Please
select:
Stravinsky & The Ballets Russes
The Firebird
Serge de Diaghilev heard Stravinsky's "Fantastic Scherzo" and "Fireworks" in 1909, and was extremely impressed by this last work. In the same year, Diaghilev's Ballets Russes had performed for a season in Paris and were a great success. He wished to repeat the experience the following year and include a brand new work inspired by the legend of the Firebird. He commissioned the young Stravinsky to write the music. The ballet was an immediate and total success.
Synopsis
Prince Ivan wanders through the garden of Kashchei the immortal, where he meets the dazzling Firebird. Ivan chases and eventually captures her. She promises to help Ivan in exchange for her freedom. That evening Ivan falls in love with a maiden who is Kaschei’s prisoner. The next morning, when she is forced to return, Ivan follows. When Ivan is captured, the Firebird intervenes and helps Ivan kill Kaschei. Finally, all celebrate their freedom.
The Rite of Spring
In this work, Igor Stravinsky further developed rhythm and harmony, elements he had already experimented with in his first two ballets, the Firebird and Petrouchka. The première of The Rite of Spring in Paris in 1913 caused a veritable scandal. The audience was shocked by the primitive violence of the ballet and it was cancelled after eight performances. Although long forgotten, after fifteen years' research, Millicent Hodson managed to recreate Nijinsky's original choreography.
Synopsis
The Rite of Spring is a series of episodes depicting a wild pagan spring ritual. The elders are offering a young girl as a sacrifice to the God of Spring, in order to gain his benevolence. First they celebrate the adoration of the earth, and then the sacrifice is made.
The Wedding
Igor Stravinsky started to compose The Wedding using folk texts that he adapted, relating the story of a Russian peasant wedding. The score for the first two scenes was finished in the spring of 1915 but the complete work was only finished two years later in April 1917. Diaghilev decided to put these choreographic scenes on the program of his Ballets Russes in June 1923. The choreography was entrusted to Bronislava Nijinska, sister of the famous dancer.
Synopsis
The ballet goes through the entire story of a Russian peasant wedding. In the first scene, the bride prepares for her coming marriage. We then see the bridegroom asking his family to give the marriage their blessing. The third scene depicts the bride’s departure from her family, and finally the ballet culminates in the actual wedding feast.
Three one act ballets
Company: Mariinsky Theatre (Kirov) Ballet Company
Choreographer: Michel Fokine, Bronislava Nijinska, and Vaslav Nijinsky
Music: Igor Stravinsky
Approximate duration: 1 hour 45 minutes
World's Greatest Ballets
CinemaLive proudly presents a selection of the world's most beautiful ballets... More
|
The Pharaoh's Daughter Bolshoi Theatre Ballet Company |
|
Swan Lake Kirov Ballet Company |
|
Bolt Bolshoi Theatre Ballet Company |
|
Mediterranea La Scala Ballet Company |
|
Don Quixote Kirov Ballet Company |
|
Stravinsky & The Ballets Russes Kirov Ballet Company |
|
The Nutcracker Kirov Ballet Company |
 |
