Not many know that famous painter Pablo Picasso also left some literary heritage. An opera “The four girls”, based on a play he wrote, has been staged and shown at Moscow's Tchaikovsky concert hall.

The music was written by Russian composer Edison Denisov in 1986. The idea to turn Picasso's play into an opera was offered by conductor Gennady Rojdestvensky.

Denisov's opera has already been staged in Russia before, but this is the first time Rojdestvensky is conducting the orchestra. The new production is bright and vivid. Four young women dance and sing in French, just as Picasso wrote in his play. Many of the author's notes have also been used. But still there are some exceptions. For example, the master recommended that his characters should be nude, but for Denisov's opera special costumes still have been created.