Igor Stravinsky’s ballet The Firebird is celebrating its centenary. It premiered on June 25, 1910, on the stage of Paris’ Grand Opera, earning the Russian composer worldwide fame.
Igor Stravinsky’s ballet The Firebird is celebrating its centenary. It premiered on June 25, 1910, on the stage of Paris’ Grand Opera, earning the Russian composer worldwide fame.
Photo: Tamara Karsavina, left, and Adolph Bolm starring in the first production of The Firebird.
Photo: Tamara Karsavina, left, and Adolph Bolm starring in the first production of The Firebird.
The idea for the ballet was suggested to Stravinsky by Serge Diaghilev.
Photo: Serge Diaghilev, right, and Igor Stravinsky, 1921.
Photo: Serge Diaghilev, right, and Igor Stravinsky, 1921.
Alexandre Benois, Alexandre Golovine and Leon Bakst wrote the libretto for The Firebird. Michel Fokine choreographed the first production.
Photo: Michele Fokine and Tamara Karsavina, in the foreground, starring in Stravinsky’s The Firebird.
Photo: Michele Fokine and Tamara Karsavina, in the foreground, starring in Stravinsky’s The Firebird.
The legendary Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova was the first dancer to have been cast for the lead part, but her relations with Diaghilev soon turned sour and she left his troupe. Tamara Karsavina was then chosen as a replacement.
Photo: ballerina Tamara Karsavina dressed as the Firebird.
Photo: ballerina Tamara Karsavina dressed as the Firebird.
Fokine highlighted Karsavina’s high leap in his choreography. Her Firebird would cut through the stage like a bolt of lightning, and recalled, in Benois’ words, a “fiery Phoenix.” When the bird turned into a maiden, the ballerina’s movements would take on distinct gentleness. Karsavina’s interpretation of the Firebird helped to make this ballet a landmark.
Photo: Karsavina dancing the title part in Stravinsky’s The Firebird.
Photo: Karsavina dancing the title part in Stravinsky’s The Firebird.
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Leon Bakst also designed costumes for the first production of The Firebird.
Photo: design of a costume for Stravinsky’s ballet The Firebird, Leon Bakst, 1910
Photo: design of a costume for Stravinsky’s ballet The Firebird, Leon Bakst, 1910
Ivan Bilibin took over for Bakst in 1931 as the Michel Fokine production was revived at the Colon Theatre, in Buenos Aires.
Photo: Russian stage designer and book illustrator Ivan Bilibin and the team he worked with on the revived production of The Firebird in Buenos Aires.
Photo: Russian stage designer and book illustrator Ivan Bilibin and the team he worked with on the revived production of The Firebird in Buenos Aires.
Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater turned to Michel Fokine’s legacy in the 1960s. The Firebird with Fokine’s original choreography was revived then and presented on the stage of the Kremlin Palace.
Photo: an episode from the Bolshoi’s version of The Firebird, 1965.
Photo: an episode from the Bolshoi’s version of The Firebird, 1965.
Bolshoi ballerina Maya Plisetskaya appeared in the title part almost half a century after the first production.
Photo: Maya Plisetskaya as the Firebird in Stravinsky’s ballet.
Photo: Maya Plisetskaya as the Firebird in Stravinsky’s ballet.
