Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian (1903-78) conceived Masquerade as incidental music for a 1941 production of Lermontov’s play. Despite the tragic subject (suspected infidelity leading to murder), the score features some of Khachaturian’s most attractive and glittering music and a substantial proportion, such as the Waltz and the Nocturne, is familiar in the concert hall and on record.

This production of the ballet, vividly filmed in 1985, stars the brilliant young artists of the Armenian Alexander Spendaryan State Academy conducted with passion by Ter-Voskanian.

Cast:
- Arbenin: Nikita Dolgushin
- Nina: Svetlana Smirnova
- Prince Zvezdich: Sergei Baranov
- Baroness Shtral: Natalia Barisheva
- Shprikh: Alexander Koreniak
- The Stranger: Raphael Avnikian