FIRST ACT

Scene 1: An inn near Paris
The courtyard of the hotel is full of people. There are actresses, noblemen, ladies of the demi-monde. Among the crowd is a young student de Grieux, a wealthy Mr. G.M. and Sergeant of the King's Guard Lescaut, who came to meet his sister Manon on her way to the convent.
Manon and an elderly gentleman, whom she clearly interested in, come out of the arriving carriage. Noticing this, Lescaut takes the elderly gentleman away to talk to him about Manon.
Left alone, Manon comes face to face with de Grieux. An instantaneous feeling prompts them to plan to flee to Paris. To do this, they use the money stolen from an elderly gentleman.
Having made a deal, Lesko and an elderly gentleman go out into the courtyard and discover the disappearance of Manon. Mr. G.M. says he is also attracted to Manon. Lesko promises to find his sister and convince her to accept G.M.

Scene 2: Des Grieux's apartment in Paris
Des Grieux writes a letter to his father. Manon interrupts him with stormy manifestations of feelings. Des Grieux goes to the post office to post a letter. In his absence, Lesko and Mr. G.M. appear. Manon yields to the promises of G.M. Lesko assures the returned de Grieux that it will be better for everyone if he does not oppose Manon's connection with Mr. G.M.

SECOND ACT

Scene 1: In Madame's Salon
Manon arrives at a party hosted by Mr. G.M. Des Grieux and Lescaut are here. Manon is unable to make a choice between the wealth of G.M. and a feeling of love. Des Grieux tries to persuade Manon to follow him, but she refuses: now is not the right time for this. To escape, you need money that can be won at cards from Mr. G.M. The game starts. Des Grieux gets caught cheating. Together with Manon, they flee.

Scene 2: Des Grieux's apartment
Manon and de Grieux are together again. Their love flared up with the same force.
Enter Mr. G.M. accompanied by the police. Manon is arrested for prostitution. In the ensuing fight, Lesko dies.

INTERMISSION

THIRD ACT

New Orleans

Scene 1: At the port
The overseer of the penal colony is waiting for the arrival of convicts from France. Among the women sentenced to exile is Manon. Des Grieux follows her, posing as her husband. Manon attracts the warden's attention.

Scene 2: In the warden's room
The warden takes Manon into custody and promises to release her if she becomes his mistress. Bursting into the room de Grieux kills the warden.

Scene 3: Louisiana swamps
Fleeing from persecution, Manon and de Grieux end up in the swamps of Louisiana. Dreams of wealth and luxury collapsed, only love remained.
Manon dies in de Grieux's arms.

Show summary

At the Musical Theatre. Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko several years ago, it was decided to pay tribute to the famous plot based on the novel The Story of the Cavalier de Grieux and Manon Lescaut, and from the day of the premiere to this moment this production has enjoyed unchanging and well-deserved popularity.

About the ballet "Manon" at the Stanislavsky Theater

The image of the rather frivolous, but captivating, invariably desired, always elusive Manon Lescaut, familiar to readers from the novel by Abbé Prevost, has always excited not only artists, but also musicians, included their rich creative imagination. Kenneth Macmillan, a British ballet master, also created the ballet Manon under the influence of this image. He set it to music, which was collected from various works written by Jules Massenet. The score's arrangement and orchestration was also done by the composer L. Lucas in collaboration with Hilda Gaunt.

The premiere of this performance took place in early March 1974, it was presented to the public on the stage of the Covent Garden Theater in London. The premiere of the ballet "Manon" at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater took place in the summer of 2014, the composition and orchestration was created by Martin Yates, at the conductor's stand - Felix Korobov, who has experience of cooperation with such famous choreographers as John Neumeier or Yuri Grigorovich . Choreographers - Carl Barnett in collaboration with Patricia Rouen. The costumes for the performance and set design were created by the famous Nicholas Georgiadis, who previously collaborated with Rudolf Nureyev in the Royal Ballet.

