The Rite of Spring piano version, subsequently lost, which he may have used to demonstrate the work to Diaghilev and the Ballet Russes conductor Pierre Monteux in April 1912. He also made a four-hand piano arrangement which became the first published version of "The Rite"; he and the composer Claude Debussy played the first half of this together, in June 1912. Following Diaghilev's decision to delay the premiere until 1913, Stravinsky put " The Rite" aside during the summer of 1912. He enjoyed the Paris season, and accompanied Diaghilev to the Bayreuth Festival to attend a performance of "Parsifal". Stravinsky resumed work on "The
The Firebird and Princess Vasilisa The Firebird and Princess Vasilisa The Firebird and Princess Vasilisa is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in "Narodnye russkie skazki". It is one of many tales written about the mythical Firebird. It is Aarne-Thompson type 531. Other tales of this type include "Ferdinand the Faithful and Ferdinand the Unfaithful", "Corvetto", "King Fortunatus's Golden Wig", and "The Mermaid and the Boy". Another, literary variant is Madame d'Aulnoy's "La Belle aux cheveux d'or", or "The Story of Pretty Goldilocks". A royal huntsman found a feather of the firebird and, though his horse warned him against it, picked it up.