Pounding, pagan, pulsing — these are the words typically used to describe Igor Stravinsky's ballet, "The Rite of Spring," which debuted 100 years ago last week in Paris and was greeted, literally, with riots.
Stravinsky's ode to the elemental still brings audiences to their feet, even if they are not destroying property afterward. Explanations vary, but whether it is the ballet's "eternal youth," or the fact that the music "taps the power of the Earth" or evokes "the adrenaline" surge of the caveman, the piece touches a primordial chord and manages to move listeners a century after it debuted.
When "The Rite of Spring" was first performed to a sold-out audience at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees on May 29, 1913, Stravinsky had been working for several years as the principal composer for ballet impresario Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. Together, they had produced "The Firebird" and "Petruschka." While successful, neither of them evoked the response of "The Rite of Spring."