of earlier scores without the sparkle: the musical inspiration is fitful (there's nearly two hours of it - even with the cuts in the score) even when it's beautifully appropriate (eg the inescapably Russian 'Khorovod') and it certainly works better as a visual spectacle rather than as purely musically. But anything Prokofiev wrote is of interest (I know there is a suite from the ballet - perhaps more than one, as in the case of R&J and Cinderella, each with its own opus number!) so thank you once again! I'd be interested to know whether the increased simplicity of the work is an attempt to please the authorities, or whether it was the result of a heartfelt simplification in Prokofiev's musical idiom - such as to be found in the 9th Sonata and the 7th Symphony - which is anyway a much more inspired and characteristic work!) - perhaps those with more knowledge of these matters could enlighten me?
@robkeeleycomposer Fair Comment except there is no rehashing! ,These are original melodies and there is more here than in Romeo & Juliet & Cinderella. T he orchestration itself is reminiscent of Cinderella. Of course Prokofiev was responding to criticism and I read an informative book a while back titled ".. Prokoviev : A Soviet Tragedy".... simple but *never* banal
May father is conductor. He studied percussion, choral and opera (pit) orchestra conducting at the Latvian Academy of Music.
He was hired by the Latvian National Opera in 1962 and assumed various duties as orchestra member, prompter, choral director and assistant to conductor.
Aleksandrs Viļumanis got the contract as conductor at the LNO in 1970. His initial opera productions were Rachmaninoff's Aleko" Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, Nikolai's The Merry Wives of Windsor, Rubinstein's The Demon.
From 1972 until 1975 he made a successful internship at Leningrad's Kirov Opera and Ballet Theatre where his conducting duties included Verdi's La Traviata, Il Trovatore, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin and one-act ballets Chopiniana and Glazunov's The Seasons. In 1975, he was appointed the LNO Artistic Director and Chief Conductor. His first productions were Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty and (for the first time in former USSR's history) Verdi's Macbeth. In 1977 he conducted the acclaimed production of Gayane in collaboration with the choreographer and ballet master Boris Eifman and composer Aram Khachaturian. In 1980 the triumphant LNO guest performances at Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre were performed under the baton of Aleksandrs Viļumanis. His repertoire at the LNO in those years also included Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex, Bartok's Duke Bluebeard's Castle, Donizetti's L'Elisir d'amore, Gounod's Faust, Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, Strauss' Salome. Tenure at the LNO until 1987 featured a wide and varied repertoire and a new generation of singers, many of whom now work in opera companies abroad. In 1987 and 1988, he headed the All-Union Cello and Glinka Vocalist Competitions. From 1990 until 1994 Aleksandrs Viļumanis was conductor at St.Petersburg's Maryinsky Opera and Ballet Theatre where he conducted Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, Delibes Coppelia, Borodin's Prince Igor, Verdi's Otello, Aida, La Traviata and Il Trovatore, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, Don Pasquale, Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, Adam's Giselle. With NVC he recorded Prokofiev's The Stone Flower and Delibes's Coppelia, the latter receiving positive reviews from Teldec critics in England. In August 1991 he toured to Italy with Mstislav Rostropovich. He has also performed in guest performances in France with the ballet company and in Italy with orchestra. In 1994, he was re-appointed Chief Conductor and Artistic Director at the LNO holding this post until 1996. He has toured extensively with LNO ballet and opera companies to France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Finland, England, Holland, and Belgium.
@@AleksandrsV33 Wow! Thank you so much for this information. I love how the timpani (I think that's what it is?) is brought out during the round dance in this performance.
No,Sir . May father from 1990 until 1994 was conductor at St.Petersburg's Maryinsky Opera and Ballet Theatre where he conducted Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, Delibes Coppelia, Borodin's Prince Igor, Verdi's Otello, Aida, La Traviata and Il Trovatore, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, Don Pasquale, Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, Adam's Giselle. With NVC he recorded Prokofiev's The Stone Flower and Delibes's Coppelia, the latter receiving positive reviews from Teldec critics in England.
The first time i could see the whole ballet. Terekhova is an impressing queen of the stones and I love the volk- and gipsy dances. Imo the music is not as good danceable as Cinderella or Romeo and Julietta. I will go and look after a russian fairy tale bookin german.