How to buy tickets for the ballet "Manon" at the Stanislavsky Theater

With the help of our agency, you can see the masterpiece of ballet, the love story of the beautiful Manon and the Chevalier Des Grieux, set to the beautiful music of Massenet. However, you need to take care now to buy tickets for the Manon ballet and choose comfortable seats in auditorium. By the way, professional managers who work in our agency help to make this choice. We, having solid experience (the agency has been operating for more than twelve years), can offer any client:

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The incomparable choreography created by Macmillan and embodied on the stage of the Stanislavsky Theater made Manon one of the best ballets of our time. In the image main character there is a clear connection with Russian culture, so this wonderful ballet will always arouse the interest of our audience.

Ballet in 3 acts (7 scenes) to music by J. Massenet, screenwriter (based on the novel by A. Prevost) and choreographer C. Macmillan, artist N. Georgiadis.

The premiere of the performance took place on March 7, 1974 at the Royal Ballet of Great Britain on stage London theater Covent Garden.

History of creation

Manon is the second three-act ballet created by Kenneth Macmillan as artistic director Royal Ballet. He began working on Manon shortly after the birth of his only daughter. Its source was french novel 18th century Abbé Prevost's The Story of the Chevalier de Grieux and Manon Lescaut (1731), which had already been adapted twice for an opera by Massenet and Puccini. Musical numbers from various works by Jules Massenet were selected and orchestrated by the famous dance musician Leighton Lucas and his assistant, accompanist ballet troupe Hilda Gaunt. The musical arrangement of the ballet also included the famous "Elegy" from Massenet's opera as main topic lovers. The premiere of "Manon" took place on March 7, 1974, the parts of Manon and de Grieux were danced by Antoinette Sibley and Anthony Dowell. The ballet very quickly entered the main repertoire of the theater.

Macmillan sympathizes with the wayward Manon, bringing to the ballet his understanding of psychology and personal memories of his poor childhood. Macmillan described his heroine “not as a girl who is afraid of being poor, but who is ashamed of being poor. In those days, poverty was tantamount to a long, slow death.” Macmillan's friend Nicholas Georgiadis reflected this idea, depicting the shaky line between luxury and the decay of French society on the eve of the revolution (the action of the ballet was transferred to late 18th century). Macmillan's incredible choreography created vivid, vibrant images of the society of Paris and New Orleans. But the main energy charge is carried by the passionate pas de deux of Manon and Des Grieux, which resembles an equally intense early work Macmillan, "Romeo and Juliet" - it is it that drives the whole tragic story, turning "Manon" into one of Macmillan's most incredible dramas.

Plot

ACT I

Scene 1. In the courtyard of a hotel in the suburbs of Paris

Bustle reigns here: actresses, young people, demimonde ladies, beggars. The rich Mr. G. M., his mistress and friends are sitting at the table. Lesko, a frequenter of these places, is spinning around them. He is waiting for his young sister Manon, who is heading to the convent. The comely student-theologian de Grie appears, he does not let go of the Holy Scripture. A carriage pulls up with Manon and an elderly gentleman. He is infatuated with Manon, but she only flirts with him. Lesko takes the Old Man to an inn to make a deal with him regarding his sister. Unexpectedly, Manon runs into de Grieux. The young man falls on his knees in front of her, kisses her hand. Manon is embarrassed, touched, she is also attracted to de Grieux. The first duet of heroes is the birth of passion. They decide to run away together to Paris with the money that Manon managed to lure from the elderly gentleman. When he and Lescaut leave the hotel, it turns out that Manon has disappeared - jumping on the goats, de Grie took her away. Mr. G. M. informs Lesko that he is interested in his sister. Lesko promises to try to win Manon's favor.

Scene 2. Des Grieux's apartment in Paris

ACT II

Scene 3. Celebration in Madame's salon

Dressed-up girls flirt with male guests. Tipsy Lesko leads to the hall de Grieux. Lesko performs a solo dance, the girls are delighted. Manon and G. M. Manon appear, overcoming embarrassment from an unexpected meeting with de Grie, dancing with his fans. In a sarabande, she passes from one hand to another, until in the finale she returns to G. M. Everyone leaves the hall, except de Grie. As he hoped, Manon appears. The young man persuades her to leave with him. Manon convinces him that he must first win a large amount of money from G.M. The game starts. Des Grieux gets caught cheating. In the midst of a quarrel, the lovers run away.

