Jeu de cartes is a ballet in three « deals » by Igor Stravinsky, composed in 1936–37, with the story by the composer in collaboration with M. Malaieff and choreography by George Balanchine. The ballet was premiered by the American Ballet at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York City, on April 27, 1937, with the composer conducting. The European premier was on 13 October 1937 at the Dresden Staatsoper. The New York City Ballet premiere took place on February 15, 1951 under the title The Card Game at City Center of Music and Drama, New York.
Jeu de cartes was commissioned in November 1935, although the idea of card game, especially the game of poker, didn’t get firmly formed in Stravinsky’s mind until after August 1936. The ballet was written during Stravinsky’s neoclassical period, which was ushered in by one of his earlier ballets, Pulcinella, premiered in 1920.
The main character is the deceitful Joker, who fashions himself unbeatable, owing to his chameleon-like ability to become any card. There are also other cards — Queens, Aces—and several card players portrayed in the ballet. Jeu de cartes shows that even the higher value cards, in much the same way as the people of higher position, may be occasionally defeated by the lower value cards.
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