The sketch of set design for Igor Stravinsky’s ballet “The Firebird” was created by the famous Russian artist Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin in 1931.
One of the greatest masters of the national romantic trend in the Russian Art Nouveau, Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin was a painter, graphic artist and stage designer, who created paintings and colorful illustrations of Russian fairy tales and epics that featured motifs of Russian folk and medieval art.
The premiere of the ballet “Firebird” took place on June 25, 1910 on the stage of the Paris Grand Opera. That day marked the beginning of Stravinsky’s world fame. The idea of the ballet “The Firebird” did not belong to Stravinsky himself. He was commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev to work on the ballet based on the libretto by Alexandre Benois, Aleksey Remizov, Aleksandr Golovin and Léon Bakst. The choreographer of the first production was Michel Fokine, while Léon Bakst created costumes sketches.
In 1931, Ivan Bilibin was invited to create stage design for a ballet also by Michel Fokine. The play was staged for the Colón Theater in Buenos Aires. From the very first years of its existence, the Colón Theater has become one of the leading theaters in the world. Enrico Caruso and Maria Callas performed there, Arturo Toscanini conducted, the names of Igor Stravinsky and Richard Strauss are associated with this theater as well. In 1913–1917, the famous Russian ballet by Sergei Diaghilev was performed on the stage of the Colón Theater — with stars like Vaslav Nijinsky, Tamara Karsavina, Lyubov Chernysheva and Michel Fokine. In 1917–1919 and 1928, the great Anna Pavlova danced there, and in 1916 — Isadora Duncan.
In his work on “The Firebird”, the artist for the first time encountered cutting-edge music and modern choreography that was new to him. Bilibin abandoned his traditional stylizing motifs inspired by fairy-tales, lubok (folk prints) and icon painting, using instead deliberately formal and symbolic decorative techniques.
The ballet director Michel Fokine described how Bilibin and him realized their long-standing idea of a fabulous flight of the harbingers of day and night:
One of the greatest masters of the national romantic trend in the Russian Art Nouveau, Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin was a painter, graphic artist and stage designer, who created paintings and colorful illustrations of Russian fairy tales and epics that featured motifs of Russian folk and medieval art.
The premiere of the ballet “Firebird” took place on June 25, 1910 on the stage of the Paris Grand Opera. That day marked the beginning of Stravinsky’s world fame. The idea of the ballet “The Firebird” did not belong to Stravinsky himself. He was commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev to work on the ballet based on the libretto by Alexandre Benois, Aleksey Remizov, Aleksandr Golovin and Léon Bakst. The choreographer of the first production was Michel Fokine, while Léon Bakst created costumes sketches.
In 1931, Ivan Bilibin was invited to create stage design for a ballet also by Michel Fokine. The play was staged for the Colón Theater in Buenos Aires. From the very first years of its existence, the Colón Theater has become one of the leading theaters in the world. Enrico Caruso and Maria Callas performed there, Arturo Toscanini conducted, the names of Igor Stravinsky and Richard Strauss are associated with this theater as well. In 1913–1917, the famous Russian ballet by Sergei Diaghilev was performed on the stage of the Colón Theater — with stars like Vaslav Nijinsky, Tamara Karsavina, Lyubov Chernysheva and Michel Fokine. In 1917–1919 and 1928, the great Anna Pavlova danced there, and in 1916 — Isadora Duncan.
In his work on “The Firebird”, the artist for the first time encountered cutting-edge music and modern choreography that was new to him. Bilibin abandoned his traditional stylizing motifs inspired by fairy-tales, lubok (folk prints) and icon painting, using instead deliberately formal and symbolic decorative techniques.
The ballet director Michel Fokine described how Bilibin and him realized their long-standing idea of a fabulous flight of the harbingers of day and night:
