Carmen-Suite for Stringorchestra and Percussion Instruments

The composer Rodion Shchedrin, who was born in Moscow in 1932, overcame his initial shyness and rearranged Bizet's music - to a full-length ballet music, which he wrote for his wife Maya Plissezkaja, the long-time prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theatre. The premiere took place on April 20, 1967 in Moscow - and it was anything but a success.

Too many bare legs

In 1967, it was not only the Western world that experienced the departure into a new way of life. The figure of the erotic Carmen, who Maya Plissetzkaja danced in Moscow in 1967, was something of a sexual revolution for the then socialist society - only in classical ballet. A scandal! Too much bare legs, lewd supports and hardly any clothing. Carmen, this independent, freedom-loving, bold and dangerous art figure, has always fascinated Maya Plissetzkaya. She dreamed all her life of embodying this character on stage.

"Your Carmen will die!"

The "Carmen Suite" for strings and 47 percussion instruments was created in just 20 days. However, the premiere was as unfortunate as that of Bizets 92 years earlier. And it was not only the erotic allusions that were contrary to the socialist cultural bonanzas. "Your Carmen will die!" said the Soviet Minister of Culture after the premiere at the Bolshoi Theatre.

But Plissezkaya countered: "Carmen dies when I die!" And he was right. Maya Plissezkaya danced Shchedrin's "Carmen" about 350 times. The last time was in 1990 at the age of 65. The "Carmen Suite" is the most famous work of Rodion Shchedrin. According to statistics, it is either played live or broadcast on the radio anywhere in the world every day.