Sinfonia Lahti & Tapiola Sinfonietta: The Rite of Spring

• Andrew Manze, conductor

Arnold Schönberg
Pelléas and Mélisande – A Symphonic Poem
Igor Stravinsky
The Rite of Spring

In 1913, Igor Stravinsky revolutionized the world of music. Primitive melodies, striking rhythms, and the collective power of the instruments make The Rite of Spring an all-time classic that everyone must experience in concert at least once in their lifetime.

Igor Stravinsky burst onto the global music scene with the dance works he created for the Ballets Russes in Paris. First came The Firebird, a fairy-tale ballet resounding with the atmosphere of a mythical garden in all its splendor. Petrushka, for its part, danced a rag doll to the brink of madness with its primal melodies.

The Rite of Spring culminated the series in a brutal manner. The ballet, depicting an ancient ritual, foreshadowed the devastation of World War I. For contemporaries, this was too much: according to legend, The Rite of Spring’s merciless rhythms, thick sound figures, revolutionary melodies, and ear-shattering volume levels incited the premiere audience to riot. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, The Rite of Spring quickly became the event of the century.

Now British conductor Andrew Manze, Sinfonia Lahti, and Tapiola Sinfonietta join forces to perform this undisputed masterpiece of the 20th century. This concert is not to be missed.