The Rest is Noise - Ravel, Prokofiev & Stravinsky

Ravel - Mother Goose
Prokofiev - Violin Concerto No. 1
Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductor
Leila Josefowicz violin
The London Philharmonic Orchestra

Paris had seen revolution and turmoil, yet it didn’t quite know what to think of Stravinsky’s epochmaking ballet The Rite of Spring and the curious footing of Prokofiev’s First Violin Concerto, both of which were premièred in the city. The Rite went down rather badly, its language based in deranged rhythm rather than civilised harmony, its choreography changing the point of expression from the ankle to the pelvis. Ten years later one of the few to take a shine to Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto at its première was Stravinsky, who escaped in its childlike beauty and innocence.