"was Stravinsky's first opera. The delay between writing the first and the latter acts was caused by his commissions to write ""The Firebird"", ""Petrushka"", and ""The Rite of Spring"" for impresario Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. After this lapse of time, during which Stravinsky established himself as a ballet composer, he was unsure of returning to ""Le rossignol"", and although he did finish it, he chose to also create a purely symphonic version, ""Le chant du rossignol"". In his autobiography, Stravinsky writes: ""Le chant du rossignol""'s symphonic debut, conducted by Ernest Ansermet at the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, was met"
"to play for a Paris season given by Sergei Diaghilev's ballet company, the Ballets Russes. Monteux played under Pierné in the world premiere of Stravinsky's ""The Firebird"". In 1911 Diaghilev engaged Nikolai Tcherepnin to conduct the premiere of Stravinsky's ""Petrushka"". Monteux conducted the preliminary rehearsals before Tcherepnin arrived; Stravinsky was so impressed that he insisted that Monteux conduct the premiere. ""Petrushka"" was part of a triple bill, all conducted by Monteux. The other two pieces were ""Le Spectre de la Rose"" and ""Scheherazade"", a balletic adaptation of Rimsky-Korsakov's symphonic suite of the same name. The three works were choreographed by"
"be presented in the 1909 debut ""Saison Russe"" of his new ballet company. ""The Firebird"" was first performed at the Paris Opéra on 25 June 1910 by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. Like Stravinsky's earlier student works, ""The Firebird"" continued to look backward to Rimsky-Korsakov not only in its orchestration, but also in its overall structure, harmonic organization, and melodic content. According to Taruskin, Stravinsky's second ballet for the Ballet Russes, ""Petrushka"", is where ""Stravinsky at last became Stravinsky."" The music itself makes significant use of a number of Russian folk tunes in addition to two waltzes by Viennese composer Joseph Lanner"
"still be several decades before most countries outside of Europe could claim their own professional ballet companies, however. Sergei Diaghilev brought ballet full-circle back to Paris when he opened his company, Ballets Russes. It was made up of dancers from the Russian exile community in Paris after the Revolution. Diaghilev and composer Igor Stravinsky merged their talents to bring Russian folklore to life in ""The Firebird"" and ""Petrushka"" choreographed by Fokine. Diaghilev's next choreographic commissions went to Nijinsky. His First ballet was ""L'apres-midi d'un Faune"" (Afternoon of a Faun) to music by Debussy. It was notable for its two dimensional"
"(Allegro non troppo), from rehearsal 203 to rehearsal 209, in his ballet ""The Firebird"" (1910) is written uniformly in time. Much more characteristically, septuple bars in Stravinsky's scores are found in a context of constantly changing meters, as for example in his ballet ""The Rite of Spring"" (1911–13), where the object appears to be the combination of two- and three-note subdivisions in irregular groupings. For example, in Part II, third tableau, ""Glorification of the Chosen Maiden"", bars of and are interspersed with bars of , , , , , , , , , and time. This treatment of rhythm subsequently"
"The Whims of the Butterfly The Whims of the Butterfly (also known as ""The Caprices of a Butterfly"", or ""Les Caprices du Papillon"") is a ballet in 1 act, with choreography by Marius Petipa, and music by Nikolai Krotkov. Libretto by Marius Petipa, based on the poem ""The Grasshopper Musician"" by Yakov Polonsky. First presented by the Imperial Ballet on June 5/17 (Julian/Gregorian calendar dates), 1889 for the Imperial court at the theatre of Peterhof Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia. The ballet was given a second premiere for the general public at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre on October 25/November 6,"
"expecting to hear the beginning of ""The Rite of Spring"", but instead was greeted with ""Petrushka"". Diaghilev immediately recognized the possibilities of developing this orchestral work into a full length stage work. Thus, the concert piece became the second part of the ballet ""Petrushka"". The full score was completed on May 11, 1911, and on the following June 13, ""Petrushka"" was performed by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, under the baton of Pierre Monteux. ""Three Movements from Petrushka"" for the solo piano were composed ten years later for his friend, pianist Arthur Rubinstein, and are"
