The Firebird

The Firebird is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Michel Fokine, who collaborated with Alexandre Benois and others on a scenario based on the Russian fairy tales of the Firebird and the blessing and curse it possesses for its owner. The Firebird was first performed at the Opéra de Paris on 25 June 1910 and was an immediate success, catapulting Stravinsky to international fame and leading to future Diaghilev-Stravinsky collaborations like Petrushka (1911) and The Rite of Spring (1913). The ballet opens in Koschei's garden with Prince Ivan chasing the Firebird, whom he captures and takes a feather from. Thirteen princesses enter the garden (all of whom are trapped by the evil Koschei), and Ivan falls in love with one; they perform a short dance. When the princesses are called back into Koschei's palace, Ivan tries to follow but is stopped by Koschei at the gates. Before the evil king turns Ivan to stone, the prince summons the Firebird with the feather, and she makes Koschei and his subjects do an "Infernal Dance". After they fall asleep from exhaustion, Ivan steals the egg that holds Koschei's soul and destroys it, killing Koschei and freeing the king's subjects. The ballet ends with grand rejoicing among the freed subjects. In the music, Stravinsky used a system of leitmotifs placed in the harmony he dubbed "leit-harmony" to distinguish mortal and supernatural beings. The composer made a point to use many unique effects in the orchestra, including with ponticello, col legno, flautando, glissando, and fluttertongue. Stravinsky later composed three concert suites: one in 1911, ending with the "Infernal Dance"; one in 1919, which remains the most popular today; and one in 1945, in which Stravinsky reorchestrated much of the work and changed the structure. History