The Ballet Gayane by A. I. Khachaturian: From the History of the 1952 Production

The article is devoted to one of the most significant pages in the history of Soviet musical theatre — A. I. Khachaturyan’s ballet Gayane, staged in 1952 at the Leningrad Kirov Opera and Ballet Theatre, which became the classics of the XXth century. In addition to the historical review, some elements of the reconstruction of the scenic composition are considered, and the details of the performance and the history of its staging are brought into the scientific field in this paper. This ballet has become a showpiece in the history of Russian (Soviet) ballet, as it has not left the stage for more than 4 years. The research is based on archival materials and periodicals of recent years. The archival data used in this paper, including the minutes of the meeting devoted to the preview of the ballet on 1951 June 80 and other documents, allow to show a large part of the history of this production and to provide material for reconstructing the artistic images of the performance, which is important both for researchers of the composer’s work and of the ballet Gayane, as well as for the study of the history of ballet theatre in our country. Some of the participants in the performance are mentioned for the first time, as are some details of the rehearsal and staging process.