The Red Poppy

"The Red Poppy" ( _ru. Красный мак) or sometimes "The Red Flower" ( _ru. Красный цветок) is a ballet in three acts and an apotheosis; score written by Reinhold Glière and a scenario by Mikhail Kurilko. This ballet was created in 1927 as the first Soviet ballet with a modern revolutionary theme.

ynopsis

The ballet takes place at a seaport in 1930s-era Kuomintang China. A ship carrying sailors from many lands, including Russia is docked in a Chinese seaport. The captain notices a group of half-starved, overworked Coolies being brutally driven to work even harder by their cruel harbormaster. One night while dancing for the sailors aboard the ship, the beautiful Tao-Hoa notices a Russian captain trying to rescue the poor Coolies from the port commander. Impressed by the captain's act of kindness she gives him a red poppy as a symbol of her love. When Tao's employer, Li Shan-Fu learns of this, he is jealous and orders her to kill the captain. She refuses, sacrifices her life for the captain's, and is later killed by her employer when a riot breaks out on the dock. As she dies, she gives another red poppy flower to a young Chinese girl as a sign of love and freedom.

Music Order & Versions

Act One:

Introduction

Coolies' Dance

Tao-Hoa's Entrance Restaurant Scene

Malik's Dance

Boston Waltz

Scene of European Dance

Captain's Entrance and Sailors Dance

Tao-Hoa's Scene

Variation with Gold Fingers

Coolies' Victory Dance

Dance of the Soviet Sailors:Apple

Act Two:

Introduction - Scene in the Smoking Room

Scene

Dance of the Chinese Women

Adagio of Four Goddesses

Adagio

Prelude

Tao-Hoa's Vision

Procession Scene

Sword Dance

Phoenix

Adagio

The Rose Ship

Act Three:

Charleston

Dance in the Resterant

Preparation of the Chinese Theather

Umbrella Dance

Puppet Dance

Chinese Acrobats' Dance

The Conspiracy

Scene of Confusion

Captain's Scene

Tao-Hoa's Scene: The Departing Ship

Rebellion Scene

Death of Tao-Hoa

Apotheosis

Versions

There have been three main versions:
* 1927 - Choreography by Lev Lashchilin (1st and 3rd Acts) and Vasily Tikhomirov (2nd Act). First performance on 14 June 1927 in the Bolshoi Theatre.
* 1949 - Choreography by Leonid Lavrovsky. Scenario was rewritten by Yermolayev. First performance on 30 December 1949 in the Bolshoi Theatre.
* 1957 - Choreography and scenario by Tikhomirov and Kurilko. The ballet was renamed "The Red Flower", the number of scenes was increased from 8 to 13 and the first performance was 24 November 1957 in the Bolshoi Theatre.

Characters

* Tao-Hoa (Yekaterina Geltzer (1927), Viktorina Kriger (1927), Galina Ulanova (1949 and 1957), Olga Lepeshinskaya (1949)).
* Soviet Captain (Alexey Bulgakov (1927), Alexander Radunsky (1949 and 1957)).
* Ma Lichen, introduced in the staging of 1949. (Yury Kondratov (1949 and 1957), Mikhail Gabovich (1949)).
* Li Shan-fu (Ivan Smoltsov (1927), Sergey Koren (1949 and 1957), Alexey Yermolayev (1949)).
* Chinese prestidigitator (Asaf Messerer (1927)).
* Harbormaster (Ivan Sidorov (1927)).

Other performances

* 1929 in Leningrad by Leningradsky Theatre of opera and ballet and in 1949 and 1958 by Kirov Ballet;
* 1943 by Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo;
* 1928 and 1930 in Sverdlovsk;
* 1928, 1949 and 1958 in Saratov;
* 1941 and 1950 in Gorki;
* 1946 in Baku by Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre;
* 1949 in Perm;
* 1950 and 1961 in Kuybyshev;
* 1950 in Novosibirsk;
* 1962 in Volgograd.