Petrushka: Song of the Nightingale

Paris was one of the great centres of European art and Sergey Dyagilev and his Ballet russes brought to the city a succession of epoch-shattering productions that revolutionised ballet. Whilst composing the Rite of Spring for Diaghilev Stravinsky broke off it's composition to write Petrushka the story of a puppet suddenly brought to life. Choreography was by Fokin and Nijinsky danced the title role. It remains one of the twentieth century's greatest ballets. Using music from Acts I and II of his opera Le rossignol Stravinsky's Song of the Nightingale is a brilliantly orchestrated symphonic poem richly evoking Chinese music and the allure of the Orient.