Short & Classical: The Firebird

Short & Classical: Pablo Heras-Casado conducts Stravinsky's The Firebird It was in Paris in the spring of 1910 that a young, relatively unknown Russian composer was to become part of music history. Igor Stravinsky was only 28 years old when his first major ballet had its premiere for the legendary Ballets Russes. The Firebird became the composer's international breakthrough. In his first concert with the Oslo Philharmonic, Pablo Heras-Casado conducts Stravinsky's legendary ballet. Stravinsky: The Firebird In the ballet The Firebird we are in a garden where beauty has been replaced by evil. We meet a heroic prince, thirteen princesses held captive by an evil sorcerer, and the magical creature "the Firebird", who helps the prince when he is in need. The music Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) wrote for the ballet is often described as brilliant. He combines late-Romantic sonorities and Russian folk tunes, and is just beginning to explore stylistic features that point ahead to modernism. The premiere of the ballet The Firebird was in 1910 and was an immediate success. Stravinsky lived a long life and managed to conduct The Firebird in various versions almost 1000 times.

• Pablo Heras-Casado