Return of the Firebird -- Blazing with Beauty

Movie musicals come in many forms -- Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music, the great fun of the Golddigger musicals of the 1930's, the famed MGM musicals of the 1940's and 50's -- but there are other musical movies as well.  I would like to share one with three definite stories performed in ballet. Return of the Firebird presents, as separate movies, Igor Stravinsky's The Firebird, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, and Stravinsky's Petrouchka.  In a review I wrote in May, 2010, I discussed the issue of watching movies about ballet vs. watching ballet itself. Some may believe ballet is something to be avoided or endured rather than a form of great entertainment.  However, Return of the Firebird, filmed at Russia's Mosfilm Studios, starring and directed by famed Mariinsky ballet star Andris Liepa, may just change your mind if you have never thought you would enjoy this art form. Liepa was determined to present the three ballets as movies, similar to silent movies in which the story is told in music, movement and gesture.  He did not want typical straight-view stage performances. As a result, the ballets are filled with beautiful special effects, camera work that focuses clearly and perfectly on the dancing, close-ups and designs, and even as a ballet lover, I have never seen anything close to this type of presentation, barring only the ballet sequence from The Red Shoes.

Return of the Firebird includes these three famous ballets in a tour-de-force movie production, all as re-creations of original Russian Ballet Russes seasons during the early years of the 20th century.  Costumes, scenery, choreography by Michael Fokine, are meticulously restored just as they were presented originally by the famous impresario Diaghilev and his Ballet Russe. These were the golden years of composers Stravinsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, famed dancer Vaslav Nijinsky, the incredible talent of choreographer Fokine, and the unmatched designs of Leon Bakst, Alexandre Benois and Alexander Golovin. These few years were to Russian Ballet as our year of 1939 is considered the Golden Year of Hollywood.

With all of those elements of incredible talent working at the same time, the three ballets of the Les Saisons Russes are lush with great music, eye-popping set designs, marvelous camera work, and costumes re-created in all of their glorious and bejeweled Russian splendor. Director and ballet star Andris Liepa performs in the three pieces. His wife Ekaterina Liepa and his sister Ilze Liepa complete the famous family of dancers in this production. In addition, the incredible talents of Nina Ananiashvili as the Firebird and Victor Yeremenko as the Golden Slave in Scheherazade raise the level of these performances to the Mount Everest of ballet

Petrushka is the story of a clown puppet who loves a beautiful girl puppet but is rejected. Stravinsky’s music is, as always, uniquely moving and the ballet is a popular part of any company's repertoire. It is beautifully presented, and well worth the watch. Liepa invited deaf and dumb actors from the Mimicry & Gesture Theatre and dancers from the Cossack Circle folk ensemble to bring their special talents to this unique rendering of Petrushka.

Scheherazade is one of my favorite pieces of music, heartbreakingly beautiful and dramatic. The storyline is set in a Sultan’s harem, full of sex, betrayal, adultery, rage and slaughter. What more could you ask for? Ilze Liepa, who plays the Sultan’s courtesan, is a marvel of sensuality and prima ballerina perfection. Victor Yeremenko as her forbidden love, the Golden Slave, is one of the best male dancers I have seen. Besides the obvious leaps and twirls expected of them, one mark of a great male dancer is his ability to come out of those incredible moves and be able to stop on a dime, no wobbling, completely still. Yeremenko is one of the best at all of these aspects.

The Firebird is to me Stravinsky’s greatest music, eerie, passionate, and thrilling. The story as presented here is mysterious, romantic, includes a hideous monster and his hellish minions, a ghastly-looking castle, kidnapped princesses, the handsome hunter, men turned to stone – just my kind of story. This is without doubt the best presentation of this ballet you will ever see. Nina Ananiashvili is just luminescent as the Firebird. Her costume and makeup are gorgeous, and her dancing transcendent. I have rarely seen a prima ballerina who can stand on toe, without support, as long as this lady can. It is really hard to find words to describe her performance that are not flamboyant or cliché, but I can’t help that – it’s all true.

I was lucky enough to find the entire Firebird ballet from this DVD on Youtube. I am posting it here in its 5 parts. Those who are interested will be able to watch the ballet in full. If you don’t have time, or don’t think you’d like it, I would urge you to at least watch Nos. 2 and 3 to get the idea of something very special.  You will see the Firebird, the maidens and the monster!  The whole ballet is only about 38 minutes, about the same amount of time as an old Seinfeld episode -- take a chance!

In summary, the story of The Firebird begins with a young hunter in the woods who stumbles across a dark and frightening castle, surrounded by men turned to stone.  A golden apple tree nearby shakes in the wind, and a fiery bird is seen approaching the tree.  The hunter tries to shoot her, then capture her.  She fights to be free, then offers the hunter a blazing feather for her freedom.  She then joyfully flies free.  The hunter sees a group of maidens come out of the castle and play around the tree.  He falls in love with the princess, but she must return to the castle after a certain time.  They are prisoners of the monster Kashchey (an ugly monster if ever there was one).  The hunter decides to try to free them, he is captured by Kashchey and his minions, and is about to be turned to stone.  He pulls the Firebird's blazing feather from his shirt, and she appears instantly.  The monster and his demons are powerless against her.  While the Firebird keeps everyone at bay, the hunter finds a luminous egg which contains Kashchey's soul and power.  He destroys the egg, the monster and friends go up in a puff of smoke, and the evil spell is broken.  The unfortunate men are returned to life, the maidens are reunited with them, the hunter and princess are together, and the story ends in fire and light and the most incredible climax of music Stravinsky ever wrote.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I.