Adagio from "Spartacus" Ballet

The concept of the ballet Spartacus emerged in Khachaturian's mind during the war, at the end of 1941. His idea found the support of librettist Nikolai Volkov, ballet master Igor Moiseyev and theatre artist Fyodor Fedorovsky, attracted by the legendary martial image, which sounded very topical in the then situation. In fact, as early as 1933, Nikolai Volkov had begun work on this libretto, drawing on the historical texts of Plutarch and Juvenal, as well as Raffaello Giovagnoli's famous novel. But wartime hostilities delayed the realisation of the project and it was not until 1950, inspired by a trip to Rome where he experienced the actual sites of historical events, that Khachaturian began to compose the work. He spent several years working on the score and completed it in early February 1954. It was premiered on the stage of the Kirov Theatre of Opera and Ballet (Mariinsky Theatre) on December 27^th, 1956, with choreography by the famous balletmaster Leonid Yakobson, whose approach sought maximum historical verisimilitude - the ballet dancers would dance not on their toes but with Roman sandals. Two years later, on March 11^th, 1958, the ballet was also staged at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, with choreography by Igor Moiseyev, and on April 9^th, 1968 came a production by the celebrated Yuri Grigorovich, who choreographed a new, completely different version of the libretto. Ever since, the ballet has been a fixture in the repertoire of both major theatres. As early as 1955 Khachaturian derived four orchestral suites from the music of Spartacus. Particularly popular was the Adagio from the Second Suite - taken from the love scene of Spartacus and Phrygia in the ballet's Act II. This Adagio is one of the favourite pieces in the concert orchestral repertoire and has been repeatedly featured in film and television productions in various countries around the world.