The Firebird

• The Firebird was the first ballet Stravinsky wrote for Sergei Diaghilev. Diaghilev chose the topic of the Firebird, wanting a story from Russian fairy tales that would seem unusual and exotic to his Paris audience.
• The Firebird premiered on June 25, 1910 at the Théâtre National de L’Opéra in Paris. You can find a list of all numbers in the show, plus the cast and crew, here. 
• The Firebird was Stravinsky’s first big success in Paris, and he was immediately accepted into Parisian artistic circles, including friendships with Marcel Proust, Sarah Bernhardt, Claude Debussy, Erik Satie, and Maurice Ravel. 

“The most exquisite marvel of equilibrium we have ever imagined between sounds, movements and forms.” 

Parisian critic Henri Ghéon, on The Firebird, in the Nouvelle Revue Française.¹

1. Stephen Walsh, “Stravinsky, Igor,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed April 16, 2021,  https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000052818.