Prokofiev's final ballet, The Stone Flower, was conceived at a time when the composer's health was in serious decline and his reputation with Soviet authorities in tatters. In January 1948, the composer—along with such prominent Soviet colleagues as Shostakovich and Khachaturian—was summoned to appear at a meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. The composers were attacked by Andrei Zhdanov and other party overlords for writing formalist and anti-democratic music. It was reported that Prokofiev sat defiantly with his back turned to the speaker as the charges were read. From this point, performances of his works in the Soviet Union were rare. Moreover, until his death in 1953, he not only had to be wary of every note he put to paper, but his precarious situation demanded that he also choose only inoffensive, politically safe subject matter for his stage works. Not surprisingly, then, Prokofiev selected a fairy-tale theme for his last ballet, setting it with appropriately light and colorful music.

The Stone Flower (1948-1953) takes place in the Ural Mountains, where the stonecutter Danilo temporarily forsakes his betrothed, Katerina, to accompany the Mistress of Copper Mountain to her realm. There she shows him a legendary flower made of stone. Danilo becomes determined to carve one like it in malachite, a deep green marble-like mineral native to Russia. Meanwhile, Katarina is harassed by the story's villain, the drunken Severyan. The Mistress of Copper Mountain captures him and compels the ground to open and swallow him whole. Katarina searches for Danilo and finds him, but their reunion is spoiled when the Mistress becomes upset that he wants to leave the mountain paradise now that he has learned the secret of making the stone flower. In the end, however, Danilo gains the Mistress' respect through his love for and fidelity to Katarina, and the lovers depart to live happily ever after.

As suggested above, Prokofiev's score, one of the most approachable of his major works, is rather direct and uncomplicated. The work is rich with memorable tunes, most notably the one at the opening associated with the Mistress of Copper Mountain, which recurs throughout the ballet. Three successive dances present some of the most striking music in the score: No. 31 "Russian Dance," No. 32, "Gypsy Dance," and No. 33, "Severyan's Dance." In the end, The Stone Flower may not rank with Prokofiev's earlier ballet masterpieces, Romeo and Juliet (1935-1936) and Cinderella (1940-1944), but it is distinguished by a certain melodic and rhythmic charm; and while it blazes no new compositional trails, neither does it contain any obvious flaws.

Prokofiev extracted three orchestral works from the ballet in 1951: the Wedding Suite, Op. 126; Gypsy Fantasy, Op. 127; and Ural Rhapsody, Op. 128. The composer died shortly after completing revisions to a pas de deux in the ballet's final act.

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