The Rite of Spring / The Firebird Suite [excerpts]

Stravinsky's early ballets The Firebird and The Rite of Spring are soaked in the folklore of the Russian people. Parisian arriviste Stravinsky, collaborating with flamboyant impresario Sergei Diaghilev and his Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo, brought out The Firebird in 1910. Supercharged with bewitching melodies and luscious orchestration, it established Stravinsky as the rising star of the Paris music scene. A few years later came The Rite of Spring and the audience riot that disrupted its premiere ("just what I wanted!" crowed Diaghilev.) The plot-a human sacrifice set in a prehistoric culture-reflected the contemporary "fauvist" movement, which employed sophisticated technique to create the illusion of primitivism. Stravinsky's music, despite its barbed fauviste rhythms and dissonant harmonies, is shot through with Russian folk melodies that add a whiff of tradition to the full-throttle sprint that Aaron Copland declared to be "the most astonishing orchestral achievement of the twentieth century."

This companion concert recording for Keeping Score: Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, as seen on PBS, was recorded live in Davies Symphony Hall in September 2004. It includes the complete The Rite of Spring plus three movements from The Firebird Suite (1919 version).