Firma Melodiya presents a recording of Arif Melikovs Legend of Love, one of the most outstanding works of Soviet ballet theatre. Legend of Love (19581961) was one of the first large-scale works written by the 28-year-old composer, but it was this ballet that brought him worldwide fame. The ballet was commissioned by the Kirov (now Mariinsky) Opera and Ballet Theatre and created in close collaboration with its co-authors choreographer Yuri Grigorovich, librettist Nâzim Hikmet, set designer Semyon Virsaladze and conductor Niyazi. Following a triumphant premiere in 1961 in Leningrad, Legend of Love was produced at the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre and then staged at many theatres of the USSR, Europe and the world. The popularity of the ballet based on the Persian legend Khosrow and Shirin about tragic love and self-sacrifice has not waned. The recording was made by the Big Symphony Orchestra of All-Union Radio and Central Television of the USSR conducted by young Valery Gergiev in 1988.