Perséphone (Stravinsky)

"Perséphone" ("Persephone") is a musical work ("mélodrame") for speaker, solo singers, chorus, dancers and orchestra with music by Igor Stravinsky and a libretto by André Gide.

It was first performed under the direction of the composer at the Opéra, Paris on April 30 1934 in a double bill with the ballet "Diane de Poitiers" by Jacques Ibert. The premiere was staged by the ballet company of Ida Rubinstein, with Rubinstein herself dancing and speaking the part of Persephone and the tenor René Maison singing Eumolphe.

Roles

*Eumolphe, tenor René Maison
*Perséphone, ballerina Ida Rubinstein
*Demetra-Dometer, ballerina Krakowska
*Mercure, dancer Anatole Viltzak
*Pluton, dancer
*Démophoon, dancer

ynopsis

It tells the story of the Greek goddess Persephone in three parts:
*1. "L'enlèvement de Perséphone" (The Abduction of Persephone);
*2. "Perséphone aux Enfers" (Persephone in the Underworld);
*3. "Renaissance de Perséphone" (Rebirth of Persephone).

ources

* [http://www.amadeusonline.net/almanacco.php?Start=0&Giorno=30&Mese=04&Anno=1934&Giornata=&Testo=&Parola=Stringa Amadeus Almanac, accessed 1 August 2008]
*"The Viking Opera Guide" ed. Holden (Viking, 1993)