# Which of the 3 great Stravinsky ballets is your favorite... and why?



## Queen of the Nerds

The title says it all.


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## Mahlerian

Les Noces.

I'm not really even kidding, either.

Of the three early ballets, I have loved The Rite since childhood and always will.


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## Weston

I suppose I should go with Rite of Spring as it is the most notorious, but I have a soft spot for The Firebird. The prog rock group Yes opened their shows with the Firebird finale for decades, and maybe still do for all I know. 

Honorable mention goes to Jeu de cartes.


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## brotagonist

There were only 3 great Stravinsky ballets? 

I immediately liked Apollon musagète from the first time I heard it and it continues to resonate with me. Agon has quite an appeal, too, but I don't know it that well. Also, as Weston mentioned, Jeu de cartes is great. [Maybe I should stop using the word 'great'? :lol: ] Feuervogel, too. I have a love/meh relationship with Sacre: sometimes I love it; other times, I find all of the stamping and thumping to get on my nerves.


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## Woodduck

brotagonist said:


> *There were only 3 great Stravinsky ballets?*
> 
> *I immediately liked Apollon musagète from the first time I heard it and it continues to resonate with me.* Agon has quite an appeal, too, but I don't know it that well. Also, as Weston mentioned, Jeu de cartes is great. [Maybe I should stop using the word 'great'? :lol: ] Feuervogel, too. I have a love/meh relationship with Sacre: sometimes I love it; other times, I find all of the stamping and thumping to get on my nerves.


Good point. Of the 3 early ballets, _Firebird_ is still complete enchantment for me, _Petrushka_ less so, and _Rite_ striking but just a bit too much of whatever it is (stamping, thumping, etc.). LIke you, however, I find _Apollon_ beautiful and would probably put it right after_ Firebird_ in my affections.


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## LancsMan

3 Great Stravinsky Ballets? I have a soft spot for Orpheus but I suspect you don't count that!


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## joen_cph

Petrouchka was the probably the last one I really began liking, but "the three" are equal to me now.


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## MoonlightSonata

I presume you mean Le Sacre, Petrushka and Firebird? I think the one I like the most is the one I used to hate, _Le Sacre du Printemps_.


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## clara s

the rite of spring, a revolution in music and dance

all the giants danced it or choreographed it

Vaslav Nizinsky, Jorge Donn, Pina Bausch, Martha Graham, Maurice Bezart, Vladimir Vasiliev

the chosen one...


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## QuietGuy

I'd have to say The Rite of Spring, because of its influence on the music that came after it, but I still like the other two, plus Apollo and Orpheus .....


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## hpowders

Petrushka, because I've never been into virginal sacrifice. Also, I like puppets and the music is Stravinsky at his most beguiling.


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## Queen of the Nerds

LancsMan said:


> 3 Great Stravinsky Ballets? I have a soft spot for Orpheus but I suspect you don't count that!


I need to edit the title, but I CAN'T!!!


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## KenOC

hpowders said:


> Petrushka, because I've never been into virginal sacrifice.


Virgins are too scarce these days to waste casually.


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## starthrower

The Firebird and Petroushka are my favorites.


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## PetrB

1.) Les Noces

The rest, really not in any particular order of 'favorite,'

Petrushka, the full length score, _ and in addition_ as a total work. The libretto, (original) choregraphy, costumes and sets -- are altogether about the most perfect marriage of music to dance (in a story ballet) yet to come our way.

Le Sacre du Printemps

Apollo

Orpheus

Pulcinella

I also have an occasional love affair with _Le baiser de la fée_, his "Tchaikovsky Tribute," a classical story ballet based upon Hans Christian Anderson's _The Snow Queen._

_WHY? A completely subjective answer: I find them astonishingly beautiful._

I prefer, always, the full-length pieces and the later revised versions of any of those which were revised. (I have 0 interest with the suites extracted for concert presentations.)
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *

All thirteen* Stravinsky ballets in chronological order of composition:

L'oiseau de feu (1910, rev. 1919/1945)
Petrushka (1911, rev. 1947)
Le sacre du printemps (1913, rev. 1947/1967)
Les noces, for soloists, choir, four pianos and percussion (1914-17; 1919-23)
Pulcinella, for chamber orchestra and soloists (1920)
Apollo, for string orchestra (1928, rev. 1947)
Le baiser de la fée (1928, rev. 1950)
Jeu de cartes (1936)
Danses concertantes for chamber orchestra (1942)
Scènes de ballet (1944)
Orpheus, for chamber orchestra (1947)
Agon (1957)
Ode

*Thirteen!? Schoenberg would've been spooked


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## joen_cph

Queen of the Nerds said:


> I need to edit the title, but I CAN'T!!!


