Stravinsky's 'The Rite of Spring' by Stravinsky, Bach, J. S., Noiztik (2023/2023), Zuzendaria Ryan Wigglesworth, City Halls, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Legendary. Riotous. Banger. More than a century has passed since the riots that greeted 'The Rite of Spring'’s premiere, but its bubbling intensity and pounding rhythms still have the raw power to thrill you out of your seat. A ‘banger’ if ever we heard one! It’s the climax of tonight’s concert that opens with Stravinsky’s last ballet, 'Agon', Greek for a contest, competition or gathering. Purely abstract and without a story, it’s a bracingly cool fusion of mathematics and emotion. You might say the same of Bach whose divine keyboard concertos radiate an intellectual order and elegance to touch the heart and the head. In the second of two concerts connecting the composers, our multi-talented Chief Conductor, Ryan Wigglesworth, plays and conducts this blissful music direct from the piano.