About the work
Poème dansé in one act by Paul Dukas, choreographed by Ivan Clustine for the dancer Natalia Trouhanova. It premiered on 22 April 1912 at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, with Dukas himself conducting the Concerts Lamoureux; originally intended for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, it was performed without the company after a falling-out between the dancer and the impresario.
Plot
Alexander the Great (Iskender) searches the ends of the earth for the flower of immortality and finds it with a sleeping Péri, a Persian mythical spirit. He takes the flower from her, but the awakened Péri beguiles him with her dance until he returns it to her – forfeiting his own life, while she rises to her spiritual destiny.
Cultural significance
For the premiere, Dukas wrote a separate opening fanfare that is still performed on its own today. Enthusiastically received at its first performance, the work is considered his last completed major score; friends only narrowly dissuaded the self-critical composer from destroying it out of doubt over its quality.