My daughter Little J is learning this piece by composer Rimsky Korsakov lately, the practice of which is hard and no perfection comes easily. I searched around and found my favorite for little J - Maksim's piano version, hoping she enjoys the legend pianist playing the legend piece the same as I have always been. :)
MTV version
Maksim World Premiere Performance version
Story of the piece (English intro written by Betty Fry):
The fairy tale opera from which it comes ‘The Tale of Tsar Salta' is based on a poem by the Russian poet, Alexander Pushkin. Tsar Saltan's son, Guidon, is washed up on a desert island. Even so, he rescues an enchanted princess, and all ends happily.
In this famous orchestral interlude, Guidon has turned into a bumblebee to pursue and sting two villainous aunts who have persecuted him.
Technically it is a wonderful study in the use of chromatic runs – using all the notes in the octave. Violins and then flutes portray the magically transformed Guidon, sounding just like the little furry creature with these dizzying sequences.
Besides the orchestral version, ‘Flight of the Bumblebee' has been arranged for almost every instrument from the accordion to the xylophone. One of the most renowned performances was recorded by the virtuoso pianist Gyorgy Cziffra.
When the opera first appeared in English on a New York stage in 1937, it was renamed ‘The Bumblebee Prince' after this well know extract from the work.
《野蜂飛舞》是人們在音樂會上經常能聽到的器樂獨奏曲。可是裏姆斯基·科薩科夫當初並不是作為獨奏曲來寫它的。它原來是歌劇《薩爾丹王的故事》第三幕第二場裏的一段戲劇音樂。
四幕歌劇《薩爾丹王的故事》寫成於1900年。它是根據俄國著名詩人普希金的神話小說改編而成的。故事說的是：從前，在民間有三姐妹，大姐和二姐都好吃懶做，愛虛榮，還幻想有一天能當上皇後。她們什麽重活都不幹，全部推給三妹米利特利莎來做。薩爾丹王娶了米利特利莎後，讓她的兩個姐姐一個在皇宮做織布工，一個當廚娘。兩個姐姐嫉妒妹妹，決心害死妹妹。
不久，米利特利莎有了身孕，而薩爾丹王因為出征，沒能見到小王子出生。兩個姐姐給薩爾丹王寫信，誣告皇後生下的是一隻怪獸。薩爾丹王聽信讒言，以為是妖魔脫胎，緊急派使者回宮，降旨將皇後母子裝進木桶投入大海。
這個木桶被投進大海之後，沒有沉下去，卻漂到一個叫布陽島的孤島上。王後母子死裏逃生，在這個孤島上相依為命，生活了十幾年，母親給孩子起名叫格維冬。
王子長成為一個漂亮、勇敢的青年。有一天，空中有一個兀鷹正襲擊一隻天鵝，王子發現後立即營救。他用弓射中了兀鷹，這時天鵝竟變成了一個美麗的公主，並向救他的青年表示要報恩。原來，她是中了魔法才變成天鵝的。王子表示希望能見到父王，公主前來相助。根據她的建議，王子化作一隻野蜂，隨一艘開往特摩塔拉康尼的輪船飛去了。
薩爾丹王認識到錯誤後，派人到各海島尋找無辜的王後和王子，但是織布工和廚娘千方百計阻止薩爾丹王派人尋找。於是，化作野蜂的的格維冬痛蜇她們。《野蜂飛舞》這支曲子是野蜂襲擊織布工和廚娘時的戲劇音樂，它是a小調，活潑的快板，樂曲從快速下行的半音階開始，然後是上下翻滾的音流，生動地描繪了野蜂振翅疾飛，襲擊那兩個壞人的情景。
現在歌劇《薩爾丹王的故事》很少上演。但是，它裏麵的這首戲劇配樂卻成為音樂會上經常出現的獨奏曲目，因為演奏它能表現快速技巧。
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