Live in Concert 27.3.14 - Olivier Latry

[ardcarp]

The hopeless isolation in the mind of an innocent being confronted by such incomprehensible brutality and the desperate knowledge of her own end, seemed very much to the fore in this version.

...which makes an excellent case for staging (yse, staging) the ballet at the RFH with organ duet accomp. It would be powerful theatre.

I wonder if anyone remembers that in the 1960s, as part of the celebrations following the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral, there was a ballet, specially choreographed to JSB's organ music, accompanied by David Lepine on the new Harrison. It began with the Fall of Adam, IIRC. This was no Rite of Spring to be sure, but it caused a similar stir at the time. No riots, but a lot of huffing and puffing in the national press about dancing in a holy building. It shows how attitudes have changed....in the UK anyway. I wonder how it would go down in France, even now?

[Vile Consort]

The Wikipedia article states that the 2 piano version was prepared and subsequently lost, and may have been used to demonstrate to Diaghilev and Monteux in 1912. So presumably it must have resurfaced at some stage.

No.. That's not what it says.


"[Stravinsky] prepared a two-hand piano version, subsequently lost, which he may have used to demonstrate the work to Diaghilev and the Ballet Russes conductor Pierre Monteux in April 1912.[22] He also made a four-hand piano arrangement which became the first published version of The Rite; he and the composer Claude Debussy played the first half of this together, in June 1912."

The version that's lost is for one player (two hands).

[Mattbod]

Is Olivier Latry now married to Shin-Lee: i did not realise this?

[Lento]

[QUOTE=The version that's lost is for one player (two hands).[/QUOTE]

My mistake, sorry: thanks for pointing this out.

[BBMmk2]

I heard this recital, a couple of days ago, and I liked the way Olivier spoke from the heart, about not being able to play Stravinsky's le Sacre. But what programming that would've been. But copyright is copyright, so we have to observe the rules, until they're changed. Apart from this, though, the concert was thoroughly enjoyable.