Ballet "Cinderella": content, video, interesting facts, history

S. Prokofiev ballet "Cinderella"

Such a famous fairy tale constantly attracted many composers, and based on it, operas and ballets were written in different countries. Perhaps the matter is in an extraordinary subtle plot, in which invariably good triumphs over evil. Ballet was written in a difficult time for the country - in the period from 1940 to 1944. Having started work on the performance, Prokofiev was forced to stop it and take up writing his monumental opera War and Peace, only later did he turn to ballet again. The premiere of the play took place in November 1945 at the Bolshoi Theater, where at that time the famous Galina Ulanova danced, in fact, for which S. Prokofiev intended the piece. The wonderful world of fairy tales, the graceful dances of artists and the amazing music of the composer - all this awaits you in an unusually beautiful ballet.

Summary

The plot of the play follows its literary source and begins at the stepmother's house. Sisters of Kryvljak and Slyuk try on a shawl and quarrel over it, at this time Cinderella is sitting at work as always. Her birth father cannot resist his wife and protect her daughter from constant attacks. At this moment a beggar woman comes to their house, but the sisters chase her away, only Cinderella offered the old woman some rest and fed, and a little later the mysterious guest disappears.

In the house, turmoil begins, everyone is preparing for a grand event. The sisters are invited to the ball at the palace and dream that the prince will notice them there. Having gathered, they, together with Stepmother, in a hurry leave the house, leaving only one Cinderella there. The girl would also like to attend the ball and secretly dreams about it, but the wicked stepmother loaded her with homework, and Cinderella didn’t have anything to do. The beggarly woman who turned out to be a real fairy grandmother comes to the aid of a kind girl. Thanks to her and the Fairies of the Year, the girl dresses in a dazzling outfit and goes to a dance party in a real carriage, the word princess. Of course, this is all created with the help of real magic and at midnight it will dissipate, so Cinderella should have time to return home in time.

As soon as the girl appears in the palace, all eyes are immediately riveted to the charming and mysterious stranger. No one will know her, not even her sisters and Stepmother with her father. The prince is so fascinated by the beauty of Cinderella that he falls in love at first sight. With the onset of midnight, the heroine is forced to leave the palace and in a hurry runs away, accidentally dropping her crystal shoe on the steps. That is what the Prince finds. The young man tries to find a stranger throughout the Kingdom and beyond, but all unsuccessfully, even the shoemakers did not help him, with whom he showed the lost shoe. Then he decides to try it on all the girls of the Kingdom, in the hope of finding his beloved. So, he finds himself in stepmother's house. Alas, but the sisters crystal shoe is too small. When he offers to try it on to Cinderella, she tries to refuse, but by chance a second shoe falls out of her pocket, much to the surprise of everyone present. Now the Prince is sure that he has found that mysterious stranger and now nothing can prevent anything from the happiness of her lovers.

A photo:

Interesting Facts

• Interestingly, in various productions, the roles of stepmother and sisters of Cinderella were performed by men.
• Musicologists love to point out that in the Guest Treat scene, the composer used a march from his opera Love for Three Oranges, which at that time had not yet been performed in the country.
• The tale of S. Perrot repeatedly attracted the attention of various composers. So, J. Rossini created an opera on this story, and the composer F. Sora wrote a ballet that was presented at the Bolshoi Theater in 1825. The play of the same name by Johann Strauss. It is worth noting that this is the only ballet of this composer, which premiered successfully in 1901.
• It is noteworthy that the music of the performance itself is often performed separately, as a symphonic work. Also based on it created orchestral suites.
• There are several choreographic editions of the play by various choreographers. So, their versions were presented by: K. Sergeev in 1946, F. Ashton in 1948, R. Nuriev - 1987, A. Ratmansky - 2002.
• The famous poet Balmont called Sergey Sergeyevich "Russian rich" because of his sunny and bright music.
• Total Prokofiev created seven ballets.
• In his works, the composer often used the “extended tonality”, which is sometimes also called the “twelve-step”, and he also owns a new consonance - “Prokofiev’s dominant” with a raised fifth and septima.
• Director A. Tairov, after the premiere of the play, noted that "Cinderella" is one of those works that have just appeared and become classical.
• For the first time the performance was presented to the public in 1945 and therefore it was perceived by the audience as a salute to the Great Victory, it was not by chance that the premiere was held on a huge scale and generosity.
• The ballet was screened several times, the first recording (television ballet) appeared in 1960 thanks to the work of A. Row and choreographer Rostislav Zakharov. The second recording was made at the Paris National Opera in 2007.
• Prokofiev received the Stalin Prize for his ballet. At that time it was the most prestigious award.
• When Sergey Sergeevich worked on this work, ideology was carried out in the country to significantly strengthen national-patriotic feelings. The author had to refer to the fact that Cinderella is the heroine from A. Afanasyev's Russian folk tale, and he suffered all the action during the reign of Elizabeth.
• Prokofiev included many dances in his score, including the rather rare and extremely beautiful pas de shawl. He was popular in the XIX century in various salons and was a dance with a big light scarf.

