The Prodigal Son (1928-29)

The Prodigal Son, a ballet based on a biblical story, marked an end of an era for the Ballet Russes, since its creation coincided with the death of Diaghilev in 1929. The choreography was by George Balanchine and the score was, of course by Prokofiev. It seems that there was some creative conflict between the two, with Prokofiev being quite unhappy with Balanchine’s choreography particularly regarding the depiction of the ‘Siren’, so much so that he refused to pay Balanchine royalties for his choreography. The premiere of this ballet took place in Paris on the 21st of May, 1929.

As usual, Prokofiev ensured that the music from the ballet was recycled in some way, using it as the foundation of both versions of his ‘Symphony No.4’ firstly composed in 1929 and then 1947. Diaghilev had been a strong supporter of Prokofiev’s music, and so his death lost Prokofiev his primary source of ballet commissions that he had come to rely upon. Fortunately, he still had some of his best commissions to come.

On the Dnieper (1932)

Having observed the success of The Prodigal Son in Paris, the Paris Opéra commissioned Prokofiev to compose the music for a new ballet. Serge Lifar who had been close to Diaghilev and had been instrumental in the creation of The Prodigal Son was tasked with crafting the setting and the choreography, however he chose not to prioritise the creation of a scenario. The resulted in On the Dnieper being a sequence of dances, rather than a full narrative ballet. The ballet had its premiere on the 16th December 1932, however it was a flop ad was withdrawn from the stage after only a few performances. Nevertheless, composers such as Stravinsky and Milhaud praised Prokofiev’s music which he soon transformed into an orchestral suite known as On the Dnieper Symphonic Suite Op. 51a.

Again, there was some conflict between composer and choreographer, however this time it was Lifar who later came out to say that he had been disappointed by Prokofiev’s score, wanting something more linked to Russian folkdances. However, at this time, similar to The Prodigal Son, Prokofiev was working towards developing a more expressive and lyrical strand to his music. Both of these more lyrical ballets (The Prodigal Son & On the Dnieper) were preparatory to his most famous score: Romeo & Juliet.

Romeo & Juliet (1940)

Romeo & Juliet is, of course, a ballet based on William Shakespeare’s play by the same name. The synopsis was initially crafted by Adrian Piotrovsky and Sergey Radlov (who later resigned) before Prokofiev composed the first iteration of the score in September 1935. The scenario put forward was inline with the principles of ‘drambalet’ aka dramatised ballet, which put more emphasis on the development of a storyline that aligned with Soviet ideals. This resulted in the first version of the ballet being written with a happy ending that contradicted Shakespeare’s original story.

Even though the happy ending was supposedly meant to appease the Soviet guidelines, this choice was actually seen as quite controversial by some cultural officials in Russia. It was throughout the composing of the music that Yuri Fayer, the conductor, met with Prokofiev insisting that he should scrap the happy ending and return to the original as Shakespeare intended. However, due to a sudden staff overhaul within the Bolshoi, as well as the growing fears and cautiousness within the artistic communities regarding the fate of any creative (such as Shostakovich), who could be dubbed a ‘degenerate modernist’, the ballet still was not performed in Soviet Russia until 1940.

Nevertheless, the ballet had its first premiere on the 30th December 1938 in Brno (now the Czech Republic). It was a single-act production showcasing music primarily from the first two suites. At the time Prokofiev had a status of outbound restriction, which disallowed him to attend the premiere.

By the time of its premiere in Soviet Russia at the Kirov Theatre (now Mariinsky Theatre), on the 11th January 1940, Romeo and Juliet had gone through some extensive changes since its performance in 1938. Now presented as a magnificent three act work, choreographed by Leonid Lavrovsky, the production was a huge success and received national recognition, being awarded the Stalin Prize, as well as international acclaim as well. Yet again, Prokofiev was sure to make the most out of his score, transforming the music into three orchestral suites and ten piano pieces.

Cinderella (1945)

Of course, after Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella is certainly seen as Prokofiev’s second most successful ballet, with the both the scenario and the score rechoreographed again and again throughout the ballet companies of the world. The scenario was created by Nikolai Volkov and the ballet choreographed by Rostislav Zakharov. Prokofiev wrote the score between 1940 and 1944, taking a break the compose his opera War and Peace. He was greatly inspired by the scores by Tchaikovsky dedicating Cinderella to him, and writing that he saw “Cinderella not only as a fairy-tale character but also as a real person, feeling, experiencing, and moving among us.” The premiere was held at the Bolshoi Theatre, conducted by Yuri Fayer on the 21st November 1945.

The Tale of The Stone Flower (1954)

The Tale of The Stone Flower was Prokofiev’s final ballet that was based on a Russian Ural folk tale by Pavel Bazhov, named The Stone Flower. He composed the music between 1948 and 1953, and wrote it in the Russian ballet tradition, as he had also done with Romeo & Juliet and Cinderella.

As Prokofiev passed away in 1953, the ballet was premiered posthumously on the 12th February 1954, at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. The choreography was by Yuri Grigorovich and the premiere was conducted by Yuri Fayer. As usual, on the completion of the score, Prokofiev had transformed extracts of the ballet into concert music, including Wedding Suite, Gypsy Fantasy, Urals Rhapsody and The Mistress of the Copper Mountain.

Over the years I have amassed a moderate collection of vintage ballet books from the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s, that were printed in the U.K. Interestingly, Prokofiev was rarely mentioned, which always struck me as odd, especially as nowadays Romeo & Juliet and Cinderella are seen as such cornerstones to our current selection of ballet repertoire. It seems that Prokofiev’s omission from these books was likely due to the Cold War. With Russia and the U.K. being on opposite sides, as well as the heavy restrictions within Soviet Russia, Prokofiev’s active years were perhaps a little blighted by politics reducing his notoriety in the Western world at the time.

Ballet Composer Profile: Sergei Prokofiev Part 1

Sources:

1. http://www.theballetbag.com/2010/01/08/romeo-and-juliet/