"Valse des Fleurs" recreates one glittering day in the life of St. Petersburg in its heyday. It summons up a lost generation of courtiers, servants, guards, officials and dignitaries otherwise swept to oblivion by the Russian Revolution. Though slim enough to read on the train from Moscow, "Valse des Fleurs" has a haunting and evocative power. It is the perfect introduction to the Imperial capital of the Tsars.