It´s pretty obvious what you mean in the OP.


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## Queen of the Nerds

joen_cph said:


> It´s pretty obvious what you mean in the OP.


I know, but that was EXTREMELY bad judgment on my part, and now I regret it!


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## omega

I love the brilliant violence of _Le Sacre du Printemps_, which has to be No. 1 on my list.

The Lullaby and the Finale of _The Firebird_ always give me goose bumps.

And I also like _Orpheus_ and _Jeu de Cartes_ very much.


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## hpowders

KenOC said:


> Virgins are too scarce these days to waste casually.


Tell me about it. I continue my quest.


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## elgar's ghost

I would opt for the Rite of Spring followed by Petrushka and Jeu de cartes, but have to admit that I'm not nearly as familiar with some other highly-regarded ballets such as Orpheus and Agon.


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## PetrB

Queen of the Nerds said:


> I know, but that was EXTREMELY bad judgment on my part, and now I regret it!


"Regrets are degrading." ~ Voltaire.

Don't think of it again. Really. If not exactly to your specific intent, the thread is running well, _mostly_ on topic -- and those participating are happy to name and talk about 'Stravinsky's Ballets.' Everything is hunky-dory!


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## Art Rock

I still stand by most of what I wrote four and a half years ago:

The Firebird (1910)
My version:London Symphony Orchestra/Abbado (DG, 1975, 19 min)
A century ago, this must have sounded daringly modern to ballet audiences used to the melodic Tchaikovsky ballets of just a few decades earlier. Strong orchestral colours, lovely tunes rooted in folk songs, and a musical palette that owes a lot to the impressionism of Debussy and Ravel. It works in the concert hall as well, even though it is less easy to visualize - it can stand on its own as a great piece of music, if just falling short of the splendor of its two successors.

Petrushka (1911)
My version: Detroit Symphony Orchestra/Dorati (Decca, 1981, 34 min)
Petrushka is the story of a Russian traditional puppet, made of straw and with a bag of sawdust as his body, who comes to life and develops emotions. The music is a notch more conventional than the Firebird, a delightful blend of folk song like melodies, exciting dance rhythms and wonderful instrumentation. The music and the images it provokes is so strong that you can imagine the dancers yourself whilst listening to it. My second favourite ballet score of all time. Essential.

Le sacre du printemps (1913)
My version [1]: London Symphony Orchestra/Abbado (DG, 1976, 36 min)
My version [2]: Detroit Symphony Orchestra/Dorati (Decca, 1982, 34 min)
Two years after Petrushka, Stravinsky dropped a musical bomb on an unsuspecting Paris audience. The primitive setting of the ballet (translated as The rite of spring, and depicting a pagan ritual) and the almost barbaric rhythms caused a riot, and not in a positive way. The composition remains one of the most important in all of classical music, with exquisite instrumentation, wonderful melodic snippets, and a pervasive rhythm. You must have heard it - and if not, you must hear it. Hors concours, one of the greatest compositions of all time.


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## Mahlerian

Art Rock said:


> Petrushka (1911)
> My version: Detroit Symphony Orchestra/Dorati (Decca, 1981, 34 min)
> Petrushka is the story of a Russian traditional puppet, made of straw and with a bag of sawdust as his body, who comes to life and develops emotions. *The music is a notch more conventional than the Firebird*, a delightful blend of folk song like melodies, exciting dance rhythms and wonderful instrumentation. The music and the images it provokes is so strong that you can imagine the dancers yourself whilst listening to it. My second favourite ballet score of all time. Essential.


Oh, but with all of that polytonality and the collage-like construction, it's anything but!


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## violadude

Mahlerian said:


> Oh, but with all of that polytonality and the collage-like construction, it's anything but!


I think people get the impression that Petrushka is more conventional because of its lighter tone, but as you said, it's hardly at all more conventional than Firebird.


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## Marschallin Blair

_Le Sacre du Printemps_









The '59 Markevitch/Philharmonia is incandescent in its primal element; certainly my all-time favorite reading.

I love the otherworldly, savage, and erotic feel to the score. I_ feel _like I'm in the Bronze Age when I hear it.

