''The Fountain of Bakhchisarai'' (

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

: Бахчисарайский фонтан) is a full-length ballet in four acts, choreographed by

Rostislav Zakharov Rostislav Vladimirovich Zakharov (russian: Ростислав Владимирович Захаров; September 7, 1907 – January 15, 1984) was a Soviet and Russian choreographer, ballet dancer and opera director. He was a professor at the Russia ...

to music by

Boris Asafyev Boris Vladimirovich Asafyev (russian: link=no, Бори́с Влади́мирович Аса́фьев; 27 January 1949) was a Russian and Soviet composer, writer, musicologist, musical critic and one of founders of Soviet musicology. He is the ...

. The libretto by Nikolai Volkov is based on the 1823 poem of the same title by

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

. The ballet premiered on 28 September 1934 at the Kirov Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet, with

Galina Ulanova Galina Sergeyevna Ulanova (russian: Галина Сергеевна Уланова, ; 21 March 1998) was a Russian ballet dancer. She is frequently cited as being one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century. Biography Ulanova was born ...

as Maria, Olga Iordan as Zarema, Mikhail Dudko as Khan Girey, and

Konstantin Sergeyev Konstantin Mikhaylovich Sergeyev (russian: Константин Михайлович Сергеев; 5 March 1910 (20 February Old Style) – 1 April 1992) was a Russian danseur, artistic director and choreographer for the Kirov Theatre. When th ...

as Vaslav. Bakhchysarai is in the

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

, near

Yalta Yalta (: Я́лта) is a resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Cri ...

. The

Bakhchisaray Palace The Khan's Palace ( tr, Han Sarayı) or Hansaray is located in the town of Bakhchysarai, Crimea. It was built in the 16th century and became home to a succession of Crimean Khans. The walled enclosure contains a mosque, a harem, a cemetery, livi ...

was originally built in the sixteenth century and has been repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt since. The fountain, which still stands in a courtyard, is called the Fountain of Tears.

Synopsis

The ballet opens at Bakhchisarai Palace, where Khan Girey is seated surrounded by his court. Dancers try to entertain him but he is oblivious to his surroundings, staring at water trickling from a fountain. The scene shifts back in time to the palace of a Polish nobleman, where a ball is being held for the engagement of Maria, the daughter of the house, to the young noble Vaslav. Suddenly lurking Tartars led by Khan Girey scale the walls and attack the guests. After a vicious fight in which the Khan kills Vaslav, the palace is looted and torched and the women carried away as part of the booty. Maria hides her face, but the Khan tears away her scarf and is mesmerized by her beauty. The Khan and his warriors return to Bakhchisarai Palace where he is greeted by Zarema, his harem favorite. While Zarema, who obviously loves him, is overjoyed at his return, the Khan ignores her completely in his preoccupation with Maria. He has Maria installed in an apartment isolated from the harem and visits her there. Laying his heart at her feet he tries to make her love him, but Maria is appalled and rejects him. In their brief struggle the Khan's hat falls to the floor. The Khan returns to the court where Zarema tries to win his attention by dancing for him, but he rejects her and she collapses in despair. During the night Zarema steals out of the harem and past the guards to visit Maria in her chamber. She tries to tell Maria how desperately she loves the Khan, finally drawing a concealed dagger to stab her unwilling rival. At first afraid, Maria stands before Zarema and opens her arms wide, showing Zarema that she would welcome death. Zarema is stunned and falls to the ground. Maria tries to comfort her, but Zarema has seen the Khan's hat on the floor. Fearing the worst, she is again inflamed with jealousy. As the Khan and his guards rush in to try and stop her, Zarema breaks free and stabs Maria to death. The Khan draws his own dagger to kill Zarema, but she kneels down in front of him and offers her chest to the knife, just as Maria did. The Khan cannot kill her, but commands the guards to take her away to be flung to her death from the palace walls. In the court, Khan Girey sits, devastated, and stares at the Fountain of Tears, as his orders are carried out.

Popular culture

The '' Stars of the Russian Ballet'' is a 1953 Soviet film production that includes abridged versions of '' Swan Lake'', ''The Fountain of Bakhchisarai'' and ''

Flames of Paris ''Flames of Paris'' or ''The Flames of Paris'' (russian: Пла́мя Пари́жа) is a full-length ballet in four acts, choreographed by Vasily Vainonen with the stage director Sergei Radlov to music by Boris Asafyev based on songs of the ...

''. In the film the roles were danced by

(Maria),

Maya Plisetskaya Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya (russian: link=no, Майя Михайловна Плисецкая; 20 November 1925 – 2 May 2015) was a Soviet and Russian ballet dancer, choreographer, ballet director, and actress. In post-Soviet times, she he ...

(Zarema), Pyotr Gusev (Khan Girey), and Yuri Zhdanov (Vaslav). This is the only known footage of Ulanova and Plisetskaya, who succeeded Ulanova as ''

prima ballerina assoluta ''Prima ballerina assoluta'' is a title awarded to the most notable of female ballet dancers. To be recognised as a ''prima ballerina assoluta'' is a rare honour, traditionally reserved only for the most exceptional dancers of their generatio ...

'' of the Bolshoi Theatre, dancing together.

Notes

Reviews

NY Times
by

Anna Kisselgoff Anna Kisselgoff (born 12 January 1938) is a dance critic and cultural news reporter for ''The New York Times''. She began at the ''Times'' as a dance critic and cultural news reporter in 1968, and became its Chief Dance Critic in 1977, a role she h ...

, Saturday, July 10, 1999

film reviews

NY Times, September 6, 1954

by Jennifer Dunning,: January 29, 1984

External links

YouTube: Ulanova and Plisetskaya in excerpts from the ballet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fountain Of Bakhchisarai, The Ballets by Boris Asafyev Ballets by Rostislav Zakharov 1934 ballet premieres Works based on poems Adaptations of works by Alexander Pushkin