Profession: Composer
Biography: Igor Stravinsky was a Russian composer known for his stylistic diversity and enduring influence, first winning fame with ballets commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev: The Firebird (1910), Petrushka (1911), and The Rite of Spring (1913).
Stravinsky early in his career made friends with the youngest son of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and after spending a summer with the family was advised to continue private lessons in theory rather than attending the Saint Petersburg Conservatory.
He went on to study privately under Rimsky-Korsakov, who he came to consider as a second father. Their relationship continued until Rimsky-Korsakov's death in 1908.
Subsequently Stravinsky achieved fame with his ballets for Diaghilev, and then went to live in France from 1920 to 1939. He later moved to the United States, where he would spend the remainder of his life, after being granted a chair at Harvard.
Born: June 17, 1882
Birthplace: Oranienbaum, Russia
Star Sign: Gemini
Married Life
- 1906-01-23 Composer Igor Stravinsky (23) weds Yekaterina Nosenko
Historical Events
- 1910-06-25 Igor Stravinsky's ballet "The Firebird" for the Ballets Russes premieres at the Opéra de Paris, Paris
- 1913-05-29 Igor Stravinsky's avant-garde ballet score "Le Sacre du Printemps" (The Rite of Spring) for the Ballets Russes premieres at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, provoking a riot
- 1942-02-08 Igor Stravinsky's orchestral piece "Danses Concertantes" premieres in Los Angeles, California
- 1946-03-25 1st performance of Igor Stravinsky's "Ebony Concerto", by Woody Herman and His Thundering Herd, at Carnegie Hall, New York City
- 1951-09-11 Igor Stravinsky's opera "The Rake's Progress", with libretto by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, premieres at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Italy
Dmitri Shostakovich
Gioachino Rossini
Richard Wagner
Anton Rubinstein
Ludwig van Beethoven
Mstislav Rostropovich