The music is so stunningly original that its flavor has been used in films as disparate as _Star Wars_ (C3-PO and R2-D2 waking through the desert), the _Planet of the Apes_ (the hunt), and_ Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome_ (Mel Gibson's entrance into Barter Town).

_L'Oiseau de Feu_









Colin Davis' mid-seventies Concertgebouw Firebird has gorgeously-recorded sound that really captures all of the colors of the score and the most powerful and rhythmically-exciting "Infernal Dance" I've ever heard.

The lush, densely-textured oriental feel of the score just takes me to fairy tale land every time I hear it. I hear the palpably-exotic influences of the Borodin _Third Symphony_ in the gorgeous _khorovod_ of the princesses as well as Rimsky-Korsakov's opera _Mlada_ in "The Infernal Dance"--- but of course with Stravinsky's masterful orchestrations.

_Apollon musagète _









Karajan's massaging and balancing of the textures is as streamlined and as elegant as I could imagine.

I just love the poised patrician demeanor, charm, and elegance of its contours.


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## aajj

I cannot speak to ballet performances, only to the way the music has hit me. Les Noces, Agon and Orpheus are all favorites but among the three early ones i go with Petrushka. Rite of Spring was my first love, originally heard as a teenager when i wanted music to pulverize my brain. But Petrushka's ultra colorful orchestration and the sheer joyousness of the music, has aged better with me.


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## clara s

because a lot of people here, duscuss about the music qualities of Stravinsky's ballets,

I would like to ask the author of the thread,

if by the question "Which of the 3 great Stravinsky ballets is your favorite... and why?'

she means only the music or the music/ballet/choreography/dancers?


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## Guest

Woo hoo, another "all" thread. I love it!!

(The three part could have been off-putting, but everyone has successfully overcome that.)

Anyway, Stravinsky wrote a lot of music. Hard to fault any of it, actually. I hate the libretto of _The Flood,_ but I suffer through them occasionally just so I can hear those delightful notes again. And I have never liked the pastiche opera, though all my friends assure me that that is all me.

Anyway, _Les Noces_ has a special place in my heart, for sure. I first heard this in Stockholm at a Ballet Afton shortly after falling in love with Bartok's Concerto for orchestra and through it with all twentieth century music. It was the first "modern" music I had heard live, too. It was overwhelming. Excruciatingly beautiful and exciting. The bell chords at the end still make me cry, not because they make a lovely noise, which they do, but because they signal that the ballet is only seconds away from being over. Gaaaaah!!!!


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## GreenMamba

_L'Histoire du Soldat_ is in my Sony "Stravinsky conducts Stravinsky - The Ballets" set, so I'll say that counts. I don't really care about the dance aspects of these works anyway.

I don't really have a favorite though. Petr B mentioned disliking suites, and I think that particularly applies to _Pulcinella_, which loses its singing in the suite version.


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## Richannes Wrahms

May I humbly ask what is it you knowledgeable people find so revealing in Les Noces?


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## PetrB

Mahlerian said:


> Oh, but with all of that polytonality and the collage-like construction, it's anything but!


Agreed. Said it before. _Petrushka_ is the 'big break away' from past procedures, a much greater musical distance and contrast between _Petrushka_ and _L'oiseau de feu_ than between _Petrushka_ and _Le sacre du printemps._


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## PetrB

*With or without all the book-larnin'...*



Richannes Wrahms said:


> May I humbly ask what is it you knowledgeable people find so revealing in Les Noces?


LOL. I hear it as the most truly "Russian" of any of Stravinsky's Russian period works. It is so much more truly folk based than any of the earlier ballets.

I hear a piece (also more Russian, I believe than many a western concept) which is as near to being completely non-western (non-occidental) which is instead Byzantine / Oriental in its overall sound and concept, and that includes the relation of its segments and the proportion of those segments one to the next (in that, it bears an analogous resemblance to a decorative Chinese lacquer box with its surface areas crammed tight with various asymmetric bordered shapes, each filled with an array of contrasting geometric patterns -- rather like a crazy quilt), giving the piece's overall shape something quite apart from other such ballet scores which are also more episodic than developmental. I welcome its complete lack of "Western Classical Gloss" with open arms.

Within that non-traditional developmental framework, he manages throughout the sequence of segments, slow, fast, or moderate tempi episodes, to give a constant sense of relentless forward momentum; he ingeniously inserts about mid-way through a 'preview' cue of the bell-tolling type theme used in the coda, and that gradually (not obviously) does work its way more into the last half of the score without at all 'tipping its hat,' only to come full force at the end (with the added force of recognition from the listener because they were given it virtually subliminally earlier on.)

