Балетите от руски композитори като обект за клавирни преработки и специфичният им прочит в транскрипциите на Михаил Плетньов
Russian Ballets – an Object of Piano Transcriptions and the Specific Interpretation of Mikhail Pletnev as an Arranger

Summary/Abstract: Musical and stage works of the most important Russian composers from the second half of the 19th and the 20th century occupy a prominent place in the treasury of world musical art. To a large extent, the brightest opera and ballet models determine the general tendencies in musical-stage genres’ development during different periods and stylistic directions characteristic for them. In regard to this, parts of ballets are often transcribed, as well as ballet episodes and orchestral interludes from operas, distinguished by their characteristic and special position in the overall dramaturgy of the work. Numerous original piano transcriptions are known, as well as adaptations of foreign works. In concert practice, wide popularity has been gained by piano transcriptions of characteristic fragments of stage works by famous Russian artists such as Mikhail Glinka, Modest Mussorgsky, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Rodion Shchedrin. In particular, the specific objects of large-scale cyclical piano transcriptions by Mikhail Pletnev – P. I. Tchaikovsky’s ballets “The Nutcracker” and “Sleeping Beauty” – are extremely fertile territory for transcribing. M. Pletnev has the enviable self-confidence and justified courage of a creative person, who reaches for an already well-developed object of transcriptions. His extensive erudition and competence as a pianist, conductor and composer allow him to create samples of high artistic and instrumental value, which occupy a prominent place in these large-scale series – part of the world’s piano literature. An even more telling example is the ballet “Cinderella” by S. Prokofiev with the existing orchestral suites, and three cycles of original piano transcriptions. M. Pletnev’s concert suite for two pianos was created by a conductor who has a sufficiently competent view of the author’s orchestral suites, and at the same time by a pianist who is directly acquainted with the author’s piano cycles. In fact, the original source is obviously the orchestral score. From then on, thanks to the free placement, construction and combination of thematic material, we could talk about fantasy pieces on themes from the ballet “Cinderella”, that are new creative contributions to the instrumental interpretation of the ballet.

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