The 2012-13 season marks the 100th anniversary of one of the most influential musical moments of the 20th century: the first performance of Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring on May 29, 1913. Here are some materials that showcase Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony’s rich history with the work.
Watch a Video
Watch a trailer for the documentary MTT & SFS Keeping Score: Rite of Spring.
Watch the first chapter of the documentary MTT & SFS Keeping Score: Rite of Spring. For all five chapters, visit Keeping Score on PBS.
Watch Stravinsky's Rite of Spring on PBS. See more from Keeping Score.
Watch Excerpt 1 from MTT & the SF Symphony's Keeping Score performance of Stravinksy's Rite of Spring.
Watch Excerpt 2 from MTT & the SF Symphony's Keeping Score performance of Stravinksy's Rite of Spring.
Watch Excerpt 3 from MTT & the SF Symphony's Keeping Score performance of Stravinksy's Rite of Spring.
Own the Recording
The DVD of Keeping Score: Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, MTT and the SFS’s PBS documentary and concert program of this seminal work can be purchased from the San Francisco Symphony store at sfsymphony.org/store. It will be issued on Blu-ray for the first time on May 14, 2013.
In this DVD, Michael Tilson Thomas and the musicians of the San Francisco Symphony take you from the salons of St. Petersburg to the villages where Stravinsky found inspiration in the earthly power of Russian folk music and dance. MTT then retraces Stravinsky's journey to the cultural crossroads of pre-war Paris. There, in collaboration with the great impresario Diaghilev and his star dancer Nijinsky, Stravinsky developed the shocking, erotic, and violent evocation of pagan Russia that became The Rite of Spring.
Nearly a century after this wild rainforest of sound was performed, The Rite of Spring remains as exhilarating and liberating as music can be. MTT and the San Francisco Symphony show you why.
Stravinsky’s early ballets The Firebird and The Rite of Spring are steeped in the folklore of the Russian people. Audio recordings of the MTT and the SFS’s Rite of Spring Keeping Score concert plus selections from The Firebird Suite (1919) both recorded live at Davies Symphony Hall in 2004 are available on CD from the San Francisco Symphony store at sfsymphony.org/store and as a digital download from iTunes and other online retailers.
Listen to a Radio Program
Listen to the The Rite of Spring episode on MTT and the SFS’s national radio series entitled "The Keeping Score Series: 13 Days When Music Changed Forever"
Download a podcast of audio program notes about the Rite of Spring, specially prepared for the San Francisco Symphony's Stravinsky Festival in June 2013.
Explore Interactive Feature
Click here to view the interactive site delving into the musical score and the people behind the 1913 premiere of The Rite of Spring.
Attend a Concert
Michael Tilson Thomas leads the San Francisco Symphony in two concert programs designed to give audiences new insight into the composer’s folk music inspirations and the paradigm-shifting legacy of Stravinsky’s groundbreaking ballet score June 19-22 at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco. Both programs include this defining work of Stravinsky’s, paired with other lesser-known music that reflects the creative roots of his work and its lasting influence. MTT first met Stravinsky as a student in Southern California and has remained one of the composer’s most ardent advocates.
MTT and Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring and Gil Shaham
June 19 10am Katharine Hanrahan Open Rehearsal
June 19 8pm
June 20 2pm
Michael Tilson Thomas conductor
Gil Shaham violin
San Francisco Symphony
Stravinsky Agon
Stravinsky Violin Concerto
Stravinsky The Rite of Spring
MTT and Stravinsky: Stravinsky's Russian Roots
June 21 6:30pm
June 22 8pm
Michael Tilson Thomas conductor
Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble performance group
San Francisco Symphony
Traditional Russian Folk Songs
Stravinsky Les Noces
Stravinsky The Rite of Spring