R. Glier The Bronze Horseman ballet: content, video, interesting facts, history

R. Glier ballet "The Bronze Horseman"

"Pushkin is our all," - this statement from the lips of the Russian poet Apollo Grigoriev sounded more than 150 years ago. The literary heritage of Alexander Sergeevich really unites many people. Pushkin is especially honored by creative people: the artists based on his subjects paint pictures, and the composers sound great music by the poet’s works. The outstanding Soviet composer Reinhold Glier did not bypass the creation of Alexander Sergeevich. A wonderful maestro, inspired by the images of the great poet, created a deeply informative three-act ballet - the composer's best work on one of Pushkin's most powerful works, the poem The Bronze Horseman.

Summary of Glier's ballet "The Bronze Horseman" and many interesting facts about this piece read on our page.

Summary

Against the backdrop of the deserted bank of the Neva, the royal image of Peter I emerges. He plunged into thought about the future of the Russian state and dreams of building a city that is important for the whole country.

1824, the capital of Russia. On a clear autumn day, people stroll along the central square of St. Petersburg near the proudly raised monument to Peter the Great. His attention is attracted by the wandering puppet theater, as well as the actors of the balagan theater - Columbine and Harlequin. Eugene appears on the square near the monument, here he is to meet his beloved Parasha. The girl comes, and the happy young man happily rushes to meet her. However, it soon begins to get dark, and the majestic monument to Peter the Great scares Parasha. The young man calms her and emotionally begins to talk about Peter ...

Harbor in St. Petersburg. At the Admiralty Shipyard, where preparations are under way for the launching of a newly built ship, Peter I arrives, accompanied by Menshikov. They are met by Tsar’s godson, Ibrahim Hannibal. A foreign ship moors to the pier, from which foreign guests come ashore. They admire the city under construction and are amazed at how quickly and solidly the Russians fill up their fleet. Peter cuts the rope, and the ship goes to sea. Everyone is jubilant.

The king and his retinue go to the assembly. Ibrahim Hannibal dances with the "Queen of the Ball" at the ball. Peter I enters the hall, he orders the globe to be brought and explains to the guests his plans for the exploration of the sea, and then he receives letters of credence from ambassadors of various countries. Dances begin again, and then guests are invited to play in the blind man's buffoon as entertainment: every man with his eyes closed must choose a lady for himself. Without a partner, there is an English ambassador who, like a loser, drinks a large cup of wine and, drunk, falls under the laughter of all those present. The ball is over. The guests parted, but Peter is again in thought. He commands Menshikov to bring a plan of the city’s buildings and in his dreams draws the appearance of the future capital of Russia.

At the same time, Eugene's story ends, and the young people say goodbye.

On the outskirts of St. Petersburg, in a small house on the shores of the bay, with her mother lives beloved Eugene. Girlfriends gather on the lawn, they start a round dance, and Parasha joins them. The girl's mother, who watched the dance, remembers how at the time of her youth they knew how to have fun and dance. Mother goes into the house, and the girls, having heard Parasha's story about her beloved young man, persuaded her to tell fortunes. However, the cards predicted trouble for the girl, and the girlfriends, in order to distract Parasha from sad thoughts, want to cheer her up with a dance. Eugene appears, he tries to be unnoticed. Seeing the young man, embarrassed, the girls run away, and Eugene and Parasha are left alone. Overwhelmed by a tender feeling, they confess each other love. The girls come back and congratulate the young people with the engagement. Suddenly, from the side of the bay, a piercing wind blew, Eugene hurries to say goodbye to Parasha.

Eugene in his room. He fondly recalls a date with his beloved, when suddenly gunshots warn of a flood. Concerned about Parasha, Evgeny runs out into the street.

Frightened townspeople crowded on the embankment, watching as the water is rapidly arriving. People scatter in fear. On the empty embankment appears Eugene. A young man with horror looks like the elements sweep away everything in their path: people are dying, houses are crumbling. Seeing a random boat, Eugene, without hesitation, throws himself into the abyss, in the hope that the fishermen will help him to meet with the bride.

The storm finally subsides and Eugene gets to the place where Parasha lived with his mother. But there is no old house, only a broken tree stands lonely. The young man is so shocked that he barely begins to perceive what he saw. The mind of a young man can not stand, and he begins to hallucinations. Tired of chasing after visions, Eugene in exhaustion falls to the ground.

On the Senate Square again crowded. Mad Eugene wanders around the monument to Peter the Great. Passersby look at him with regret. Consciousness of a young man for some time becomes clear and he finds out the place where he recently met and was happy with Parasha. Looking at the monument, Eugene threatens him, because he sees in him the cause of all his misfortunes. The young man’s inflamed imagination sees that the monument has come to life and wants to trample it. Eugene falls dead, he has no more strength to fight.

Epilogue

The majestic city of which Peter the Great dreamed was built, he lives and thrives.

A photo:

Interesting Facts

• Petersburgers love the ballet "The Bronze Horseman" - a work that glorifies their beautiful city. The performance is very popular not only with the audience, but also with the performers. Leading soloists of the famous Kirov Theater are happy to take the stage in this ballet, even in minor roles.

