Programme Guide

The plot of Igor Stravinsky’s ballet The Firebird is a fairy-tale: quite by chance, young Prince Ivan enters the garden of the evil sorcerer Koschei, where he captures the magical Firebird. Ivan gives it its freedom and receives a red feather from the Firebird in thanks. Whenever he is in dire need, all he has to do is throw it in the air and the magical bird will come to his rescue. Thirteen captive princesses emerge from Koschei’s castle, but when the prince tries to follow them back into the castle, the sorcerer enters the scene with his demons. Immediately the Firebird rushes to the scene and forces the forces of evil to dance with magical music – until they all sink to the ground exhausted. Can the Firebird also help Prince Ivan defeat the sorcerer and free the princesses?

This family concert by the Berliner Philharmoniker, conducted and hosted by Kirill Petrenko, provides an answer – with Stravinsky’s multi-coloured music, which even in the first bars creates an evocative magical sound for which there were no musical models at the time. The Firebird became Stravinsky’s most successful work.