А.С. Аренский как автор одноактного балета «Египетские ночи» («Ночь в Египте», «Клеопатра»)

The analysis is addressed to the little-known side of A.S. Arensky's creative work — the only ballet he wrote, "Egyptian Nights" ("Night in Egypt"). The timeliness of the stated topic is due to the special interest in the composer's personality and works, as the 165th anniversary of his birth is to be celebrated in 2026. One-act ballets with oriental themes, which were staged at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, attract the attention of specialists in their own right. However, the musical and choreographic work "Egyptian Nights" is rarely considered by art historians. The purpose of this work is to identify the features of A.S. Arensky's ballet "Night in Egypt" with a focus on the composer's interpretation of the plot of the novella by J.P.T. Gautier, which served as the basis for the libretto. Using methods of analysis, synthesis, and comparison, the differences in the key characteristics of the main characters, Cleopatra and the young man Amun, are revealed. A.S. Arensky endows the Egyptian queen with the features of a demigoddess, while in the novel by the French writer, her figure is more realistic. The article provides information about the new characters included by the composer. One of these characters is Verenika, Amun's bride. The article suggests that during the preparation of the production of "Night in Egypt," A.S. Arensky drew inspiration from the unfinished work of A.S. Pushkin with the same title. The article provides evidence of the thematic parallels that exist in both the ballet and the poet's literary work, but are absent in the novella by P.J.T. Gautier. Attention is paid to the content of the final scene of the musical and choreographic work, which was altered by A.S. Arensky. Following the trends of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the composer chose to replace Amun's death with his "resurrection" after drinking a poisoned beverage.