Igor Stravinsky Petrushka
Commedia dell’arte, Russian style. Ryan Bancroft conducts the virtuosic ballet score.
About the video
- Filmed 6 May 2021.
- The video is approximately 36 minutes.
A wintry fairground in 1830s St Petersburg is the setting for Petrushka. Amid the bustling crowds, three puppets come to life: Petrushka, the Ballerina and the Moor. Petrushka loves the Ballerina, but she is drawn to the Moor – a love triangle that comes to a violent end.
With Petrushka, Stravinsky truly found his own musical voice. Russian folk songs and popular music mingle with incisive rhythms, unexpected harmonies and dazzling orchestration. The piano has a prominent role, contributing to the music’s percussive and at times almost mechanical character.
The four tableaux are played without a break, alternating between the teeming life of the fair and the puppets’ own world. Yet behind the riot of colour and burlesque humour lies something darker: the story of Petrushka is also the story of an outsider, condemned to ridicule and rejection.
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The music
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Igor Stravinsky Petrushka
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Participants
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Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
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Ryan Bancroft conductor