@@BytomGirl, This is definitely before 1990 or very early 1990s. In fact, 1989 is the year where a decline in the Soviet art scene became visible. That’s the year when Soviet Union was officially over. Simply by looking at the precision and coordination of the corps de ballet, the quality of the costumes, the material used, the level of orchestra’s playing, I can tell whether it’s pre 1989 or after. After 2000, once again there was money to spend on lavish productions but some traditions had died out, also it was clear that the Soviet discipline (a left over of the imperial times) that guided rehearsals were no longer there. To this day, compared to the pre-1989 period, everything is clearly underrehearsed, and it shows!
@@johnsarkissian5519 I am not a fan of Soviet dictatorship, the art was suppressed (just read about what Shostakovich went through), there was no freedom of speech or expression, the art had to mimic regime propaganda and millions of people were murdered and imprisoned. Times change and people modernize.. there are still great dancers and teachers who uphold old standards like Nikolai Tsiskaridze and many others, it is rather a matter of public becoming new wave, wanting circus instead of ballet and many choreographers are catering to them but when you look at Tsiskaridze's productions of graduation shows at Vaganova, they are very much adherent to original choreography and many would call them old-fashioned. And I forgot to mention, why do you think so many great dancers left Russia in communist times? Not because they didn't love their country but because they were escaping lack of freedom. So please, don't praise Soviet anything to me, the art wasn't created by the Soviets, it was created by the artists, many lost loved ones because of the dictatorship, Maya Plisetskaya's father was executed, her mother went to jail, Marina Semyonova lost her husband the same way, Ulanova and Semyonova in spite of resistance had to leave their beloved St. Petersburg and go to Bolshoi because Stalin ordered it, Shostakovich nearly lost his life and would have been arrested if the guy who was supposed to question him wasn't arrested himself.
@@johnsarkissian5519 And no, it's not before 1990, 1990 is the earliest it could be recorded, somewhere between 1990-1992 as Polikarpova was soloist until 1992 before leaving for Hamburg Ballet and Mr. Vilumanis was principal conductor between 1990-1994 so it had to be recorded sometime between 1990-1992 and most likely 91-92 as Polikarpova was just 20 in 1990. So we are not even talking here about pre-1989 period, sorry.
@@BytomGirl, You somewhat misunderstood me. I’m not praising the Soviet Union. What I’m saying that with the collapse of the Soviet Union money became rather scarce for the arts and productions suffered. At the same time, the same also happened in the West because without a Soviet Union, the West also felt free to dive into a much less restricted market economy, cutting government funding for the arts. The first thing that goes is rehearsal time and it shows. And generally, discipline is gone everywhere in the world.
Generally, I like Gregorovich’s choreographies but I do not like the kind of liberties he takes with the music scores he works with. His use of extraneous pieces of music added from other sources whether they are suitable stylistically or not, and at the same time all sorts of cuts that interfere with the compositional logic of the peace. He has done this with most scores he has choreographed. Numerous instances in Snow Flower alone. He has done it with Khachaturian’s Spartacus, with Tchaikovsky and everything else he has touched. These ballets are not some faceless music written by utilitarian composers such as Minkus or Drigo in the 19th century where the composers themselves didn’t care what was done to their music. These are great compositions, composed by some of the greatest composers and cannot be edited by the whims of a choreographer, no matter how talented.
Никакой " отмены русской культуры " нет и в помине. Не верьте. В Европейских театрах прекрасно продолжают ставить русские оперы, а уж без Щелкунчика куда?...
Merci d'avoir remis cette version que j'avais du mal à retrouver, vu que les tarés de la grosse commission européenne avaient occulté tout ce qui ressemblait de près ou de loin à la géniale culture russe! Un plaisir de retrouver ce ballet du grand Prokofiev, un grand merci!
I saw this many, many years ago when it was first televised. I never thought I'd see it again. Very rare find.
Красивейший балет. По теме, образности, поэтичности, визуальности, сказочности.
А массовые сцены - как с палехской шкатулки!
Anyone here 2021 to celebrate this underrated work of art?
Just saw a short, low resolution piece (~4 minutes) excerpt on KCET PBS SoCal TV Los Angeles, CLASSIC ARTS SHOWCASE... Exquisite.
Yes, and I am so glad I came. Love this ballet.
just listened to the magnificent recording on Meloydiya records USSR '78
Балет давно признан ( самый первый известный балет Юрия Григоровича, поставлен в 1957 году).
Remembering a remembered glory …. how strong Russian must have felt when this was written. Brilliant!
A work containing a wealth of melody and invention, which is sadly unknown to many.
