Stravinsky: "Le Sacre du Printemps" - "Classic of the Classics"

The Paris premiere of Stravinsky's ballet "Le Sacre du Printemps" is one of the biggest scandals in music history. There was laughter and tumult in the auditorium, and the dancers were booed. "No doubt one day people will understand that I landed a surprise coup in Paris, but that Paris was indisposed," Stravinsky wrote. He was right: the colours and rhythms of this work have long since cast a spell over musicians and audiences alike. Incidentally, it draws its almost archaic power at least in part from folk tunes: The famous bassoon melody at the beginning, for example, is based on a Lithuanian song.

Michael von Schönermark, our solo bassoonist, plays an excerpt for us.