Scene 4. Des Grieux's apartment

The third duet of heroes - Manon and de Grie declare their love to each other. The young man demands that G. M. return his jewelry. But it's too late. G. M. shows up with the police. Lesko, shackled, is brought in. Manon is arrested as a prostitute. A fight ensues, in which Lesko dies from a bullet.

ACT III

Scene 5. Port in Louisiana

Guards and local residents have gathered on the pier, they are watching the disembarkation of passengers. Among the arriving young women, exiled here for prostitution, and Manon. It is difficult to recognize her, she is exhausted, her charm has disappeared. Des Grieux follows her, posing as her husband. By order of the Overseer, Manon takes the guards away.

Scene 6

Enter Manon. The warden offers her his favor for her favor. She is indifferent. The warden puts a bracelet on her arm and hugs Manon. Suddenly de Grieux bursts in and, in a fit of jealousy, stabs the Overseer with a dagger. Manon throws a bracelet on the corpse and runs away with de Grieux.

Scene 7. Marshes of Louisiana

This is where the fugitives are hiding. In a semi-delirium, the girl recalls her past: ghosts of bygone times pass in front of her. The fourth and farewell duet of heroes. Manon flies into the air and from there frantically throws herself into the arms of de Grieux. She loses her last strength and dies in de Grieux's arms.

The choreographer staged plotless performances, among them - "Concert Dances" (1955), "Agon" (1958), "The Rite of Spring" (1962), "Symphony" (1963), one-act plot ballets - from "Kiss of the Fairy" (1960) until The Judas Tree (1992), but the greatest fame and glory brought him large, multi-act ballet-dramas. The most famous are Romeo and Juliet (1965) with music by Sergei Prokofiev, Anastasia (1971) to music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Boguslav Martin with a story about the imaginary daughter of the Russian Tsar Nicholas II, Manon (1974) to music by Jules Massenet, "Mayerling" (1978) to the music of Franz Liszt with a story about the tragic story of the Austrian Crown Prince Rudolf.

In these performances, Macmillan explored vivid human destinies in difficult dramatic circumstances by means of classical ballet. Largely thanks to Macmillan's ballets, a brilliant galaxy of English artists was formed - Lynn Seymour, Antoinette Sibley, Merle Park, Darcy Bussel, Christopher Gable, Anthony Dowell, David Wall and others.

The ballet Manon is based on Antoine Francois Prévost's novel The Story of the Chevalier de Grieux and Manon Lescaut (1731), which is still of interest to readers. The choreographer explained the desire to make his heroes the actors of the ballet as follows: “I was fascinated by the characters. The ballet involves a sixteen-year-old heroine, beautiful, but absolutely immoral, and a hero who, under her pernicious influence, becomes a cheater, a liar and a murderer. An unconventional subject for a ballet, right? In Manon, Abbé Prevost is intrigued, first of all, by the fact that there is absolutely no logic in her thinking. She had just assured de Grieux of her love, and the very next minute she was cheating on him with the elderly count. In my opinion, her behavior is due to a past spent in poverty. Manon is not only afraid of becoming poor, but also ashamed of this poverty.

One of the representatives of late romanticism, the French composer Jules Massenet (1842-1912) was very prolific. Camille Saint-Saens recalled: “The ease with which Massenet composed bordered on a miracle. I saw him sick, lying in bed in the most uncomfortable position, and filling out the score paper page after page with a speed that could be taken aback. In addition to many symphonic, chamber compositions and romances, he wrote the operas Manon (1884), Werther (1886), Thais (1894), Don Quixote (1910) and others. It is known that the premiere of "Don Quixote" was sung by Fyodor Chaliapin, in his own interpretation, the romance "Elegy" is widely known in Russia.

Another contemporary of the composer, Claude Debussy, wrote: “It is quite clear that music for Massenet was never the “voice of the universe” that Bach and Beethoven heard: for him it was, most likely, a bewitching particularity.”

For his ballet, Macmillan chose from Massenet not the music of the opera of the same name, but many excerpts from other operas - "Sid", "Griselda", "Teresa", "Ariadne", "Cinderella", "Cleopatra", "Don Quixote", "Eva ”, “Thais”, “Bacchus”, “King of Lahore”, as well as from a number of symphonic works.

