Stravinsky: The Firebird

In 1906, the impresario Sergei Diaghilev created a sensation in
Paris with an exhibition of Russian Art. This was the first time
a major showing of Russian art had appeared in Paris, and from
this point forward, the city was obsessed with Russian art,
literature, and music.  Diaghilev, ever the promoter, then
put together the Ballets Russes, the Russian Ballet, in 1909, a
company based in Paris that performed ballets composed,
choreographed, and danced, by Russians.  Over the next 20
years, the Ballets Russes became one the most influential and
successful ballet companies of the entire 20th century, and a
young composer that Diaghilev plucked from obscurity named Igor
Stravinsky had a lot to do with their success.    The
first season of the Ballet Russes relied on the big names of
Russian music, like Borodin, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky Korsakov, but
Diaghilev was always restlessly searching for something
new. 


For many years, Diaghilev had wanted to bring not only new
Russian art, but also new Russian music to the West, and now he
had found the perfect combination -  Diaghilev brought
together the Russian artist and writer Alexandre Benoit and the
Russian choreographer Michel Fokine to create a Russian
nationalistic ballet based on Russian folk tales and mythology.
 He then took a risk, giving the commission for the music to
Igor Stravinsky.  The result?  The Firebird, a ballet
that provoked an ecstatic reaction, a score that would propel
Stravinsky to worldwide popularity, 3 different orchestral suites
played almost every year by orchestras all over the world, and a
19 year collaboration and friendship between Stravinsky and
Diaghilev which only ended in Diaghilev’s death and resulted in 8
original ballets, including The Rite of Spring and Petrushka.


But, let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.  All of this had
to start somewhere, so lets explore the Firebird, in all of its
different versions and orchestrations, along with the folk tales
and stories that go along with it. Join us!