![]() ![]() Kashchei is also bewitched into a dance, and meanwhile the Firebird tells Ivan what he must do in order to defeat him. Kashchei sends many magical minions to defeat Ivan but the Firebird, honoring its promise, casts a spell and forces them into a trance-like "Infernal Dance", after which they fall asleep. ![]() He challenges Kashchei so he can win the princess' hand. ![]() Prince Ivan then meets thirteen princesses and falls in love with one of them. Here he meets and captures a supernatural creature called the Firebird, who promises to help him on his journey in exchange for its freedom. The protagonist, Prince Ivan, has to travel through the magical kingdom of Kashchei the Immortal. The storyline of the show was already conceived long before Stravinsky was recruited to write the score, by Diaghilev's collaborator Alexandre Benois, a key figure in modern ballet and stage-design, who combined two Russian folk-tales, The Firebird and Kashchei the Immortal, into one plot.Īs with many folk-tales, the main theme of The Firebird is the initiatic journey and battle between Good and Evil. Diaghilev, whose Ballets Russes company was already a huge success, wanted to stage a fresh, daring and distinctly 20th century style large scale ballet show to further impress the Parisian audience. Igor Stravinsky (1882 - 1971), ground-breaking Russian composer, musical revolutionary and stylistic chameleon, was practically unknown when in 1909 influential impresario Sergei Diaghilev hired him to compose the music for a new project called The Firebird. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |