火鸟

The Firebird opened the historic triade of Stravinsky’s Russian ballets and brought him fame as a composer. Its libretto combined the themes of various fairy-tales and Ballet Master Eldar Aliev has chosen the same path. In his version the Firebird acquires the features of fantastic heroines of Russian operas and closely mirrors the image of the Princess-Swan from The Tale of the Tsar Saltan by Stravinsky’s teacher, Rimsky-Korsakov. She turns out to be an enchanted girl, helping Ivan Tsarevich defeat the evil magician Kashchei and his foul entourage. After Koschei’s death and the destruction of his kingdom, the wonderful bird turns into a beautiful Princess, who becomes Ivan’s bride. In his choreography Eldar Aliev retained the traditional juxtaposition between the kind terrestrial characters (princesses, Tsarevich’s retinue) and the distorted plastique of the dark forces. And the soloist was faced with the creative dual task of showing the transformation from a magical creature, embodying the fire element, into a Russian lyrical heroine.

Nadezhda Koulygina