Igor Fëdorovič Stravinskij

The Profile

Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971) was a Russian-born composer, conductor, and pianist whose career spanned the Ballets Russes breakthroughs (The Firebird, Petrushka, The Rite of Spring), a neoclassical turn, and later serial works. He collaborated with Sergei Diaghilev and became a naturalized U.S. citizen.

Premiered The Rite of Spring in Paris on May 29, 1913, provoking an uproar; key collaborator of Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes; three major stylistic periods (Russian, neoclassical, serial); extensively conducted his own works, with recordings from 1934 to the late 1960s; naturalized U.S. citizen in 1945.

Four glowing DeBaser reviews celebrate Stravinsky’s breakthrough ballets and his shape-shifting career, from primitivist thunder to neoclassical wit and serial clarity. The box set review highlights recordings conducted by Stravinsky (1934–late ’60s). Detailed write-ups on The Rite of Spring, The Firebird, and Pulcinella stress rhythmic drive, bold orchestration, and irony. Overall verdict: enduring masterpieces, challenging at first, then addictive.