That theme, as 'simple' as it gets: (I'm sure this is transposed) C down to A up to C up to D back down to C, is also very Russian folk-like, within a small interval compass -- a fourth -- more vacillating than directional, a play of a simple minor third and a major second. Typical of Russian folk music, and in the context in which he used it, it imparts far more than just a little feeling as encomium while it is, imo, one of the more brilliantly effective of those ending gestures of apotheosis in which the composer excelled.

Said about enough Stravinsky pieces, but I feel this quality is extreme with _Les Noces,_ that when the piece is done, the listener feels as if there is absolutely nothing more which could possibly be said in that particular musical vein, and also a feeling that after the music has stopped there is then, like a physical presence, a tangible and great physical monument where there was not one before.

Well outside of the more generally known ways of holding a piece together, the composer did something remarkable and 'other' in this piece, and far ahead of his earlier successes with the previous episodic ballet scores.

How many pieces before Les Noces used an 'orchestra' of four pianos, percussion, a few vocal soloists and chamber choir? (A number have said that without the precedent of _Les Noces (1923)_ Carl Orff's _Carmina Burana_ (1935-36) would have been unthinkable as we know it.

*With or without all the book-larnin' the piece for me has always been one that just rocks to the max**, and it has always carried me right along with it whenever I listen to it.* I know that is not the most elucidating or scholarly of answers, but the varied tempi, the overall pattern / plan of the piece as well as its general tenor, or import, _bowl me over every time even after years of my being familiar with it._

So, yeah, I _"love the sound it makes,"_ and I like it -- a lot.


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## PetrB

Art Rock said:


> I still stand by most of what I wrote four and a half years ago:
> 
> The Firebird (1910) (DG, 1975, 19 min)
> 
> Petrushka (1911) (Decca, 1981, 34 min)
> 
> Le sacre du printemps (1913)(DG, 1976, 36 min) / (Decca, 1982, 34 min)


^^^ Gasp, splutter, splutter! _Are you listening to the suites, and not the full-length scores?_ (Tsk, tsk, mutter mutter mutter


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## Triplets

My favorite has always been Petrushka. I love the tunes and the rhythm. The other two are great as well.


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## Giordano

Petrushka -- because it was the first Stravinsky piece I ever heard (in my early teens) and I was totally "head-bobbing" with it for a while.


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## Art Rock

PetrB said:


> ^^^ Gasp, splutter, splutter! _Are you listening to the suites, and not the full-length scores?_ (Tsk, tsk, mutter mutter mutter


You know, I had not even realized. I bought the CD's almost 30 years ago, and have not listened to them in the past few years. Oh well, one more for the "to do list".

I also find it intriguing how different the reactions are when comparing the Firebird and Petrushka, no doubt to a large extent the difference between listening after considerable study versus listening without any such information.


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## PetrB

Art Rock said:


> You know, I had not even realized. I bought the CD's almost 30 years ago, and have not listened to them in the past few years. Oh well, one more for the "to do list".
> 
> I also find it intriguing how different the reactions are when comparing the _Firebird_ and _Petrushka_, no doubt to a large extent the difference between listening after considerable study versus listening without any such information.


The Stravinsky ballets are known for having really little or no 'filler,' as many older ballet score (maybe other than Tchaikovsky's) did. I'd recommend the Stravinsky conducted Columbia recordings from the late 1960's of both Firebird and Petrushka (revised version) especially.

The _L'oiseau de feu_ is lovely, and I think its 'oriental exoticism' may seem further out to listeners than the often very folk-tune like _Petrushka_. Maybe that very air of the exotic of _L'oiseau de feu_ lends even more to that impression.) _L'oiseau de feu_, though, is not so very far away from either the music of his teacher, Rimsky-Korsakov, or his fellow countryman Skriabin's more adventurous stuff.

'Our modern ears' find it hard to hear how radical, strange and disorienting Debussy's _Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune_ was, not only for its audiences, but for the professional musicians in Paris, one of the musical capitals of Europe, who first performed it in 1894. The rehearsals for that not horribly demanding and brief work took weeks, so alien was it to anything the musicians had yet dealt with.





