Ravinia 2025 Issue 3

IGOR STRAVINSKY (1882–1971) The Rite of Spring Scored for three flutes (plus two piccolos and alto flute), four oboes and two English horns, three clarinets (plus clarinetto piccolo and bass clarinet), four bassoons and two contrabassoons, eight horns, four trumpets (plus piccolo and bass trumpets), three trombones, two tubas, timpani, triangle tambourine, guiro, antique cymbals, cymbals, bass drum, tamtam, and strings A mature Stravinsky diminished the importance of “inspiration” to musical composition. “Most music-lovers believe that what sets the compos- er’s creative imagination in motion is a certain emotive disturbance generally designated by the name of inspiration . … I simply maintain that inspiration is in no way a prescribed condition of the creative act, but rather a manifestation that is chronologically second.” This excerpt comes from Poetics of Music (1942), a series of lectures delivered while Stravinsky held the Charles Eliot Norton Chair of Poetics at Harvard University. At the distance of 30 years, Stravin- sky apparently had forgotten a conspicuous case of “primary inspiration” in his most notorious work, Le sacre du printemps ( The Rite of Spring ). While writing L’oiseau de feu ( The Firebird ) for a 1910 production by the Ballets Russes, Stra- vinsky experienced a vivid, detailed vision. “I saw in [my] imagination a solemn pagan rite: sage elders, seated in a circle, watched a young girl dance herself to death. They were sacrific- ing her to propitiate the god of spring.” Stravin- sky shared his startling dream with the painter Nicholas Roerich and Sergei Diaghilev, impresa- rio of the Ballets Russes. Both were electrified by the vision and its balletic potential. Stravinsky first had another project to complete, the pup- pet burlesque Petrushka , but in the meantime, Roerich expanded Stravinsky’s vision into a full- scale ballet scenario. The following year, Stravinsky devoted full at- tention to The Rite of Spring , hoping that Diaghi- lev would bring it to the stage in 1911. The sce- nario is cast in two parts, comprising 13 scenes. Igor Stravinsky (1913) Part One: The Adoration of the Earth brings the winter thaw and reawakening of the earth. The solo bassoon is the harbinger of spring, but its placid call is overcome by primitive ferocity. In a conversation with Robert Craft, Stravinsky remembered “the violent Russian spring that seemed to begin in an hour and was like the whole earth cracking.” Part Two: The Sacrifice is a reckless, whirling dance that ends in the chosen girl’s death, beginning again the annual cycle of rebirth. Stravinsky derived background material for The Rite of Spring —subtitled “Scenes of Pagan Rus- sia”—in part from published folksong collec- tions. He fashioned a unique modern style from the primeval elements—motivic and rhythmic cells—of actual folksongs. His novel subject mat- ter demanded a primitive musical language of unprecedented savagery: “Very little immediate tradition lies behind Le sacre du printemps , how- ever, and no theory. I had only my ear to help me. I heard, and I wrote what I heard. I am merely the vessel through which Le sacre passed.” Diaghilev selected the principal male dancer of the Ballets Russes, Vaslav Nijinsky, to choreo- graph The Rite of Spring ballet. Nijinsky’s dis- torted movements utterly contradicted ballet traditions: knock-kneed stances, arms dangling scarecrow-like at 90-degree angles, and off-bal- ance, asymmetrical lines. Marie Rambert, the choreographer’s assistant, still remembered de- tails of the work in her 90s, when she was inter- viewed by Millicent Hodson, who reconstructed Nijinsky’s choreography: “The foundation of the choreography was the turned-in position. And bent. A questioning. And fists. … That was one of the poses, and you had to dance in that pose. When you had to jump with those feet … turn- ing in, the position was difficult to keep, and it came from terribly difficult rhythms which you had to remember. It was a torture.” The production was torture of a different sort for Stravinsky. Nijinsky, who had never before choreographed a ballet, completely lacked any understanding of music. Stravinsky’s rhythmi- cally complex score was no place to cut one’s musical teeth. The 1913 premiere proved a scan- dalous affair with riots breaking out in the audi- ence. Stravinsky restrained the furious Nijinsky backstage, while Diaghilev tried to restore order by flashing the lights. No one was prepared for this revolutionary work. Like many revolutions, however, this one began in a chaotic sputter. –Program notes © 2025 Todd E. Sullivan MARIN ALSOP, Ravinia Chief Conductor For Marin Alsop’s biography, see page 69. BRUCE LIU Since winning the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 2021, Bruce Liu has swiftly secured a reputation as one of the most exciting talents of his generation. As the Focus Artist of the 2024 Rheingau Musik Festival, Liu was featured in five performances, ranging from chamber music to concertos with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Zurich’s Tonhalle Orchestra, and theDeutscheKammerphilharmonie Bremen. During his 2024/25 season, Liu also performed on an international tour with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, as well as tours with the Luxembourg and Rotterdam Philharmonic, London and Vien- na Symphonies, and the French National Orches- tra. He regularly tours with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and Amsterdam Sinfoniet- ta, leading performances from his piano. In the past year, Liu has made debuts with the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood, as well as the Minne- sota Orchestra, Cincinnati and Houston Sym- phonies, Cologne’s WDR Symphony Orchestra, and the Danish National Symphony. Highlights also included concerts with Rome’s Santa Cecilia National Academy Orchestra and London’s Royal Philharmonic, adding to credits that include the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Montreal and San Francisco Symphonies, Philadelphia and (Lon- don) Philharmonia Orchestras, and Tokyo’s NHK Symphony. Also a prominent recitalist, Liu has been featured on the stages of the Bozar in Brus- sels, Wigmore Hall, the Paris Philharmonie, and Tokyo Opera City, as well as Ruhr Piano Festival, the Easter Festival in Aix-en-Provence, Gstaad’s Menuhin Festival, and the Aspen, Edinburgh, La Roque d’Anthéron, Tanglewood, and Verbier Festivals. This past year, he returned to the stages of Carnegie Hall, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and several major venues across Asia, and he also made debuts at Vienna’s Musikverein and the Prinzregententhe- ater inMunich. An exclusive recording artist with Deutsche Grammophon, Liu was awarded Opus Klassik’s Young Talent of the Year prize in 2024 for his debut studio album, Waves , featuring mu- sic by Rameau, Alkan, and Ravel. His first album, featuring his winning performances from the Chopin Competition, was named among the Best Classical Albums of 2021 by Gramophone . Bruce Liu is making both his Ravinia and his Chicago Symphony Orchestra debuts. RAVINIAMAGAZINE • JUNE 30 – JULY 20, 2025 64 BARTEKBARCZYK(LIU)