The Tale of the Stone Flower (Prokofiev)

The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118 (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 (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.

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
Available recordings: