Description

In celebration of the creation of ‘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 Thtre des Champs lyses, 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 needed to captivate but not alienate the audience. It was a total success. THE RITE OF SPRING choreography after Vaslav Nijinsky (1913), scenery, set, costumes: Igor Stravinsky and Nicholas Roerich, reconstructed and staged by Millicent Hodson, Kenneth Archer, lighting: Vladimir Lukin THE FIREBIRD choreography & libretto: Michel Fokine (1910), reconstruction: Isabelle Fokine, Andris Liepa, set and costume design: Anna and Anatoly Nezhny after original sketches by Alexander Golovin, Lon Bakst and Michel Fokine