May 4, 2016
In 1982, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Igor Stravinsky’s birth, the Junior Committee of The Cleveland Orchestra commissioned a children’s book based on his first ballet, The Firebird (1910). The choice of The Firebird was not accidental; its triumphant 1910 Paris premiere with the Ballets Russes launched Stravinsky’s career and it still remains one of his most popular and widely performed works. In anticipation of the Orchestra’s performance of the 1945 Suite from The Firebird this weekend, we offer children of all ages the chance to revisit this charming book.
—Alex Lawler
Alex Lawler is an intern this season with The Cleveland Orchestra Archives.
He is a PhD student in musicology at Case Western Reserve University.
All photographs and audio clips courtesy of The Cleveland Orchestra Archives. Copyright and all rights reserved by The Musical Arts Association.