Hearing the bitonality of _Petrushka_ as startling (from the harmonic standpoint as well in some of its rhythmic aspects it is more startling than anything in _L'oiseau de feu_) is I think about as difficult for anyone today as is hearing the Debussy as wildly modern, near to atonal and shapeless as it was, it seems to its contemporary players and audience in 1894.

Just enjoy


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## butters

As a bassoon player, I'd have to go with The Rite of Spring. The high bassoon solo is pure heaven! (Melts me every time!) I love it especially when the instruments play in dissonance with each other, but at the same time, work so well when played all together. I also love the beautiful sounds, the dark themes and the energy of this piece. 

When I first heard it in the concert hall, it was so different than other classical/romantic music I've heard and I was really overwhelmed. I fell in love with both the music and also Stravinsky! His other pieces are wonderful as well, especially the Firebird. 

My teacher loves this piece, although it's such a challenging piece to master, but great music always come with great price! Anyways, truly a masterpiece!


I hope my first post wasn't too bad.. Super excited to meet new people who also loves classical music!!


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## Mahlerian

PetrB said:


> How many pieces before Les Noces used an 'orchestra' of four pianos, percussion, a few vocal soloists and chamber choir? (A number have said that without the precedent of _Les Noces (1923)_ Carl Orff's _Carmina Burana_ (1935-36) would have been unthinkable as we know it.


There's really nothing I can do to expound upon your reply, PetrB, which fully encapsulates the appeal of Les Noces to me.

But I would like to add that not only Carmina Burana, but also Messiaen's Trois petites liturgies bears the distinct stamp of Les Noces' percussive ensemble with added choir. The octatonic scale prevalent in Les Noces is, after all, one of Messiaen's Modes of Limited Transposition.


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## donnie a

It's The Firebird for me, all the way. I love the other two, also. In fact, there isn't a Stravinsky ballet score I don't like, from any period. But I think he did some of his most deeply beautiful and deeply affecting writing in The Firebird. I've always liked the 1919 suite the best.


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## Queen of the Nerds

clara s said:


> because a lot of people here, duscuss about the music qualities of Stravinsky's ballets,
> 
> I would like to ask the author of the thread,
> 
> if by the question "Which of the 3 great Stravinsky ballets is your favorite... and why?'
> 
> she means only the music or the music/ballet/choreography/dancers?


Yes, I am a "she". Secondly, I honestly do not care, as long as you explain why you love it.


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## DiesIraeCX

Hmm, I think I'd have to give the slightest of edges to _Rite of Spring_, then _Firebird_, and then _Petrushka_. I also like _Pulcinella_, I'm not crazy about _Jeu de cartes_.

The rest of the ballets I've yet to hear. One day.


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## Fagotterdammerung

_Les Noces_, for sure, but _Rite_ of his most popular ones.


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## clara s

Queen of the Nerds said:


> Yes, I am a "she". Secondly, I honestly do not care, as long as you explain why you love it.


I would never address a Queen as a "he" 

a, OK, because it's a different pleasure to just sit in a concert hall and listen 
to a good orchestra playing the Stravinsky masterpieces

and a different one seeing live the Ballet du XXe Siècle in one of the most 
inspired choreographies of MB for Le Sacre du Printemps

believe me, you would care if you had seen it


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## soundoftritones

I like _Petrushka_ the most; I feel that this ballet is childish, but I say this not in a demeaning fashion. The dance of the puppet and toys and the costumes + sets (and the music, of course) that I've seen in many different interpretations all capture the childhood fantasy-like atmosphere. I should further clarify though, when I say "childish" - a _twisted_, dark childhood dream, almost. Under the outer layer of innocence of toys and play, the dark plot emerges and opens up to allow even deeper interpretation of such a simple plot. It feels very darkly mysterious throughout the entire ballet, and the sudden pulling instrumentation and rolling percussion of the music really paint the picture of puppet strings being jerked. 
Stravinsky was truly a genius.


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## Gaspard de la Nuit

As far as just the music (never seen any of the ballets other than that one of the Rite on Youtube), I would go with Rite , because it's picturesque - so is Firebird, but Rite has a higher aesthetic voltage. Petrushka....I can't really handle the circus-music.


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## Guest

Hey soundoftritones, there's a quite easy and eloquent way to say "childish, but...not in a demeaning fashion."

Childlike.

Childish is demeaning. It is the demeaning version of childlike.


