The Firebird (L'Oiseau de feu / Der Feuervogel)

The Parisian premiere of Igor Stravinsky’s first ballet brought the virtually unknown 28-year-old composer to fame overnight. L’Oiseau de feu (The Firebird) astounded the audience with its stunning dance, music and stage design, going on to become one of the most important works in the modern history of ballet.

Two Russian folk tales The Firebird and Koschei the Immortal, provided the literary foundation for Michel Fokine’s story. Fokine dispensed with pantomime elements in his choreography for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes and communicated the plot purely through dance. Stravinsky remained close to the choreographic model, composing highly gestural narrative music in which the element of dance is omnipresent as a dominating pulse. L’Oiseau de feu (The Firebird) is one of the most versatile works for the stage and concert hall, available in this version by Herbert Schneider and two additional ballet versions by Hans Blümer and Henning Brauel.