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.

Numbers

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.

Recordings

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: