Stravinsky’s Petrushka: Between Dance and Tradition

Petrushka is pure magic—the puppet suddenly coming to life, brimming with charm, mischief, and touching awkwardness. Stravinsky creates a sonic theatre of wild inventiveness, fuelled by the audacity of his original collaborators—Fokine, Benois, Diaghilev—who dreamed of a spectacle blurring the lines between puppets and humans.

That avant-garde spirit still resonates in the score: a Russian fair bursts into vivid colours, merchants shout, barrel organs creak, and among the crowd appear three puppets struggling with emotions far too big for them. Between humour, rusticity, and poetic illusion, Petrushka remains an enchantment where fantasy spins into vertigo.