The Tale of the Stone Flower (Prokofiev)

Ballet by Sergei 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.

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 [ru] (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 [ru] (Danila's brother), Gennadi Lediakh [ru] (one of the good bailiffs), and Yuri Grigoriev [ru] (Danila) and more.^[1]

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

References

^ Israel V. Nestyov, trans. Florence Jones, Prokofiev, 1960

External links

The Tale of the Stone Flower at prokofiev.org

Sergei Prokofiev

List of compositions

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
Trapèze
Le pas d'acier
Prodigal Son
On the Dnieper
Romeo and Juliet
Cinderella
The Tale of the Stone Flower

Symphonies

No. 1 in D major ("Classical")
No. 2 in D minor
No. 3 in C minor
No. 4 in C major
No. 5 in B♭ major
No. 6 in E♭ minor
No. 7 in C♯ minor

Concertos

Piano	No. 1 in D♭ major No. 2 in G minor No. 3 in C major No. 4 in B♭ major (left-hand) No. 5 in G major 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)

Orchestral works

Sinfonietta in A major (orig. & rev.)
Summer Night
Symphonic Song
Russian Overture
The Year 1941
Peter and the Wolf
Pushkin Waltzes
Waltz Suite

Film music

Alexander Nevsky
Ivan the Terrible
Lieutenant Kijé
The Queen of Spades

Vocal music

Alexander Nevsky
Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution
Flourish, Mighty Land
On Guard for Peace
Seven, They Are Seven
Songs of Our Days
Zdravitsa

Chamber music

Overture on Hebrew Themes
Quintet in G minor
Divertissement
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
Sonata for Solo Cello in C♯ minor

Piano music

Sonatas	No. 1 in F minor No. 2 in D minor No. 3 in A minor No. 4 in C minor No. 5 in C major (orig. & rev.) No. 6 in A major No. 7 in B♭ major No. 8 in B♭ major No. 9 in C major No. 10 (unfinished)
Other	Toccata in D minor Sarcasms Visions fugitives Tales of an Old Grandmother 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 Fantasia on Scheherazade (1926)