Classical ballet in three acts
Set in the time of the French Revolution and sweeping in its power and tempo, Flames of Paris could be called one of the most successful Soviet ballets; at the initial performances, every last member of the audience stood up and joined the artists in singing La Marseillaise. In that time and place this joint effort by composer Boris Asafyev, librettists Nikolai Volkov and Vladimir Dmitriev, and choreographer Vasily Vainonen to create a genuine ballet drama was considered innovative. This emblematic ballet story requires the dancers simultaneously to be capable of demonstrating a high level of skill at both classical ballet technique and character portrayal. At the Budapest Opera it was last put on in 1977, now in a new production featuring sets by Oleg Molchanov (based on original designs by Vyacheslav Okunev) and costumes by Nóra Rományi, Michael Messerer reconceives the piece for the Hungarian National Ballet.
The cast features Tatiana Melnik (Jeanne), Gergely Leblanc (Philippe), Anna Krupp (Mireille de Poitiers), Gergő Ármin Balázsi (Antoine Mistral), Mikalai Radziush (Costa de Beauregard), Levente Bajári (Louis XVI), Sofia Ivanova-Skoblikova (Thérése), Yourim Lee (Amour), Alekszandr Komarov (Gaspard), Zsuzsanna Papp (Marie Antoinette), Boris Myasnikov (Master of ceremonies) and dancers of the Hungarian National Ballet (répétiteur: Evgeny Popov). The Hungarian State Opera Orchestra is conducted by Balázs Kocsár.
The recording was made on 6 February 2021 at the Erkel Theatre.