Popular numbers

Entry (listen)

Waltz from Act I (listen)

Midnight (listen)

Galop Prince of Action III (listen)

Prince found Cinderella (listen)

Music

As for the musical part, the ballet sensitively continues the traditions of classical performances. It has a lot of bright and colorful rooms, variations, divertissements, as well as bright sound, it is enough to cite as an example the famous "Clock Scene" in which the composer masterfully conveyed the time run. Prokofiev noted that he really wanted the piece to be the most danceable and he succeeded to the fullest extent. Perhaps, one of the main dances is a waltz, and it is different and special each time. This is a gentle and poetic dance from the scene of “Cinderella's departure to the ball”, a bright and magnificent “Big Waltz” or a wonderful and triumphant final, which symbolizes the dreams and love of the main character.

History of creation

After the successful premiere of the play "Romeo Juliet", the author was so impressed with Galina Ulanova, who played the part of Juliet that he immediately had the idea to compose a ballet for her. The well-known fairy tale by Charles Perrault "Cinderella", which was included in the collection "Fairy tales of Mother Goose", was taken as the basis.

Libretto for ballet was written by N. Volkov, a talented art historian and playwright. Prokofiev enthusiastically took up this work and by the summer of 1941 he composed two acts. But due to the outbreak of hostilities, the composer’s plans changed, and work on the ballet was temporarily suspended. It resumed only two years later, when the composer arrived in Perm, while the Kirov Theater was temporarily located there. After discussing the smallest details with N. Volkov, he continued to write the ballet and was able to complete it only when he returned to the capital. It is noteworthy that Prokofiev composed this ballet based on classical examples of a romantic performance, it contains all the necessary elements inherent in this genre.

Since G. Ulanova performed at the Bolshoi Theater at that time, the production was moved there. It was originally planned that the premiere will take place in Leningrad, under the direction of V. Chabukiani. In Moscow, choreographer R. Zakharov immediately began work on the play.

Productions

The long-awaited premiere of the ballet took place in November 1945 at the Bolshoi Theater. Staged engaged Rostislav Zakharov. Olga Lepeshinskaya played the main role, only in the following performances in this party Galina Ulanova appeared before the public.

In the spring of 1946, the performance was staged at the Kirov Theater in St. Petersburg. The ballet master was Konstantin Sergeyev. This version of the performance appeared in a recording made in 1980.

At the Novosibirsk Theater, Oleg Vinogradov presented his ballet Cinderella in 1964. The ballet master decided to take a new path and remove the classical choreography. In this version, the play was transformed into a philosophical reflection on the search for the soul. Now in the foreground is not the opposition of good and evil, but deep thoughts about the search for beauty and spirituality in the modern world.

In 2002, choreographer A. Ratmansky presented his version of the ballet at the Mariinsky Theater. The Cinderella party was brilliantly performed by Diana Vishneva, the prince - A. Merkuryev. The action of the ballet unexpectedly began with the dance of hairdressers; there were altogether men in the role of Fay seasons, with Iroquois on their heads.

It is worth noting that Prokofiev's ballet was successfully staged not only in Russia, but also abroad. Frederick Ashton, together with the Sadler's-Wells troupe, produced Cinderella in 1948, and he had never staged multi-act productions before. And in 1987, Rudolf Nuriev introduced the French public at the Paris Opera to his version of Cinderella. In this performance, the whole action takes place already in Hollywood, and the main character turns out not only a loved one, but also a contract with a film studio.

Among the unusual versions, it is worth noting the production of Magee Maren in 1985, when the fairy sorceress was walking around with a sword on the stage, and a children's speech was added to the score. The Swiss choreographer Heinz Sperlly moved all the action to the ballet studio, and Kirill Simonov in his performance, staged in Novosibirsk in 2000, preferred to present all the events at all in the pre-war years. In this version, Cinderella went to the ball on the Unicorn. It is noteworthy that it was this work of the choreographer that received the special prize of the "Golden Mask" for such a bright incarnation of Sergey Sergeevich’s score.

Among modern productions, the work of Alexei Miroshnichenko, presented in December 2016 at the Perm Opera and Ballet Theater, should be noted. This performance cannot be called childish, because the raid of magic and fairy tales disappears, they are eclipsed by historical facts from the Soviet era, all the action is transferred to 1957.

The ballet "Cinderella" has amazing power, it is bright, sparkling and incredibly magical, the way a real, good fairy tale should be, where justice will always prevail, and good will be rewarded. Not for nothing, Vladimir Blok noted that Prokofiev was endowed with an amazing talent - “to pick up special keys to children's hearts” with the help of his incredible music. This is true, because works for children are a special and important part of the composer's work. We suggest you to get acquainted with the works of Sergey Sergeevich Prokofiev right now and see the ballet “Cinderella”. We are sure that this work will interest not only little lovers of classical music, but also adults.

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