Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring & The Firebird Suite

Savage, hypnotic, and hell-bent, Igor Stravinsky’s ballet, The Rite of Spring, set off a shock wave that turned Paris’s Théâtre des Champs-Élysées into the scene of one of the most astounding opening nights in history. The raucous rebellion Stravinsky's score started first onto the stage. As the dancers and the music pushed past civilized limits, the audience, astounded, pushed back. “Keep going no matter what!” the conductor was told, but they didn’t expect a riot! In this episode of Keeping Score, the tendrils of Stravinsky’s music pull us back through France and Russia to pagan times. Join Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony as they celebrate the wild abandon unleashed by The Rite of Spring.