"Russia's first Conservatories in St Petersburg and in Moscow: the former trained the great Russian composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–93), best known for ballets like ""Swan Lake"", ""Sleeping Beauty"", and ""The Nutcracker"". He remains Russia's best-known composer outside Russia. Easily the most famous successor in his style is Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943), who studied at the Moscow Conservatory (where Tchaikovsky himself taught). Alexander Glazunov also took this romantic style. The late 19th and early 20th century saw the third wave of Russian classics: Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971), Alexander Scriabin (1872–1915), Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953) and Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975). They were experimental in style"
"was looking for fresh compositional talent. The ballet was the first of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes productions to have an all-original score composed for it. Alexandre Benois wrote in 1910 that he had two years earlier suggested to Diaghilev the production of a Russian nationalist ballet, an idea all the more attractive given both the newly awakened French passion for Russian dance and also the ruinously expensive costs of staging opera. The inspiration of mixing the mythical Firebird with the unrelated Russian tale of Koschei the Deathless possibly came from a popular child's verse by Yakov Polonsky, ""A Winter's Journey"""
"Académie Vitti in Paris. In 1901 he moved to the Saint Petersburg region from Moscow. It was here that he came into his own as a stage designer, combining symbolism and modernism on operatic and dramatic productions for Diaghilev, Meyerhold and others. After the Revolution of 1917, Golovin found work in theatre less and less often, and so delved into painting and graphic illustration. Golovin provided the set design for the 1910 original production of Stravinsky's ""The Firebird"" ballet. Golovin provided the scenic design for an important production of Pierre Beaumarchais's ""The Marriage of Figaro"" at the Moscow Art Theatre."
"Stravinsky's ""The Rite of Spring"" with choreography by Glen Tetley, George Balanchine's ""Theme and Variations"" with music by P.I. Tchaikovsky, and a new work by Val Caniparoli of San Francisco Ballet ""Light/The Holocaust and Humanity Project"" (choreography by Stephen Mills of Ballet Austin) ""Swan Lake"" (choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, music by P.I. Tchaikovsky) ""The Nutcracker"" (music by P.I. Tchaikovsky) ""Peter Pan"" (choreography by Michael Pink, music by Philip Feeney) ""Tribute"" (choreography by Emery LeCrone, Jodie Gates and Amy Seiwert) ""Anniversary Triple Bill"" (Feast of the Gods - choreography by Edwaard Liang, “…smile with my heart” - choreography"
"and pianos or using pianolas in accordance with a version of the piece that Stravinsky abandoned without completing. Stravinsky first conceived of writing the ballet in 1913 and completed it in short score by October 1917. He wrote the libretto himself using Russian wedding lyrics taken primarily from songs collected by Pyotr Kireevsky and published in 1911. During a long gestation period, its orchestration changed dramatically. Stravinsky first planned to employ an expanded symphony orchestra similar to that of ""The Rite of Spring"". His thinking went through numerous variations, including at one point the use of synchronised roll-operated instruments, including"
"the room completely. The story of the Firebird quest has inspired literary works, including ""The Little Humpback Horse"" by Pyotr Yershov. The most famous version of the Firebird legend was the production by Sergei Diaghilev of Ballet Russe, who commissioned composer Igor Stravinsky to score the enormously popular large-scale ballet called ""The Firebird"". In Stravinsky's ballet, with a scenario written by Michel Fokine and Alexandre Benois, the creature is half-woman, half-bird. She is captured by Prince Ivan, but when he sets her free she gives him a magic feather, which he uses to defeat the spell of Kaschei the Immortal."
