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Prokofiev's unknow ballets?


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When going through my pile of cd's I stumble upon a few recordings from at least to me unknow ballet music, apart from one namely The Stone Flower. The other ones are; Le Pas d' Acier opus 41; L'Enfant Prodique opus 46; Chout, opus 21; Sur le Borysthene opus 51. Are there performances made from this music, and is that on dvd. As much info as you can muster if possible, I am very curious about this, and would be happy with all the snippets. The Stone flower by the way is fascinating music, Prokofiev wrote well for ballet as we all know.

Walboi :thanks:

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There is a Balanchine Library film of THE PRODIGAL SON, w/ Baryshnikov and von Aroldingen, it's now on DVD w/ other balanchine ballets.

LE PAS D'ACIER was recently presented at princeton university, in NJ, as a student 'project' involving the dance, theater, music and art departments. i don't think it was filmed commercially, and it was in any case not a recreation of massine's original but a makeshift reworking for the purposes of academic study.

i know of no filmed performances of CHOUT.

here follow the credits for the filming of balanchine's ballet:

Choreography by Balanchine, Part III / directed by Merrill Brockway ; produced by Emile Ardolino and Judy Kinberg. New York, N.Y. : WNET/13, c1978. (60 min.) : sd., col.

Danced by New York City Ballet.

Series producer, Merrill Brockway ; art direction and lighting, Ralph Holmes

Chaconne / music, Christoph Willibald Gluck ; scenic design, Peter Harvey ; costumes, Karinska ; danced by Suzanne Farrell and Peter Martins with members of the New York City Ballet.

Prodigal son / music, Serge Prokofieff ; decor, Georges Rouault ; scenario, Boris Kochno ; danced by Mikhail Baryshnikov (Prodigal son), Karin Von Aroldingen (Siren), Shaun O'Brien (Father), Tracy Bennett and Laurence Matthews (Servants), Carole Divet and Susan Freedman (Sisters) with members of the New York City Ballet.

Telecast on the Dance in America series by WNET/13, New York on November 29, 1978.

there was european telecast of a prog. focussed on boris kochno, which showed a paris opera ballet performance of balanchine's LE FILS PRODIGUE, but this has not, to be best of my knowledge, been released commercially.

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rg Thank you so much for this info, you can't imagine how happy you made me. It must have taken you a lot of time to gather this pile of info and I am very gratefull to you. If you can dig up more that would be fantastic. I am involved with a ballet company that invited me to create a choreography based on one of those ballets mentioned.

Walboi

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If you are interested in other compositions by Prokofiev that have been made into ballets, there have been a number (in addition to Balanchine's famous Prodigal Son) at New York City Ballet.

Still in the rep cycle are

Robbins: Opus 11, The Dreamer (Piano Concerto # 1)

Lavery: Romeo & Juliet Balcony Scene

Martins: Zakouski (it includes the fourth of Cinq Melodies)

There have been about a half dozen others in rep at one time or another. You may find detailed descriptions, including photos, by clicking on search and typing in Prokofiev at NYCB's educational resources site:

http://www.nycballet.com/programs/education.html

By the way, the dvd of Prodigal Son, above, is quite wonderful, especially for the Farrell/Martins performance of Balanchine's Chaconne. In fact, the dvd is far more generous as it also includes Merrill Ashley in Ballo della Regina, McBride/Baryshnikov in both Steadfast Tin Soldier and Balanchine's Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux, and von Aroldingen/Lavery in Elegie.

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important tho, now that i think of it, to note that the BALANCHINE LIBRARY Prodigal Son does NOT include the dance for the Confidants of the Prodigal Son in the second scene; this was cut for this Dance in America filming; the Paris Opera telecast includes this dance, but as noted, this telecast has not been commercially released, so far as i can tell.

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