The Rite of Spring Monteux, "The musicians thought it absolutely crazy". At one point—a climactic brass fortissimo—the orchestra broke into nervous laughter at the sound, causing Stravinsky to intervene angrily. The role of the sacrificial victim was to have been danced by Nijinsky's sister, Bronislava Nijinska; when she became pregnant during rehearsals, she was replaced by the then relatively unknown Maria Piltz. Paris's Théâtre des Champs-Élysées was a new structure, which had opened on 2 April 1913 with a programme celebrating the works of many of the leading composers of the day. The theatre's manager, Gabriel Astruc, was determined to house the 1913 Ballets
Tsarevitch Ivan, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf The wolf agreed, the exchange was done, and Ivan returned to his own kingdom with Helen, the horse, and the Firebird. The wolf said its service was done when they returned to where it had eaten Ivan's horse. Ivan dismounted and lamented their parting. They went on for a time and slept. His older brothers found them, killed Ivan, sliced his body to pieces, and told Helen that they would kill her if she would not say that they had fairly won the horse, the firebird, and her. They brought them to their father, and the second son received half