"of Alexander III, he was appointed as Director of Imperial Theatres from 3 September 1881. Though a relative unknown, Vsevolozhsky was a vigorous and ‘enchantingly kind’ figure with ‘astonishing insight’. Vsevolovsky was responsible for who brought about the very existence of such world-famous ballets as ""The Sleeping Beauty"" (Tchaikovsky/Petipa) and ""The Nutcracker"" (Tchaikovsky/Ivanov). In 1889, he duly instructed the Imperial Balletmaster Marius Petipa to choreograph a full-length ballet to the story ""The Sleeping Beauty"" for a premiere at the Mariinsky Theatre. He successfully obtained the most famous Russian composer to write the score for it, one Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Vsevolojskoy"
"shapes and lack of ballet technique. It caused controversy by depicting the faun rubbing the scarf of one of the maidens on himself, in simulated masturbation. The most controversial work of the Ballets Russes however, was ""The Rite of Spring"", choreographed by Nijinsky with music by Stravinsky. The ballet's modern music, pigeon toed stomping and theme of human sacrifice shocked audiences so much they rioted. After the “golden age” of Petipa, Michel Fokine began his career in St. Petersburg but moved to Paris and worked with Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes. Russian ballet continued development under Soviet rule. There was"
"Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (; ; 27 April 1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian Soviet composer, pianist and conductor. As the creator of acknowledged masterpieces across numerous musical genres, he is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century. His works include such widely heard works as the March from ""The Love for Three Oranges,"" the suite ""Lieutenant Kijé"", the ballet ""Romeo and Juliet""—from which ""Dance of the Knights"" is taken—and ""Peter and the Wolf."" Of the established forms and genres in which he worked, he created – excluding juvenilia – seven completed operas,"
"completed his other two major ballets for Diaghilev, ""Petrushka"" and ""The Rite of Spring"". Because the time between the writing of the first and second acts extended over six years, stylistically the work reflects Stravinsky's significantly changed approach to composition, and this can clearly be detected when performances are given. Stravinsky subsequently turned aside from large productions to concentrate on chamber music and the piano. For the opera's premiere, the singers were in the pit and their roles were mimed and danced on stage. The ""mise-en-scène"" was by Alexandre Benois (who also designed the sets and costumes) and Alexandre Sanine,"
"who in 1913 wrote the libretto for his neoclassical number opera ""Arlecchino"" (first performed in 1917). Also among the vanguard was the Russian Igor Stravinsky. After composing music for the Diaghilev-produced ballets ""Petrushka"" (1911) and ""The Rite of Spring"" (1913), Stravinsky turned to neoclassicism, a development culminating in his opera-oratorio ""Oedipus Rex"" (1927). Stravinsky had already turned away from the modernist trends of his early ballets to produce small-scale works that do not fully qualify as opera, yet certainly contain many operatic elements, including ""Renard"" (1916: ""a burlesque in song and dance"") and ""The Soldier's Tale"" (1918: ""to be read,"
"La Rose, la violette et le papillon La Rose, la violette et le papillon (""The Rose, the Violet, and the Butterfly"") is a ballet ""divertissement"" in one act, with choreography by Marius Petipa, and music by Duke Peter Georgievich of Oldenburg. The libretto was by Jules Perrot. First presented by the Imperial Ballet on , for the Imperial court at the theatre of Tsarskoe Selo, St. Petersburg, Russia, a second premiere was given by the Imperial Ballet on . at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, St. Petersburg, Russia. The Principal Dancers were Mariia Surovshchikova-Petipa (the Rose), Matilda Madaeva (the Violet),"
"1907, Stravinsky designed and built his own house in Ustilug, which he called ""my heavenly place"". In this house, Stravinsky worked on seventeen of his early compositions, among them ""Feu d'artifice"", ""The Firebird"", ""Petrushka"", and ""The Rite of Spring"". Recently renovated, the house is now a Stravinsky house-museum open to the public. Many documents, letters, and photographs are on display there, and a Stravinsky Festival is held annually in the nearby town of Lutsk. Stravinsky became an overnight sensation following the success of the ""Firebird""'s premiere in Paris on 25 June 1910. The composer had travelled from his estate in"