• At the very end of the performance, in the epilogue, R.Gliere inserted a musical number praising the Great City and symbolically called it a hymn. This work was subsequently perceived as the calling card of Leningrad. In 2003, the poet Oleg Chuprov composed words for this music, and the composer Grigory Korchmar made editorial changes to the music of Glier. This version of the work was subsequently approved by the official state symbol - the anthem of the city of St. Petersburg.

• Glier's outstanding work The Bronze Horseman was appreciated by the government of the Soviet Union. For the music of ballet, the composer in 1950 for the third time won the Stalin Prize.

• The Russian people have a saying: "Slowly harnessed, but they drive fast." This expression is the best suited to the ballet horseman. The history of its creation lasted for a decade, but the production of the play was carried out in an incredibly short period of time: in just three months.

• The storyline of the first act of the ballet "The Bronze Horseman" of the St. Petersburg and Moscow productions differ significantly from each other. According to the Bolshoi Theater, the picture with Peter’s time follows immediately after the prologue, and in the editorial office of the Kirov Theater it is separated from the introduction.

History of creation

The path that the “Bronze Horseman” ballet had to go from the first recorded note to the stage performance was very difficult and long. Refer to the work of A.S. Pushkin and write a ballet in his stunning poem Reinhold Moritsevich began to think more in the late 30s. This work of the great poet loved Gliere. He not only carefully re-read the work several times, trying to penetrate and understand the melodism of Pushkin's rhyme, but also he was pleased to get acquainted with the works of researchers of Alexander Sergeevich. The idea was so fascinating that the composer began to create sketches of the future work, in which he embodied the musical images of the poem, without waiting for the creation of the libretto. The scenario plan of the play appeared only in 1941. Its author was A.F. Abolimov, later known ballet screenwriter and theater expert. He submitted his studies to the ballet troupe of the Kirov Theater on June 18, three days before the start of the Great Patriotic War. The scenario was approved, but the times of the most difficult trials for the country violated all creative plans.

Being in evacuation and continuously working on the creation of his other masterpieces, for example, "Concert for voice and orchestra" - a work included in the golden fund of world music literature, Glier did not forget about "The Bronze Horseman" for a minute, but he was able to resume his ballet composition only in 1944. Despite the fact that the composer still did not have a detailed libretto, he took up the revision of all the major musical themes, but then, due to the lack of script development, the work had to be put back into the folder. The case advanced only in 1946, when Glier officially received an order from the leadership of the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater. CM. Kirov on the composition of music for the ballet, and with it the final version of the libretto, which is very surprised composer. Abolimov significantly expanded the storyline and in addition to the heroes from The Bronze Horseman, he added characters, borrowing them from other Pushkin works. Gliera really wanted to quickly get to work and plunge into the world of images of the great poet, but from his previous experience he knew that in order to continue composing the ballet you need a detailed compositional plan of the play. An outstanding choreographer Rostislav Zakharov, who worked thoroughly on the ballet description for a year, was invited as a ballet master. A careful study of each number made it very easy for the composer to work on the work, which had begun thoroughly only in the autumn of 1947. The score with the stunningly beautiful music of the ballet "The Bronze Horseman" was completed in 1948, and Zakharov immediately began to stage the play.

Productions

In 1949, the Soviet Union was preparing to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of A.S. Pushkin. The Kirov Theater planned for this holiday the citizens to give their present: a new ballet by R. Glier based on the poet's priceless creation - the poem The Bronze Horseman. Worked on the production of the play: choreographer R. Zakharov, artist M. Bobyshov and conductor E. Dubovsky. The main parts were performed by the leading artists of the theater - K. Sergeev and N. Dudinskaya. The first ballet show, scheduled for March 14th, was a great success.

After the triumphant premiere in Leningrad, a spectacle was quickly decided to put on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. Three months later, Muscovites were also able to see the magnificent ballet. Here the main parts were danced by M. Gabovich and G. Ulanova.

Further "The Bronze Horseman" was successfully staged not only in our country, but also abroad. Lviv, Saratov, Novosibirsk, Kazan, Tashkent, Bucharest - this is a small list of cities, whose public saw a wonderful performance.

Petersburgers are very fond of this ballet, so the last production of the play was carried out again in the city on the Neva, and the premiere was held on March 31, 2016. Choreographer - Y. Smekalov, artistic director - A. Sevbo, costume designer - T. Noginova, conductor - V. Karklin. Starring V. Shklyarov and V. Tereshkina.

The ballet "The Bronze Horseman", on the significance of the ideological content and persuasiveness of the disclosure of philosophical and historical themes, is unmatched in world ballet choreography. An important role in the play was played by Pushkin's first principle, that is, the Bronze Horseman poem itself, and, undoubtedly, the music of Reingold Glier — an outstanding maestro who perfectly mastered the composing technique, created such vivid images that he was able to fully reveal the deep philosophical meaning of the work great poet.