Loved the dancing! loved the elegant way she picked up that object on stage , threw it away and worked it into the choreography too
Primera vez q lo veo. Había visto fotos solo. Interesante. Distinto. Gracias❤
I love Grigorovich's choreography, I believe this was his first ballet. Thank you for uploading. I read the story in one of my Russian Fairy tale Books that has wonderful illustrations on lacquer boxes and will have a chance to compare to the costumes here. PS, I did some search and this was recorded in 91 or 92. Polikarpova left Mariinsky in 1992 for Hamburg ballet and Mr. Vilumanis was Mariinsky principal conductor between 1990-1994. In 1990 Polikarpova was just 20 so most likely recorded it shortly before leaving for Hamburg
The year the Soviet Union fell, right? I wonder if Polikarpova was really left wing.
Gracias
Thank you for posting this rarity, a major (or at least big) work from Prokofiev's final years. Not sure it compares with the two earlier ballets - at times it feels like a bit of a re-hash of earlier scores without the sparkle: the musical inspiration is fitful (there's nearly two hours of it - even with the cuts in the score) even when it's beautifully appropriate (eg the inescapably Russian 'Khorovod') and it certainly works better as a visual spectacle rather than as purely musically. But anything Prokofiev wrote is of interest (I know there is a suite from the ballet - perhaps more than one, as in the case of R&J and Cinderella, each with its own opus number!) so thank you once again!
I'd be interested to know whether the increased simplicity of the work is an attempt to please the authorities, or whether it was the result of a heartfelt simplification in Prokofiev's musical idiom - such as to be found in the 9th Sonata and the 7th Symphony - which is anyway a much more inspired and characteristic work!) - perhaps those with more knowledge of these matters could enlighten me?
@robkeeleycomposer Fair Comment except there is no rehashing! ,These are original melodies and there is more here than in Romeo & Juliet & Cinderella. T he orchestration itself is reminiscent of Cinderella. Of course Prokofiev was responding to criticism and I read an informative book a while back titled ".. Prokoviev : A Soviet Tragedy".... simple but *never* banal
Buravo from Tokyo
Thank you for this video ! At 1:24:07, is'nt a part of Prokofiev's 7th symphony ?
Quite right! second movement.
Thanks so much for posting! Are you the conductor?
May father is conductor. He studied percussion, choral and opera (pit) orchestra conducting at the Latvian Academy of Music.
He was hired by the Latvian National Opera in 1962 and assumed various duties as orchestra member, prompter, choral director and assistant to conductor.
Aleksandrs Viļumanis got the contract as conductor at the LNO in 1970. His initial opera productions were Rachmaninoff's Aleko" Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, Nikolai's The Merry Wives of Windsor, Rubinstein's The Demon.
From 1972 until 1975 he made a successful internship at Leningrad's Kirov Opera and Ballet Theatre where his conducting duties included Verdi's La Traviata, Il Trovatore, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin and one-act ballets Chopiniana and Glazunov's The Seasons.
In 1975, he was appointed the LNO Artistic Director and Chief Conductor. His first productions were Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty and (for the first time in former USSR's history) Verdi's Macbeth. In 1977 he conducted the acclaimed production of Gayane in collaboration with the choreographer and ballet master Boris Eifman and composer Aram Khachaturian.
In 1980 the triumphant LNO guest performances at Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre were performed under the baton of Aleksandrs Viļumanis. His repertoire at the LNO in those years also included Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex, Bartok's Duke Bluebeard's Castle, Donizetti's L'Elisir d'amore, Gounod's Faust, Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, Strauss' Salome.
Tenure at the LNO until 1987 featured a wide and varied repertoire and a new generation of singers, many of whom now work in opera companies abroad. In 1987 and 1988, he headed the All-Union Cello and Glinka Vocalist Competitions.
From 1990 until 1994 Aleksandrs Viļumanis was conductor at St.Petersburg's Maryinsky Opera and Ballet Theatre where he conducted Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, Delibes Coppelia, Borodin's Prince Igor, Verdi's Otello, Aida, La Traviata and Il Trovatore, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, Don Pasquale, Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, Adam's Giselle.
With NVC he recorded Prokofiev's The Stone Flower and Delibes's Coppelia, the latter receiving positive reviews from Teldec critics in England.
In August 1991 he toured to Italy with Mstislav Rostropovich. He has also performed in guest performances in France with the ballet company and in Italy with orchestra.
In 1994, he was re-appointed Chief Conductor and Artistic Director at the LNO holding this post until 1996. He has toured extensively with LNO ballet and opera companies to France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Finland, England, Holland, and Belgium.
@@AleksandrsV33 Wow! Thank you so much for this information. I love how the timpani (I think that's what it is?) is brought out during the round dance in this performance.
