Rune Bergmann with Brevard Sinfonia, Petrushka, and more

Petrushka is a landmark 1911 ballet burlesque composed by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. Created in collaboration with librettist Alexandre Benois and choreographer Michel Fokine, the work tells the tragicomic story of a love triangle between three puppets—the miserable clown Petrushka, a beautiful Ballerina, and a dashing Moor—brought to life by a magician during the 1830 Shrovetide Fair in St. Petersburg. Celebrated for its revolutionary musical innovations, including polyrhythms, octatonic scales, and the famous bitonal "Petrushka chord," Stravinsky later revised the piece in 1947 into a popular orchestral concert version that showcases the piano as a prominent feature.