All musical material is arranged and orchestrated by conductor Leighton Lucas and Hilda Gaunt (The score was re-orchestrated by conductor Martin Yates in 2011.).

Manon's two main themes are orchestral arrangements of the romances "Twilight" and "Elegy". They appear already in the first act and are repeated in the future. The orchestral introduction to the performance was a fragment from the oratorio "The Virgin". Note that the choreographer used Massenet's music at his discretion, not paying attention to the plot of the original source. So, for example, the scene of violence against Manon in the penultimate film is performed to music from the duet of Dulcinea and Don Quixote.

To understand the role and nature of music in this ballet, let us cite another ironic statement by Debussy: “Massene understood the true role musical art. Music should humbly try to please. It is necessary that she conquer us or creep into us without the expenditure of any effort on our part.

Macmillan's multi-act performances belong to the direction of "dramatic ballet", which originated in the 1930s in Leningrad and later, with its best examples (primarily the ballet "Romeo and Juliet" by Lavrovsky - Prokofiev) infected the whole world.

English samples of this genre have their own specifics. So, one can hardly accuse Manon of belittling the role of dance in the whole performance, but the third act, with the exception of the last duet of heroes, is helpless both in the choreographic and in the director's sense. It seems that fiction and fantasy left the choreographer at the end of the second act. However, it is known that it was the final act that was criticized after the premiere and Macmillan redid something, but, alas, not enough.

But the four duets of Manon and de Grie became the decoration and a kind of hallmark of the performance - from the birth of a fatal passion for both to the death of the culprit of all misadventures. The frequent performance of these duets (first of all, the second one) loses little in expressiveness and emotionality outside the context of the performance, which is not typical for Russian ballet plays. Some critics even argued that only these four duets are already enough to reveal the main theme of the ballet. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it is precisely the desire of the ballerinas to dance these small masterpieces of choreography that the ballet Manon owes its numerous performances on the stages of the largest theaters in the world.

The choreographer managed to create a clear contrast between these manifestations of the personal drama of the characters and the mass scenes. The latter are full of vain ruthlessness environment. Even the best of them - the dance of the beggars in the first picture, the duet of the tipsy Lescaut with his "lady" and the magnificent sarabande Manon with fans in the scene at Madame's - are deliberately devoid of inner feeling. Soviet critics would have noticed that in them the choreographer skillfully exposes bourgeois society. Indeed, the whole society in the ballet, to put it mildly, is not very attractive, and this is the root of the tragedy of the heroes.

As is often the case in drama ballets, the images of most of the characters are vividly drawn in Manon. Even devoid of dance, Mr. G. M. remains in the memory as a self-confident hunter for pleasure, not subject to feelings and respecting only strength and wealth. In the ballet, unlike the novel, Manon is a tragic figure, the chain of circumstances, and not her own frivolity, doomed her to an inglorious end. It is curious that Manon has only one small solo dance in the first picture, in the future she only goes with the flow organized by others. Yes, and de Grieux is somewhat romanticized in ballet, his vices are also justified by the surrounding circumstances.

At the premiere in London, Antoinette Sibley (Manon) and Anthony Dowell (de Grieux) performed the main parts, later on these parts were danced by many others, finding their personal nuances in these richly outlined choreographic images.

The Russian audience could see the ballet Manon for the first time on tour of the London troupe in 1987. In 2000, assistant choreographer Monica Parker staged the ballet on stage. Mariinsky Theater. Compared to the original London premiere, the production was designed by Peter Farmer, who had previously designed Manon on various stages around the world.

The Petersburg premiere was danced by Altynai Asylmuratova (Manon) and Igor Zelensky (de Grieux), who already had experience in mastering these parts in foreign troupes. At the next performance, they were replaced by Diana Vishneva and Ilya Kuznetsov, later other performers “arrived in time”. And again it became clear what range of personal interpretations this performance gives.

