- published: 27 May 2013
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Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (sometimes spelled Strawinsky or Stravinskii; Russian: Игорь Фёдорович Стравинский, transliterated: Igorʹ Fëdorovič Stravinskij; Russian pronunciation: [ˌiɡərʲ ˌfʲjodɐrɐvʲɪtɕ strɐˈvʲinskʲɪj]; 17 June [O.S. 5 June] 1882 – 6 April 1971) was a Russian, and later French and American composer, pianist and conductor. He is acknowledged by many as one of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century.
Stravinsky's compositional career was notable for its stylistic diversity. He first achieved international fame with three ballets commissioned by the impresario Sergei Diaghilev and first performed in Paris by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes: The Firebird (1910), Petrushka (1911) and The Rite of Spring (1913). The Rite of Spring, which provoked a riot during its premiere, transformed the way in which subsequent composers thought about rhythmic structure and was largely responsible for Stravinsky's enduring reputation as a musical revolutionary who pushed the boundaries of musical design. His so-called Russian phase was followed in the 1920s by a period in which he turned to neoclassical music. The works from this period tended to make use of traditional musical forms (concerto grosso, fugue and symphony). They frequently concealed a vein of intense emotion beneath a surface appearance of detachment or austerity and often paid tribute to the music of earlier masters, for example J.S. Bach and Tchaikovsky. In the 1950s, Stravinsky adopted serial procedures. His compositions of this period shared traits with examples of his earlier output: rhythmic energy, the construction of extended melodic ideas out of a few two- or three-note cells and clarity of form, of instrumentation and of utterance.
Actors: Anatole Taubman (actor), Gabriel Yared (composer), Mads Mikkelsen (actor), Marie-Noelle Hauville (miscellaneous crew), Erick Desmarestz (actor), Olivier Claverie (actor), Michel Ruhl (actor), Natacha Lindinger (actress), Jan Kounen (director), Jan Kounen (writer), Christophe Chauveau (miscellaneous crew), Francine Cathelain (miscellaneous crew), Nicolas Vaude (actor), Catherine Davenier (actress), Anton Yakovlev (actor),
Plot: Paris 1913. Coco Chanel is infatuated with the rich and handsome Boy Capel, but she is also compelled by her work. Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring is about to be performed. The revolutionary dissonances of Igor's work parallel Coco's radical ideas. She wants to democratize women's fashion; he wants to redefine musical taste. Coco attends the scandalous first performance of The Rite in a chic white dress. The music and ballet are criticized as too modern, too foreign. Coco is moved but Igor is inconsolable. Paris 1920, Coco is newly wealthy and successful but grief-stricken after Boy's death in a car crash. Igor, following the Russian Revolution is now a penniless refugee living in exile in Paris. Coco is introduced to Igor by Diaghilev, impresario of the Ballets Russes. The attraction between them is instant and electric. Coco invites Igor along with his wife - now sick with consumption - together with his four children and a menagerie of birds to stay at her new villa, Bel Respiro, in Garches.
Keywords: 1910s, 1920s, adultery, ampersand-in-title, art, ballet, bare-breasts, buttocks, cat-call, character-name-in-titleActors: Steve Pemberton (actor), Griff Rhys Jones (actor), Peter Copley (actor), Andre Schneider (actor), Richard Hope (actor), William Diver (editor), Ross MacGibbon (producer), David Snodin (producer), Alex Jennings (actor), Peter Maniura (producer), Hilary Salmon (producer), Jonathan Aris (actor), Sara Dee (actress), Adam Garcia (actor), Alex Argenti (actress),
Plot: In the spring of 1913, Parisian businessman Gabriel Astruc opens a new theater on the Champs Elysées. The first performance is the premiere of Igor Stravinsky's 'The Rite of Spring', danced by the Ballet Russes. The rehearsal process is extremely fraught: the orchestra dislike Stravinsky's harsh, atonal music; the dancers dislike the 'ugly' choreography of Vaslav Nijinsky. The volatile, bisexual Nijinsky is in a strained relationship with the much older Sergei Diaghilev, the Ballet Russes' charismatic but manipulative impresario. Public expectation is extremely high after Nijinsky's success in 'L'apres-midi d'un faune'. Finally, 'The Rite of Spring' premieres to a gossip-loving, febrile, fashion-conscious Parisian audience sharply divided as to its merits.
Keywords: ballet, ballet-dancer, based-on-ballet, paris-franceActors: Ronald Lacey (actor), William Reynolds (editor), Vernon Dobtcheff (actor), Wayne Fitzgerald (miscellaneous crew), Siân Phillips (actress), Alan Bates (actor), Harry Saltzman (producer), Herbert Ross (director), Jeremy Irons (actor), Ronald Pickup (actor), Colin Blakely (actor), June Brown (actress), Frederick Jaeger (actor), Janet Suzman (actress), Hugh Wheeler (writer),
Plot: Set in the early 1910s at a time of passionate artistic experimentalism, and based on biographical fact, this is the story of Vaslav Nijinsky, the young and brilliant but headstrong premier danseur and aspiring choreographer of the Ballets Russes. The company is managed by the famous Sergei Diaghilev, himself a controlling and fiercely possessive impresario. The increasing tension between these powerful egos, exacerbated by homosexual desire and jealousy, becomes triangular when the young ballerina Romola de Pulsky determinedly attempts to draw the increasingly mentally unstable Nijinsky away from Diaghilev,
Keywords: 1910s, ambiguity, aphorism, applause, aristocrat, ballet, ballet-dancer, ballet-russe, bellboy, booing