"of the first season of the Ballets Russes in Paris. At Ballets Russes, he collaborated with other artists to create a ballet of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's ""Scheherazade"", which premiered in 1910. The ballet was inspired by symphonic poems composed by Rimsky-Korsakov and the tale of the 1001 Nights. The sets designed by Léon Bakst matched the sexualized choreography. Despite the lack of historical accuracy, the ballet was successful due to its brilliant colors, exoticism, and sexual overtones. The 1910 production featured Nijinsky in the role of the Golden Slave. ""The Firebird"" (1910) was also created by a ""committee,"" a process inspired"
"1908, respectively. In February 1909, two of Stravinsky's orchestral works, the and (""Fireworks"") were performed at a concert in Saint Petersburg, where they were heard by Serge Diaghilev, who was at that time involved in planning to present Russian opera and ballet in Paris. Diaghilev was sufficiently impressed by ""Fireworks"" to commission Stravinsky to carry out some orchestrations and then to compose a full-length ballet score, ""The Firebird"". From approximately 1890 until 1914 the composer frequently visited Ustilug, a town in the modern Volyn Oblast, Ukraine. He spent most of his summers there, where his father-in-law had an estate. In"
"Boris Fitinhof-Schell Baron Boris Alexandrovich Fitinhoff-Schell, a.k.a. Baron Boris Vietinghof-Scheel or Baron Schell (, translit. Boris Aleksandrovich Fitinhof-Shel) (1829? in Morshansk – in St. Petersburg, Russia) was a Russian composer. Fitinhoff-Schell was trained at the Moscow Conservatory under Field and Henselt, and was a classmate of Tchaikovsky's. His most noted work are the ballets ""The Haarlem Tulip"" (1887) and ""Cinderella"" (1893), composed for the Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg. He also scored four operas for the St. Petersburg Imperial Opera, which were commissioned by Ivan Vsevolozhsky, director of the Imperial Theatres. His ""Wedding March"", scored especially for the wedding of"
"The Seasons (ballet) The Seasons (, ""Vremena goda""; also ) is an allegorical ballet in one act, four scenes, by the choreographer Marius Petipa, with music by Alexander Glazunov, his Op. 67. The work was composed in 1899 and first performed by the Imperial Ballet in 1900 in St. Petersburg, Russia. The score for Marius Petipa's ""Les Saisons"" (""The Seasons"") was originally intended to have been composed by the Italian composer and conductor Riccardo Drigo, who was Glazunov's colleague and close friend. Since 1886, Drigo held the posts of director of music and ""chef d’orchestre"" to the Ballet of the"
"and ""Giselle"". Benois also participated with Igor Stravinsky and Michel Fokine in the creation of ""Petrushka"", to which he contributed much of the scenario as well as the stage sets and costumes. Léon Bakst was also an original member of both The Nevsky Pickwickians and ""Mir iskusstva"". He participated as designer in productions of the Ballets Russes from its beginning in 1909 until 1921, creating sets and costumes for ""Scheherazade"", ""The Firebird"", ""Les Orientales"", ""Le Spectre de la rose"", ""L'Après-midi d'une faune"", and ""Daphnis et Chloé"", among other productions. In 1917, Pablo Picasso designed sets and costumes in the Cubist"
"many awards for his compositions, including the 2004 State Prize from the Russian Federation. Dmitri Pavlov (composer) Dmitri Aleksandrovich Pavlov is a Russian composer. He was born in St Petersburg in 1959, and graduated from St. Petersburg Conservatoire in 1982 class Theory and Composition. Acclaimed for his work as a film composer and perhaps best known for his score for the film The Cuckoo (Кукушка in Russian) directed by Aleksandr Rogozhkin. Apart from music for film, Dmitri Pavlov has written for ballet, theatre and orchestra. He formed Pavlov Ballet in 1992, and also arranged for the 'Spirit of Mozart' concert"
