The Firebird, created in 1910 and inspired by a famous Russian fairy tale, a milestone in the history of Russian ballet: for the first time, original music is composed on an argument whose script is written by the choreographer Michel Fokine.
This ballet shows at the time a young composer, Igor Stravinsky, and marks the beginning of his long and fruitful collaboration with Serge Diaghilev, director of the Ballets Russes.

Greeted triumphantly from its creation, this virtuoso and flamboyant score establishes the reputation and the importance of Stravinsky in music of the XXth century, a momentum confirmed by the following creations are Petrushka (1911) and the famous Sacre du Printemps (1913) .

Written on piano, the work was later orchestrated and completed in April 1910. Its composition alternates mimed and danced episodes. The human characters of the tale (Ivan and the princesses) are evoked by melodies borrowed from the popular repertoire or imitated in this directory. The supernatural fantasy characters (The Firebird or Kastchei) resulted in a very chromatic harmony, changing, with a rich instrumentation quite in the tradition of Rimsky-Korsakov, and finding its continuation in the sumptuousness of its costumes .

Summary: Penetrating during the moonlight in a mysterious garden where stands a tree full of golden apples, Prince Ivan Tsarevich sees the Firebird, seeks to capture him and makes him the freedom against the present of a golden pen. Reaching the field of Kastchei sorcerer, Ivan sees thirteen princesses prisoners going out of the castle playing with golden apples. The most beautiful, Tsarevna, tells him how the sorcerer capture travelers and transformed into stones. While a horde of monsters seizes him, Ivan owes its salvation thanks to the intervention of the Firebird. The Firebird will guide the prince to the tree where is hidden the egg that contains the soul of Kastchei and encourages him to break the order to destroy the evil sorcerer and his charm. Ivan then finds Tsarevna in the general jubilation.

The concert :
The young Dutch conductor Antony Hermus will lead the orchestra of the Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève, an artistic and educational community whose reputation is well established in the regional cultural scene.

Antony Hermus is undeniably one of the most promising conductors of his generation. The accolades in the international music press, the warm welcome reserved for him from his colleagues, all bear him a great respect. Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Dessau Opera since 2009/10, Antony Hermus has directed over 50 operas and 200 symphonic works .

Partner:Orchestre de la Suisse Romande