The part of Manon is not enough to dance, it must be created. Some ballerinas try to honestly "play" the role - it turns out intelligibly, but not emotionally. Others seek to try on the situations and actions of Manon for their individuality. But it turns out that it is easier to feel like Juliet or Aurora than a similar woman - "complex, prudent and straightforward in her criminality and at the same time unusually natural" (Guy de Maupassant). Apparently, in order to "become" a full-blooded Manon, at least on stage, one must be at least a lot of him ... Manon!? Petersburg critics murmured, frightened by the return of the era of the notorious "drambalets". However, the ballerinas were happy, and the audience willingly attended this interesting, albeit uneven, performance for more than one year.

A. Degen, I. Stupnikov

Photo: Mikhail Logvinov, Oleg Chernous

Musical Theatre named after Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko, who made acquaintance with foreign classics of the last century his repertoire policy, filled up the billboard with a win-win hit - "Manon" by the British classic Kenneth MacMillan.

Manon, staged for the Royal Ballet of Great Britain in 1974, exists in the status of a legend literally from birth. The three o'clock mastodon, based on the novel by Abbé Prevost, reproduces with English meticulousness the era of stuffy draperies, crinolines, wigs and flies. Against its background, the story of a failed nun, the beautiful Manon Lescaut and the poor student de Grieux, who inadvertently fell in love with a young adventurer, unfolds. Countless adagios to the tearful music of Jules Massenet, shredded from several operas in which Macmillan was consummate master, always and everywhere guarantee the performance a win-win success.

But the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater ended up in the most difficult situation. Not only do more famous companies not always have enough resources to stage this three-act giant, but only two weeks ago Moscow saw the standard performance of Manon, when on stage Bolshoi Theater the performance was presented by the Royal Ballet itself, which cherishes this Macmillan performance as the apple of its eye and has been honing it for decades.

Therefore, the task of Carl Barnett and Patricia Ruanne, to whom the Macmillan Foundation entrusted the production of the Moscow premiere, was doubly difficult. As it turned out, even the experience of performing "Mayerling", another giant from Macmillan, received two years ago, rendered only partial help here.

However, if you do not consider this "Manon" as an example of the British style, which loves the juiciness of everyday details and psychological details, the ballet looks impressive: dozens of people are quite harmoniously inscribed in a compact stage, scenery-curtains, reproduced according to the sketches of Nicholas Georgiadis, beat "the theater in the theater "and give it a royal scope, the orchestra conducted by Anton Grishanin ( music director productions - Felix Korobov) does not sound full-blooded in a ballet way.

But from the very first picture in the inn, it becomes obvious that it is impossible to reproduce all the redundancy of British ballet on the road. Where "with them" any artist of mimams lived a whole fate in the allotted seconds, "with us" one can read only the frightening "people's power". Somewhere under the backdrop, beggars are trampling, as beggars stretch out their arms at the same time on the march, aristocrats pass in friendly formation. Even the spectacular scenes with the participation of the leader of the beggars (Alexey Babaev performed this role well in the dance, a recent successful acquisition of the troupe) lose their savory details. The talented dancer Dmitry Sobolevsky, accustomed to the role of the prince, does not know how to behave in the role of the rogue Lesko, who effectively manages his sister's "career", looking for rich patrons for her, and Valeria Mukhanova in the role of Lesko's Mistress looks not so much vulgar as school-like naive. Yes, and Tatyana Melnik in the title role, whose delightful "Sakharov" legs seem to be created for the beauty of Macmillan's adagios, is simply embarrassed by her Manon.

Preserving bashfulness to the naturalistic kisses of de Grieux in the "bed" adagio, then she tries to maintain an air of offended innocence even at such moments as the seduction of Mr. G.M. "general".

It is not surprising that the English directors decided to strengthen the premiere cast with the invited de Grieux - Alban Lendorf (thus, he created a sensation at the Benois de la Danse last season by dancing fragments from The Lady of the Camellias and La Sylphides). If he were a full-time dancer of a Russian company, he would hardly have been entrusted with anything more than Lesko, but rather, his ambitions would have been limited to the role of the Leader of Beggars: the dancer is short, large in hips and calves, round-faced and touchingly snub-nosed - that is, he is the complete opposite of the ballet prince. But over the six years of Lendorf's career in his native Danish Royal Ballet, he was entrusted not only with Solor, but even with Apollo, Prince Desire and Armand. to the ballet world he became known as one of the brightest artists. In the Moscow "Manon" he not only heroically withstood all the insidious arabesques for his texture, purely twisted anathemically slow pirouettes and easily caught Manon in the most difficult lifts - Lendorf turned out to be the most reliable romantic hero, the only one who managed to sympathize with the Moscow "Manon".

