description The Stone Flower Overview
Benjamin Britten’s *The Stone Flower*, choreographed by Derek Bullock, depicts a tragic love story set in rural China during the Japanese invasion, utilizing sparse staging and evocative music to portray hardship and resilience.
help The Stone Flower FAQ
Who wrote the music for The Stone Flower ballet?
Sergei Prokofiev wrote The Tale of the Stone Flower, his eighth and last ballet, between 1948 and 1953. The scenario by Mira Mendelson and Leonid Lavrovsky draws on Pavel Bazhov's Ural tales in The Malachite Box. [Chandos Records](https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%2010058)
What is the plot of The Stone Flower?
The stone carver Danila wants to create a perfect malachite flower or bowl, but his artistic ambition brings him into the realm of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain. His love for Katerina is the human thread that pulls him back from that supernatural world. [Mariinsky Theatre](https://operaandballet.com/performance/Sergei_Prokofiev__Stone_Flower__ballet_i/)
When was The Stone Flower first performed?
The first production opened at Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre on 12 February 1954, with choreography by Leonid Lavrovsky. Yuri Grigorovich's revised 1957 staging for the Kirov or Mariinsky company became the best-known later version. [Ballet Archive](https://ballet-archive.tosei-showa-music.ac.jp/works/view/33)
Is The Stone Flower set in China during the Japanese invasion?
No. Prokofiev's ballet is based on Pavel Bazhov's Russian Ural folk tale, not a wartime Chinese story. Its setting combines a Ural mining community with the fantastical domain of the Copper Mountain. [Chandos Records](https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%2010058)
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