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## PetrB

some guy said:


> Hey soundoftritones, there's a quite easy and eloquent way to say "childish, but...not in a demeaning fashion."
> 
> Childlike. / Childish is demeaning. It is the demeaning version of childlike.


child·like
ˈCHīl(d)līk/
adjective: childlike; adjective: child-like
(of an adult) having good qualities associated with a child.
"she speaks with a childlike directness"
synonyms:	innocent, artless, guileless, unworldly, unsophisticated, naive, ingenuous, trusting, unsuspicious, unwary, credulous, gullible; unaffected, without airs, uninhibited, natural, spontaneous.

child·ish
ˈCHīldiSH/
adjective: childish
silly and immature.
"a childish outburst"
synonyms:	immature, babyish, infantile, juvenile, puerile; silly, inane, jejune, foolish, irresponsible.


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## tahnak

L'Oiseu de Feu - The Firebird. 
After Tchaikovsky's three great ballets, there is no other ballet that comes close . Le Sacre is an innovative ballet... very important in terms of musical imagery and a revolutionary piece. Petruchka is also very well orchestrated. But the Firebird has an unforgettable opening and a dazzling closing that can inspire Rip van Winkle to wake up after twenty years.


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## Albert7

I love all of them in fact. A1 sauce for each.

No choosing for me amongst all of those.


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## Couac Addict

Rite...
Great to listen to....even better to watch.


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## Albert7

I probably prefer Stravinsky's 3 Greek ballets over the standard ones  But that 's just me.


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## meowmixalot

The Rite of Spring. It is very emotionally tied with me, since it was one of my first "eye opening" classical pieces when I was younger. It was one of the pieces that got me interested in classical music.


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## meowmixalot

*Rite of Spring*

The Rite of Spring. It is very emotionally tied with me, since it was one of my first "eye opening" classical pieces when I was younger. It was one of the pieces that got me interested in classical music.


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## TwoFlutesOneTrumpet

The Rite of Spring, no contest. One of my very favorite pieces of music.


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## Pugg

The Rite of Spring is amazing.


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## jegreenwood

Albert7 said:


> I probably prefer Stravinsky's 3 Greek ballets over the standard ones  But that 's just me.


I've seen both "Orpheus" and "Agon" performed several times. So different, yet so wonderful.

Of the three older ballets, musically I'd go for "Rite of Spring." I've never seen it danced.


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## hpowders

Nothing like Le Sacre. Too bad it's so rarely performed.


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## Bettina

I don't know if this counts...but my favorite is Stravinsky's piano arrangement "Three Movements from Petrushka." I like it much more than the original Petrushka ballet, and more than any of Stravinsky's other ballets as well. I guess I'm just a sucker for anything piano-related!


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## jegreenwood

jegreenwood said:


> I've seen both "Orpheus" and "Agon" performed several times. So different, yet so wonderful.
> 
> Of the three older ballets, musically I'd go for "Rite of Spring." I've never seen it danced.


Oops - I meant "Apollo" not "Orpheus."


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## Reichstag aus LICHT

hpowders said:


> Nothing like Le Sacre. Too bad it's so rarely performed.


One of the most memorable concerts I've attended was Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia performing (unbelievably well) the _Rite of Spring_ and Bartók's _Miraculous Mandarin_. As if that weren't enough, the "filler" was Shostakovich's 2nd Piano Concerto!

St David's Hall Cardiff, 15th January 2011... what a great evening that was.


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## Retrograde Inversion

It's hardly possible to rate _Le Sacre_ highly enough: massively, viscerally impactful and enormously influential; opening up vast new vistas in the domain of rhythm. If I had a time machine which I could use only for one return trip, then May 29 1913 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées would have to be very high on my list of destinations, although admittedly mostly to experience that legendary riotous premiere, given that the musical performance was mostly rendered inaudible. That said, I tend to think that the piece works better in the concert hall than as an actual ballet. I did see it danced some years ago, but I don't really recall too much about the dance performance or choreography. _Le Sacre_ is just such an overwhelming musical experience that it dwarfs the dance, the latter being, after all, what the ballet is really supposed to be about.


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## jegreenwood

Speaking of Igor, I'm looking forward to this next month.

https://www.nycballet.com/Season-Tickets/Winter-2017/Stravinsky-x-Five.aspx


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## jlspinks

I really like Pulcinella and probably Le Sacre after that. But as the thread shows there are so many good ballets by this composer. I can just live on the music, but adding dance is intriguing.


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## Auntie Lynn

Agon - best ballet ever created...


