Eugene (Konstantin Zverev) looks down at the flooded Neva
Gliere’s ballet “The Bronze Horseman” was revived at the Mariinsky last night. A Pushkin tale of how Peter the Great built St.Petersburg, and of the real flood in 1824 that destroyed large parts of the city. It is centred around the statue built by Falconet and sited in Senate Square. The plinth incidentally, in the largest rock ever moved into position by humans. The ballet,for which Gliere wrote the music in 1948, is a three hour extravaganza with awesome dancing, effects, and stage sets. It really is a Petersburg ballet, with local legends stating that if the statue is removed, St.Petersburg will fall. Since the city underwent tremendous stresses over the centures, the legend has remained true.
The orchestral suite derived from the ballet can be heard here.
Dancing around the famous Bronze Horseman statue of Peter the Great
Parasha, danced by the excellent Viktoria Tereshkina, and Eugene (Konstantin Zverev)