Ballet in four acts

Characters

Manon Lesko

De Grieux, her lover

corporal recruiter

Marquis de Gerville

Police Commissioner

Guard

prison guard

Exiles, ballerinas, soldiers.

Action one.

Stroll in the garden of the Palais Royal. De Grieux meets with Manon, seized with a passion for her. Avid for spectacles and entertainment, basking in the enthusiastic glances of men, envious of fashionistas, Manon at the same time passionately loves de Grieux, although he regrets that he, due to poverty, cannot decorate her with jewels, which ladies strolling through the garden boast about. De Grieux recklessly signs the contract slipped to him by the recruiter, and Manon receives from him the item she likes as a gift.

The Marquis de Gerville, the commander of the regiment, pays favorable attention to Manon, for whom the corporal recruits recruits. He invites her along with her cousin to the performance of the Grand Opera.

The action moves to the theatre. On the stage there is a magnificent ballet with the participation of famous ballerinas. During the performance, de Grieux bursts into the theater. He arranges a scene of jealousy for Manon. Because of the scandal, the performance is interrupted. De Grieux is arrested. Manon, unable to bear everything that happened, faints.

Action two.

House of the Marquis. They bring Manon, bring her to her senses. The Marquis promises to release de Grieux, but takes the word from Manon to participate in a ball he is hosting at his home.

Ball. Cousin informs Manon that de Grieux was nevertheless taken into the soldiers. Manon begs the marquis to terminate the contract with de Grieux.

The marquis agrees, but on the condition that Manon settle in his house and will no longer meet with de Grieux. He promises that he will not seek reciprocity for Manon until she herself feels affection for him. Manon hesitates; and yet, fearing that de Grieux will be sent to war and killed, he agrees. The Marquis leaves the house.

Manon reflects on what happened. Again in her soul there is a struggle between interest in dresses, jewelry and love for de Grieux. A thunderstorm starts. De Grieux himself appears in the window. He is amazed to find Manon in the colonel's house and reproaches her for treason. To prove his loyalty to de Grieux, Manon refuses jewelry, puts on a cloak and is ready to run with her beloved wherever her eyes look, she only asks de Grieux to wait out the bad weather.

In the midst of a love dialogue, the marquis appears. He orders the servants to throw the intruder out the window. De Grieux draws his sword and wounds the Marquis. De Grieux is arrested. The police commissioner orders Manon to be seized and sent to overseas colonies for dissolute behavior.

Action three.

New Orleans. Manon, along with other exiles, is in forced labor. In inconsolable anguish, she looks at the sea, remembering France and her lost love.

De Grieux, who has become a soldier, receives permission from the guard to see Manon. The appearance of the prison guard forces him to hide. The warden offers Manon to become his mistress, promising freedom and " good life". Manon indignantly rejects his advances. The warden threatens her with violence. De Grieux comes to the rescue. He locks the warden in prison and persuades Manon to escape by descending the mountain on a rope. Manon succeeds, but, unfortunately, de Grieux catches the guards. A short fight follows. He is wounded and yet flees. Cannons are fired to celebrate the arrival of a ship from France carrying the new Governor General of Louisiana.

Action four.

Desert. The heroes were exhausted from wanderings, thirst and heat. They exchange wedding rings and swear their love to the grave. Manon's strength is only enough for this oath - she dies. De Grieux is in despair. Soldiers surround him.

The warden orders to seize de Grieux. The Governor-General (this is the Marquis de Gerville) recoils at the sight of the lifeless Manon.

"Dead!" he says. "Dead!" - exclaims de Grieux and falls unconscious on the body of Manon.

