L'Oiseau bleu (Metzinger) in St. Petersburg in 1890. Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, working for Sergei Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, achieved international fame with three ballets commissioned by the impresario Sergei Diaghilev and first performed in Paris by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes: "The Firebird (L'Oiseau de feu)" (1910), "Petrushka" (1911) and "The Rite of Spring" (1913). The rhythmic structure of these compositions were largely responsible for Stravinsky's enduring reputation as a musical revolutionary who pushed the boundaries of musical design. Stravinsky's admiration for Tchaikovsky is well documented. Stravinsky's music has often been compared with Cubism. His path often crossed with the Cubists, notably Picasso
The Rite of Spring Rite" in the autumn; the sketchbooks indicate that he had finished the outline of the final sacrificial dance on 17 November 1912. During the remaining months of winter he worked on the full orchestral score, which he signed and dated as "completed in Clarens, March 8, 1913". He showed the manuscript to Maurice Ravel, who was enthusiastic and predicted, in a letter to a friend, that the first performance of the "Le Sacre" would be as important as the 1902 premiere of Debussy's "Pelléas et Mélisande". After the orchestral rehearsals began in late March, Monteux drew the composer's attention to