"Snow Maiden). The Daughter of the Snows The Daughter of the Snows (also known as ""Snegurochka"" or ""La Fille des neiges"") is a fantastic ballet in three acts and five scenes, with choreography by Marius Petipa and music by Ludwig Minkus. The libretto by Marius Petipa is based on the play ""The Snow Maiden"" by Alexander Ostrovsky, inspired by a Russian folk fairy tale about Snegurochka from the folklore collection by Alexander Afanasyev. The ballet premiered on 7 January 1879 at the St. Petersburg Imperial Bolshoi Kammeny Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia by the Imperial Ballet. Principal dancers: Ekaterina Vazem"
"Spring"", written by Stravinsky and choreographed by Nijinsky. The shouts of the audience during the performance, both for and against the dancers, were so loud that the dancers could not hear the music; the choreographer, in the wings, had to count in a loud voice to help them. The ballet transformed the way in which subsequent composers thought about rhythmic structure. The outbreak of World War I and the subsequent Russian Revolution of 1917 left the Ballets Russes stranded in Paris. They continued to perform in France and toured around Europe and the world, but never had the opportunity to"
"Firebird"", ""The Sleeping Beauty"", and ""The Nutcracker"". He made complete recordings of all three of Tchaikovsky's ballets and Prokofiev's ""Romeo and Juliet"" with the orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He became principal guest conductor of the Royal Ballet, London, in 1985. Ermler died after a rehearsal with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. His wife Dina and daughter Masha survived him. Mark Ermler Mark Fridrikhovich Ermler (; 5 May 193214 April 2002) was a Russian conductor. Mark Ermler was born in Leningrad in 1932. His parents were Vera Bakun, a film set designer, and Fridrikh Ermler, a film director."
"Riccardo Drigo Riccardo Eugenio Drigo (ru. Риккардо Эудженьо Дриго) (30 June 18461 October 1930) was an Italian composer of ballet music and Italian opera, a theatrical conductor, and a pianist. Drigo is most noted for his long career as kapellmeister and Director of Music of the Imperial Ballet of Saint Petersburg, Russia, for which he composed music for the original works and revivals of the choreographers Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. Drigo also served as Chef d'orchestre for Italian opera performances of the orchestra of the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre. During his career in Saint Petersburg, Drigo conducted the premieres and"
"Winter Dreams (ballet) Winter Dreams is a one-act ballet choreographed by Kenneth MacMillan to piano pieces by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky selected and arranged by Philip Gammon and traditional Russian music selected and arranged for guitar and mandolin ensemble by Thomas Hartman. With scenery and costumes designed by Peer Farmer and lighting designed by Clive Thomas, it was first presented by The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House, London, on 7 February 1991. Macmillan's ballet was inspired by Anton Chekhov's play ""Three Sisters"" (1900), sometimes named as one of his four best plays, along with ""The Cherry Orchard, The Seagull,"""
"scale Rimsky-Korsakov created for the character Chernobog in his opera ""Mlada"". The Khorovod, meanwhile, uses the same folk tune Rimsky-Korsakov presented in his Sinfonietta, Op. 31. The ""Firebird"" has been restaged by many choreographers, including George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins (co-choreographers), Graeme Murphy, Alexei Ratmansky, and Yuri Possokhov. The ballet was revived in 1934 by Colonel Wassily de Basil's company, the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo, in a production staged in London, using the original decor and costumes from Diaghilev's company. The company subsequently performed the ballet in Australia, during the 1936–37 tour. The work was staged by George Balanchine for"
"Pierre Monteux Pierre Benjamin Monteux (; 4 April 18751 July 1964) was a French (later American) conductor. After violin and viola studies, and a decade as an orchestral player and occasional conductor, he began to receive regular conducting engagements in 1907. He came to prominence when, for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company between 1911 and 1914, he conducted the world premieres of Stravinsky's ""The Rite of Spring"" and other prominent works including ""Petrushka"", Ravel's ""Daphnis et Chloé"", and Debussy's ""Jeux"". Thereafter he directed orchestras around the world for more than half a century. From 1917 to 1919 Monteux was the"