Petrushka Libretto by A. Benois and I. Stravinsky

Ballet in one act

Characters

Parsley

Ballerina

arap

Magician

street dancers

Organ grinder

Ukhar-merchant

Two gypsy women, coachmen, cabbies, nurses, merchants, mummers: Baba, Devil, Goat, Hussar, Cook; artisans walking.

Carnival festivities in St. Petersburg. Booths on the Tsaritsyn Meadow. A motley crowd is moving: military men, merchants, St. Petersburg dandies, an old countess with a lackey, pupils of the cadet corps, maids, artisans. Organ grinders and street dancers appear. They are cold, but still start the show. The noise of the celebratory crowd is interrupted by drumming.

Two grenadiers from the era of Nicholas I push back the crowd and open a booth hidden behind a chintz curtain. The magician appears, dressed in an oriental costume. He makes passes and plays the flute.

Inside the booth, three dolls on tripods are visible: on the left is the Arap, in the middle is the Ballerina, on the right is Petrushka. The dolls begin to dance, first in place, and then among the crowd. A ballerina, an empty coquette, dances first with one, then with another. Parsley, jealous of her to the Moor, hits the opponent with a stick.

The light goes out. The curtain falls. Grenadiers appear. Drum roll sounds.

Petrushka's room, grey, unattractive. It's lonely, like a prison cell. There is a piercing scream. With a kick, the Magician pushes Petrushka through the door. He falls to the floor, miserable, miserable. Parsley is crying. The sorcerer is rude and cruel to him, and the Ballerina, whom he loves, is carried away by the Arap. Suddenly, the Ballerina appears. Parsley is happy! He is joyfully spinning from an excess of happiness. Oh joy, it has finally arrived! But the Ballerina does not intend to linger in Petrushka's room. Not understanding his joy, she fearfully backs away to the door and leaves.

Petrushka is alone again and no one needs him. In desperation, he rushes to the portrait of the ruthless magician host, threatening him.

What to do? No exit. In a frenzy, Petrushka breaks through the wall of his room. The sounds of an accordion can be heard in the distance. There is life and fun!

Darkness. The grenadiers come out again and beat the drums.

Arap's room with colorful exotic patterns on the walls. The lazy black man, lying on the ottoman, is having fun with a large coconut. He likes that something is noisy in the nut, and he tries to split it with his curved saber. He does not succeed, then he begins to pray. In a nut, supernatural power is a deity for a stupid Arap.

The door opens and the Ballerina appears on the threshold. She plays a cheerful melody on the clarinet. The arap is dissatisfied with her appearance and does not hide it. But the Ballerina defeats him with her coquetry. Arap tries to hug her. Suddenly the door swings open and Petrushka rushes in with a piercing cry. He runs around the room in a frenzy. Arap pushes Petrushka out.

The ballerina admires the courage and strength of the Arap and falls into his arms.

The fraction of grenadier drums.

Another carnival celebration. It's evening. In a slow, as if sliding dance, a line of nurses passes, they are replaced by a bear guide, then a drunken merchant with two young gypsies. The merchant squanders money. Dancing to keep warm, coachmen and grooms. The mummers run in.

The dance and fun are interrupted. Something is happening behind the chintz curtain of the booth: as if someone wants to break out into the wild. Finally, the frightened Petrushka runs out, overtaken by the Moor. Arap kills Petrushka. It's called the watchman. The Magician appears and explains to the audience that this is just a puppet, nothing more. He shows Petrushka's body stuffed with sawdust. Everyone disperses. Suddenly, a piercing scream is heard in the silence. Illuminated by the moon, Petrushka appears on the roof of the booth; he shakes his fists at his tormentors.

Flames of Paris (Triumph of the Republic) Libretto by N. Volkov and V. Dmitriev

Ballet in four acts

Characters

Gaspar, peasant

Jeanne and Pierre, his children

Philip and Jerome, Marseillais

Marquis Costa de Beauregard

Count Geoffroy, his son

Marquis estate manager

Mireille de Poitiers, actress

Antoine Mistral, actor

Amur, court theater actress

King Louis XVI

Queen Marie Antoinette

Master of Ceremonies

Jacobin orator

National Guard Sergeant

Marseilles, Parisians, courtiers, ladies, officers of the royal guard, Swiss, huntsmen.