"LE SACRE DU PRINTEMPS"

     Last Friday we saw the Joffrey Ballet's program "Russian Masters" which included (of course) Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring).

     I heard that piece for the first time in college, at a 20th century music class, sometime in the late 1970s.  Along with Prokofiev, Bartok, Ives, Debussy, and others we studied the Stravinsky work. I fell in love with the music and have always enjoyed listening to it at the CSO.  That class taught me a lot about an era in classical music I knew very little about, having grown up with the 19th century Russian masters.  

     I remember the exams were very difficult.  The professor would play a minute or two from one piece, anywhere in the piece, and we had to give the title, the composer, the year.  I spent hours listening to the music at home, trying to memorize every note, every beat.  It was excruciatingly challenging.  I don't remember my grade but I enjoyed the class tremendously.

     Thirty some years ago my aunt gave me a book about Nijinsky   She liked to tell me about Diaghilev, Nijinsky  and the Ballet Russes.  She would whisper the fact that Diaghilev was in love with Nijinsky.  I added all that to my knowledge store about The Rite of Spring. All the intrigue, love and hate, all the back story: what fun!

     I hadn't seen the ballet performed before last Friday.  What a treat!  I loved it!  I had only seen photos and drawings of the famous costumes but on the stage they looked alive. The choreography that caused a riot at the premiere in Paris left me energized.  I walked out onto Wabash Avenue stomping my feet like the dancers.  We should go see dance more often, I told David.  Yes, we should.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT or so they say

"They" say that it takes three weeks to make or break a habit.  "They" also say that to become good at something one must practice 10,000 hours.  I'm going to try the "three weeks" to make a habit of writing.  Discipline is not my strongest suit.  As a rule I tend to be lazy.  Yet here I am: writing today after I wrote yesterday.  Will I keep it up?  The jury is still out. 



Saturday evening David and I attended a fabulous concert at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.  An all-Russian program with Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky, and Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. The 21-year old pianist Daniil Trifonov performed the Tchaikovsky concerto bringing never-ending applause and some tears.  He seemed to be crying while playing.  

Percussion is probably my favorite type of instrument.  The Rite of Spring is rich with drums, bells,  cymbals, and the players were fascinating to watch.  One of the women percussionists wore ear plugs when not playing.  I saw her taking them off and putting them on again when she would sit down after her part.  Must be very loud back there with those huge drums.

It's been a long time since I enjoyed the sold-out concert as much as I did.  The Rite of Spring has been one of my favorites since 1979 when I took a course on 20th century music at the University of Illinois at Chicago during my undergraduate years.  We learned about Bartok and Prokofiev and Ives and Ravel and so many more.  The exams consisted of recognizing a piece of music as well as its composer and year after listening to a few bars.  It was hard!  But I loved it.  

By the way - who are "they" who say things?  Anybody know?