Igor Stravinsky is arguably the most controversial and avant-garde figure in the 20^th-century musical culture. His distinctive work does not fit into the framework of a single stylistic model, it combines different trends in the most unexpected ways, for which his contemporaries called the composer "a man of a thousand and one styles". A great experimenter, he was sensitive to the changes that were taking place in life and he strove to live with the times. However, his music has its own true face - the Russian face. All of Stravinsky's works are deeply imbued with the Russian spirit - this made the composer incredibly popular abroad and greatly loved in his homeland.

The fame of Igor Stravinsky came after the premiere of his ballets at The Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev in Paris. Alexandre Benois and Nikolai Roerich designed the scenery for his ballets, the prominent dancers Vaclav Nijinsky and George Balanchine created the choreography, and Coco Chanel herself designed the costumes.
Critics called his works "impressionist" for their three-dimensional sound and lightning-fast tempi.

In 1919, on Diaghilev's commission, Stravinsky wrote the ballet “Pulcinella”. The composer was inspired by the music of the 18th century. Under this impression, Stravinsky created a new orchestration that send us back to early Classicist melodies. The composer was inspired by the puppet performances he saw during the journey to Naples. In the ballet, Stravinsky tried to convey the special qualities of the Commedia dell'arte - a particular genre of Italian theatre. In such productions, the actors performed in masks and often improvised on stage. "Pulcinella" premiered on May 15, 1920. Pablo Picasso painted the scenery for the ballet.

In the musical compilation dedicated to the 40^th birth anniversary of the Igor Stravinsky, the Symphonic Orchestra under the baton of the composer performs excerpts from the ballet “Pulcinella” (duet, minuet and finale of the suite).

https://www.culture.ru/events/2018879/kompozitor-stravinskii