Title: Stravinsky and Russian Ballet
Original title: Stravinsky and the Ballets Russes: The Firebird and The Rite of Spring
Released: 2008
Genre: ballet
Choreographer: Michel Fokine, Vaslav Nijinsky
Conductor: Valery Gergiev
Cast: The Firebird: Ekaterina Kondaurova (Firebird), Ilya Kuznetsov (Ivan Tsarevich), Marianna Pavlova (The Princess) & Vladimir Ponomarev (Kachtcheï the Immortal); The Rite of Spring: Alexandra Iosifidi (The Chosen One), Elena Bazhenova (300-Year-Old Woman) & Vladimir Ponomarev (Shaman), Mariinsky Orchestra and Ballet

Description:

In celebration of the creation of the "Le Sacre du printemps" in Paris in 1913, Bel Air present a new edition in a DVD-book of a wonderful Stravinsky night at the Mariinsky with the original Nijinsky version of the 'Rite of Spring' and ' The Firebird 'both conducted by Valery Gergiev.

The premiere of 'The Rite of Spring' at the Théâtre des Champs Élysées, Paris, on May 1913 caused a veritable scandal. The audience was shocked by the primitive violence of the ballet. It was so radically rejected that the ballet was taken off after eight performances. Although long forgotten, thanks to the relentless work of Millicent Hodson, Nijinsky's original choreography was recreated.

'The Firebird' is a Russian folk tale in two scenes, commissioned from the young Stravinsky by Diaghilev and premiered at the Paris Opera House in 1910. The ballet was an immediate success. The Ballets Russes enabled the choreographer Fokine to bring to this enterprise the right amount of novelty. It was a total success.


Issued: United States | Bel Air Classiques
Duration: 1:25:44