You were the antecessor of Valery Gergiev as Conductor of the Mariinsky Orchestra?
No,Sir . May father from 1990 until 1994 was conductor at St.Petersburg's Maryinsky Opera and Ballet Theatre where he conducted Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, Delibes Coppelia, Borodin's Prince Igor, Verdi's Otello, Aida, La Traviata and Il Trovatore, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, Don Pasquale, Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, Adam's Giselle.
With NVC he recorded Prokofiev's The Stone Flower and Delibes's Coppelia, the latter receiving positive reviews from Teldec critics in England.
Thanks for your answer :)
The first time i could see the whole ballet. Terekhova is an impressing queen of the stones and I love the volk- and gipsy dances. Imo the music is not as good danceable as Cinderella or Romeo and Julietta. I will go and look after a russian fairy tale bookin german.
I think the protagonist is Xander Parish
At that time he wasn't born yet or was a baby
alexander gulyaev parrish was barely a baby or not jet born
What is the year of the production?
@@BytomGirl, This is definitely before 1990 or very early 1990s. In fact, 1989 is the year where a decline in the Soviet art scene became visible. That’s the year when Soviet Union was officially over. Simply by looking at the precision and coordination of the corps de ballet, the quality of the costumes, the material used, the level of orchestra’s playing, I can tell whether it’s pre 1989 or after. After 2000, once again there was money to spend on lavish productions but some traditions had died out, also it was clear that the Soviet discipline (a left over of the imperial times) that guided rehearsals were no longer there. To this day, compared to the pre-1989 period, everything is clearly underrehearsed, and it shows!
@@johnsarkissian5519 I am not a fan of Soviet dictatorship, the art was suppressed (just read about what Shostakovich went through), there was no freedom of speech or expression, the art had to mimic regime propaganda and millions of people were murdered and imprisoned. Times change and people modernize.. there are still great dancers and teachers who uphold old standards like Nikolai Tsiskaridze and many others, it is rather a matter of public becoming new wave, wanting circus instead of ballet and many choreographers are catering to them but when you look at Tsiskaridze's productions of graduation shows at Vaganova, they are very much adherent to original choreography and many would call them old-fashioned. And I forgot to mention, why do you think so many great dancers left Russia in communist times? Not because they didn't love their country but because they were escaping lack of freedom. So please, don't praise Soviet anything to me, the art wasn't created by the Soviets, it was created by the artists, many lost loved ones because of the dictatorship, Maya Plisetskaya's father was executed, her mother went to jail, Marina Semyonova lost her husband the same way, Ulanova and Semyonova in spite of resistance had to leave their beloved St. Petersburg and go to Bolshoi because Stalin ordered it, Shostakovich nearly lost his life and would have been arrested if the guy who was supposed to question him wasn't arrested himself.
@@johnsarkissian5519 And no, it's not before 1990, 1990 is the earliest it could be recorded, somewhere between 1990-1992 as Polikarpova was soloist until 1992 before leaving for Hamburg Ballet and Mr. Vilumanis was principal conductor between 1990-1994 so it had to be recorded sometime between 1990-1992 and most likely 91-92 as Polikarpova was just 20 in 1990. So we are not even talking here about pre-1989 period, sorry.
@@BytomGirl, Then as I said, it’s early 1990s.
@@BytomGirl, You somewhat misunderstood me. I’m not praising the Soviet Union. What I’m saying that with the collapse of the Soviet Union money became rather scarce for the arts and productions suffered. At the same time, the same also happened in the West because without a Soviet Union, the West also felt free to dive into a much less restricted market economy, cutting government funding for the arts. The first thing that goes is rehearsal time and it shows. And generally, discipline is gone everywhere in the world.
Generally, I like Gregorovich’s choreographies but I do not like the kind of liberties he takes with the music scores he works with. His use of extraneous pieces of music added from other sources whether they are suitable stylistically or not, and at the same time all sorts of cuts that interfere with the compositional logic of the peace. He has done this with most scores he has choreographed. Numerous instances in Snow Flower alone. He has done it with Khachaturian’s Spartacus, with Tchaikovsky and everything else he has touched. These ballets are not some faceless music written by utilitarian composers such as Minkus or Drigo in the 19th century where the composers themselves didn’t care what was done to their music. These are great compositions, composed by some of the greatest composers and cannot be edited by the whims of a choreographer, no matter how talented.
1:12:28 reminder for when i stopped watching
Никакой " отмены русской культуры " нет и в помине. Не верьте. В Европейских театрах прекрасно продолжают ставить русские оперы, а уж без Щелкунчика куда?...