Stravinsky Rite Of Spring Analysis

The Rite of Spring was only performed seven times before the breakout of the First World War. Prior to the war, Diaghilev, the director of Ballets Russes has dismissed Nijinsky after he had married on tour with Ballets Russes but due to the upheaval of this event, Diaghilev was ready to revive the performance under Nijinsky’s choreography. However, Nijinsky was in mental decline and thus, this was not possible and he took no further part in the ballet after 1917. It was now important to find another choreographer in order that the performance could be revived. Leonide Massine, in 1920, choreographed a new production of the Rite of Spring in Paris. This time around it was not the public that did not welcome the performance, but Stravinsky himself.
However on the 11th of April 1930, Massine’s version of the Rite of Spring was performed by Philadelphia Orchestra and when it later moved to New York, for one of the first times, the audience were receptive of the work meaning that it was finally beginning to be taken
Since, the work had been receiving a far more positive reception, Monteaux who conducted the premier, would also conduct this performance. It was believed however that Stravinsky had no intentions of attending this performance as he did not wish to hear his music be butchered. He arranged to attend a performance of Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro instead of the performance of his own work, but this was short lived as he was convinced to return to see his own work. It is said that Stravinsky returned to the Royal Albert Hall just in time to witness the composer and the conductor being accepted by an audience as they were clapping and cheering passionately. The performance had finally received a positive reaction from the public and this form of the Rite of Spring continued to be performed in many locations making it clear that the performance was starting to be understood by the public even if it was in a different form from the