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## maestro267

YES! I love how, from the start, the concept of "The Great Stravinsky Ballets" (and the subsequent implication that the others are not worthwhile) has been utterly destroyed.

Apollo.


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## Zhdanov

goes in this order -

*The Firebird*











*Petrushka*











*Le Sacre Du Printemps*


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## Zhdanov

the rite of spring production movie -


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## KJ von NNJ

I would say Petrouchka, for it's variance of mood, energy and color. I have Ben Zander and Ozawa, 1968 recordings of the 1947 version. Stokowski and Monteux for the 1911 version. I also like the Boulez from the early seventies.
The Firebird (Ozawa), Pulcinella(Salonen), Apollo (Chailly) and The Rite (Muti) are all essential to my collection. I have less familiarity with the other Stravinsky ballets.


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## elgar's ghost

Zhdanov said:


> the rite of spring production movie -


I've seen this a couple of times and thought it was really good - it might have annoyed the purists with its strong camp-o-meter rating but I thought the tension bouncing off Nijinsky, Diaghilev and Stravinsky while RoS was being hammered into shape was entertaining, and the portrayal of a Paris unknowingly approaching the end of _La Belle Époque_ made for an evocative backdrop. I'm not sure whether the 30-ish Stravinsky was really quite as prickly and neurotic as he is portrayed in the film but these possible exaggerations gave his character some extra light and shade. To the detractors who thought the film was too flippant to do justice to one of the landmark events of music I say look on the bright side - imagine how awful it would really have been had Ken Russell tackled the subject.


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## fluteman

If we're talking about the ballet as a whole, and not just the music, I'd probably vote for Petrushka. Superb choreography, and exactly the kind of fantasy that is ideal for ballet. The great moment for me is when Petrushka comes to life. Or does he, entirely? He wants life and love, but can't quite escape his puppetness, so well demonstrated by his awkward, wooden movements. A great idea, beautifully portrayed with music, dance, drama, and even costume all working together.


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## Joe B

I've never seen the ballets performed. So just from the perspective of the music, I think I would put them in this order: Rite of Spring, Firebird, Petrushka, Pulcinella.
The "Rite of Spring" tops the list for me as it was one of the first pieces of classical music I had ever heard. It completely hooked me and started my journey of great music at around the age of 12 or 13 years old. I think years later my parents must have found it amusing when I would switch from Chicago or Yes to Stravinsky, but they never said anything about it.


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## R3PL4Y

My favorite is definitely the Rite of Spring, but after that I think I would have to go with Agon. Stravinsky's serial period is probably my favorite of his, and this is a great work from that era.


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## jegreenwood

R3PL4Y said:


> My favorite is definitely the Rite of Spring, but after that I think I would have to go with Agon. Stravinsky's serial period is probably my favorite of his, and this is a great work from that era.


Excerpts from the ballet:


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## bestellen

My favorite has always been Petrushka. I love the tunes and the rhythm.


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## gustavdimitri

Le Sacre!










Unsurpassed!


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## cougarjuno

Petrouchka is fabulous -- easily my favorite


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## eric444

The Rite of Spring is a revolutionary work of Stravinsky and though it ended in a brawl it is a great creation for me.


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## Daniel Atkinson

1. _Agon_ - The most cyclic, varied and accomplished of his ballets
2. _Petrushka_ - The most musically varied, both whimsical and scary, and quite post-modern in many respects 
3. _The Rite Of Spring_ - The most shocking (at the time) and still stirring works he wrote

with (4.) _Les Noces_ not far behind because of it's uncompromising mystical, ritualism.

Daniel


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## ldiat




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## Daniel Atkinson




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## David OByrne

gustavdimitri said:


> Le Sacre!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Unsurpassed!


Well, unsurpassed if you pretend that Agon doesn't exist


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## David OByrne

Agon for me, it makes the early ballets look stale in comparison (and the Rite of Spring used to be my favorite piece ever)


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## Blancrocher

Oh wow, glad to see somebody uploaded this classic performance of Agon to Youtube:


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## jegreenwood

They're dancing it brilliantly now (at NYCB). I've seen it three times.


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## ldiat




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## ldiat

ldiat said:


>


opps wrong thread sorry


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## ldiat

ldiat said:


>


opps sorry what was i thinking wrong thread


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## jegreenwood

Anyone else have this box set?


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## Star

Firebird although I like the piano arrangement of 3 pieces from Petroushka


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