Did you know that Wednesday Addams plays Russian music in the hit Netflix show?

The story of its creation was surrounded by passions of almost Shakespearean proportions. At one point, Sergei Prokofiev, having lived in Europe for 17 years, began to think about returning to his homeland in the early 1930s. So, he initially went to the Soviet Union several times on tour. The composer learned that the Kirov Theater in Leningrad (now the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg) was going to stage ‘Romeo and Juliet’.

Non-dancing Shakespeare

The idea of ​​writing music for a ballet based on Shakespeare's famous story captured Prokofiev and he began working on a libretto. But, the creators of the play decided to stage it… with a happy ending! In the finale, the heroes not only remained alive, but had also preserved their love.

The idea was, however, too bold for those times. So, they decided not to stage the ballet. But, not only because of the libretto. There was another reason – the so-called “fight against formalism”, which unfolded in 1936 in the Soviet press.

The reason was the works of another Soviet composer – a certain Dmitry Shostakovich. “The music in the ballet… has absolutely nothing in common with either the collective farms or Kuban! …it jingles and expresses nothing,” was how ‘The Bright Stream’ was criticized in the press. Critics also wrote that the opera ‘Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District’ was “leftist confusion, instead of natural, human music”.

The production – even with the already classical Shakespearean finale – was first rejected by the Kirov Theater and then by the Bolshoi Theater (both considered it to be “too non-danceable a work”). In anticipation of the production, Prokofiev arranged his music for the ballet into orchestral suites. And, in 1938, the world premiere took place. Not in the USSR, but in Czechoslovakia. Suddenly, it turned out that, for the theater in Brno, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was quite musical and danceable. Soviet viewers, however, had to wait until 1940 to see the ballet.

‘There is no sadder story in the world’

“There is no sadder story in the world than Prokofiev’s music in the ballet,” they joked darkly about ‘Romeo and Juliet’. A few weeks before the premiere, the Kirov Theater orchestra, fearing failure, refused to play. During rehearsals, the dancers tried to hum melodies more familiar to them, instead of the composer’s innovative music. But, their fears were in vain. The production received the ‘Stalin Prize’ and, in 1946, the premiere took place at the Bolshoi Theater. Since then, the ballet has not left the world stage and is considered one of Sergei Prokofiev’s most famous works.

And its most popular number is the solemn and ominous ‘Dance of the Knights’. A fragment of it is sampled in Robbie Williams’ hit song ‘Party like a Russian’.

Recently, viewers of the TV show ‘Wednesday’ heard the familiar notes. The main character plays Prokofiev’s music in an empty music room. It’s immersed in darkness and only the moonlight catches the empty music stands and the standing piano.

The music plays until Wednesday's string breaks: "Prokofiev has this effect on everyone," comments her music teacher, who enters the classroom at that moment. You can't argue.