Wall Street Journal celebrates 100 years of Rite of Spring

The Wall Street Journal looks at the history of Stravinsky’s groundbreaking Rite of Spring, which the NJSO performs on its season finale program June 7–9.

On May 29, 1913, the audience at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris settled in for a performance by Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. There were three pieces on the bill, but it was the debut of "The Rite of Spring," with music by Igor Stravinsky and choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky, that would transform this night at theater into one of the most influential cultural moments of the 20th century. The piece broke sharply with the ballet-centric approach to dance and expanded the range of classical music, causing a disturbance that has fascinated the arts world for a century.

Wednesday marks the 100th anniversary of that night, and the occasion is being celebrated before, on and after the actual date with all the special events that typically spring up around landmark moments in classical music. Unlike other anniversaries (May 22, for example, was the 200th anniversary of Wagner's birth), this one feels a bit more accessible. There's been an ongoing festival-like vibe around “The Rite of Spring,” in part because the audience is effectively doubled—it includes fans of both music and dance—and both camps get to see this old friend fairly frequently.

As a piece of concert music, “The Rite of Spring” is a 35-minute (give or take) work that can round out an evening's program as the crowd-pleaser ... The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra is up next, with performances June 7-9.

Read the full article at wsj.com.