Spartacus (ballet)

Spartacus (scenes from Roman life ) is a full-length ballet of the Soviet- Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian.

Work and reception

The ballet was originally composed of four acts and nine images. The libretto by Nikolai Volkov. Spartacus was premiered on December 27, 1956 by Ballet of the Kirov Theatre in Leningrad, today Mariinsky Theatre, with choreography by Leonid Jakobson. For the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, a version of which was choreographed in three acts, 1968 by Yuri Grigorovich. This version prevailed generally.

The ballet inspired by the life of the Thracian gladiator Spartacus, the slave revolt was put down 71 BC in the south of the Italian peninsula and was executed along with about 6000 other rebellious slaves by crucifixion. Interwoven with the political events is the love story between Spartacus and his wife Phrygia. Appears as another historical person as Spartacus ' counterpart of the Roman general Crassus. He and his lover Aegina form the Contra pair of Spartacus and Phrygia.

Spartacus is one of the most successful Soviet ballets ever. It was able to prevail in the West and remains one of the standard repertoire of the great ballet companies. Shostakovich presented Khachaturian's music for Spartacus still on the success of his other ballet Gayane ". The most valuable thing in this ballet is the enormous expressive power of music, their powers of persuasion and emotion " (Translated by Eberhard Rebling ). Especially popular music of the pas de deux from Spartacus and Phrygia ( Adagio ) from the third act was The BBC used it as the title music for the television series " Onedin Line".

Course of action ( Bolshoi version of 1968)

Act I

Second Act

Act Three

Recordings

  • Spartacus. RIAS Chamber Chorus, Deutsches Symphonie -Orchester Berlin under Michail Jurowski. 2 CD
  • Ballet Music
  • Music 1956
  • Spartacus
  • Reception of antiquity
  • Work of Aram Khachaturian
Ivan Vasiliev Armenians Mariinsky Ballet Thracians The Onedin Line Rundfunk im amerikanischen Sektor Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin Integrated Authority File
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