Premiere Performance Part2 B

[sarahsipll]

@frclarinette There's a phenomenal dvd of Michael Tilson Thomas discussing and explaining the entire work. It's very eye- and ear -opening.

It's called "Keeping Score".

[frclarinette]

I agree that audience's reaction was quite disgusting... but in any case i honestly can say that I barely understand this music. If i even had a free ticket for this ballet (even for the best rendition) - i would never waste my time for watching and listening to this.

[JRtalaroc]

if i was there i would applaud in awe as Ravel did..

[meowkie]

@WhiteHuskie66 I understood that at one point, the choreographer had to shout the steps to the dancers because the orchestra couldn't be heard over the riotous shouts and jeers. I don't know if this film properly depicts the level of chaos the riot reaches...but I guess I can't be quoted either; I wasn't there! :)

[powellpicc1985]

Did they make it all the way to the end of the performance at the premiere?

[Maguelonnecg]

=( Reality is very near this film. I think it's scandalous, dancers and musicians worked very very hard for this performance. I'm happy they shot this film, it shows the stupidity of this parisian public.

I'm really shocked at the reactions of this audience.

This ballet is brilliant.

Thank you very much for this video, even if it made me enormously angry...^^

[Sheffield6688]

To ask the BBC to release this on DVD, go to the bbcamericashop site (YouTube won't let me copy the actual URL in), go to the upper left and click on the "DVD" tab, then go down 3/4 of the way to the right on the next page that comes up. There will be a "Suggest a Title" thing on the right side of the page. Click on "Tell Us" and then let them know you want the 2005 BBC documentary "Riot at the Rite" released on DVD.

[Sheffield6688]

Incredible!

[gogatsu26]

Bravo!

[vp1981ad]

Why in the world would they cut to the audience at 6:10 in the way that they did - it's one of the climaxes of the movie and the dancing virgin is spinning herself with such ferocious abandon... They should have kept the camera on her.

But that's a small criticism. I'm so delighted they made this movie!

[deeaaath]

everyone on the stage should get a real job

[coasterman16]

lol the audience's acting is just terrible

[pugachev1]

This is from a BBC 2 dramatization from March 2007, called Riot at the Rite. Brilliant work by the BEEB.

[jp0y0lie]

Confused people out there:

There isn't a video of the original; even what you see in this one is a reconstruction of the lost costumes and choreography done in 1987.

Also, the premiere of the ballet was a disaster from the beginning--people started yelling after the first measures. Nijinsky had to yell out the counts to the dancers the whole time because the crowd was so loud (arguments, fist fights, shouting, etc.) the dancers couldn't hear the music. This video isn't like the riot at all.

[pugachev1]

This is from a BBC 2 Dramatization from March 2002 called Riot at the Rite. Brilliant piece of work by the BEEB.

[C0NTR4B455]

Cut the film makers some slack!! Its called 'Faction'..If you want an historic account it'd be a documentary..This is something different..lol

[calarch78]

Thank you for posting this, I've often wondered what this premiere looked like. At our local concert hall, the mind-numbed audience concludes EVERY performance with a standing ovation. It's nice to see a slightly more critical, albeit unfair, reaction.

[shoryukisbxn]

Hi!!! I´m wondering if this video is from the inconcluded film of Nijinsky, because (i guess you know) there is an other one movie directed by Herbert Ross, but I don´t like it so much as this one...

[lotrfan66]

is this a reenactment of the riot? Cause they couldn't have taped it there...

[weedabear3]

No shit sherlock!

[buzzterbrown]

Great dancing by Yanowsky! And those back leg extensions - wow! That would land me in the hospital! Wish we could see the ballet without the movie story, even though the story is interesting.

[spinshots]

Which movie is this? I think I've seen stock material of the premiere in 1913 in a documetary.... Can't find THAT on the net unfortunately...

[pitacha]

Is the film "Nijinski". Is a biography of the dancer and choreographer Vasislav Ninjinski.

[spinshots]

thanx very much! now i'll look if I can find it...

I also tried to find the orinial images of the premiere on youtube but it's not there...

[pitacha]

I'm not sure if you can find an original film on the premiere. I know some pictures of the original performers. Probably you can find some extra images on the 1913 press. The Diaghilev's "Ballets Ruses" are now the Ballet of Montecarlo, is posible that they have an historical archive.

[spinshots]

Yeah, I saw a documentary once, in which the actual fight im the audience was filmed...

[musicalme22]

is there from this movie?

cuz if there is, could you please upload some more??

[xpersonx]

At least they only yell when the music is loud :P Yeesh, shows how little tolerance they have though.

[mongoliaboy]

i love this perforance!!!

[balletnut]

It's fab. Who is the Chosen Maiden?

[anders59]

Zenaida Yanowsky.

[anders59]

If you wanted to be specific as to who the dancer was that played the Chosen Maiden at the premiere, it was Maria Plitz.

[WilliamB1026]

Heck, that audience would have been horrified if the costumes were as they are contemporarily rendered ... almost naked. But it is great watching the original choreography. This is such an awesome piece of music.

[katums141]

My music teacher said it left people throwing chairs... On that part it was disappointing but the rest...my god... I wish I was there!

[zamolxis7]

I was spectator in Lyon in 2005 to MAguy Marin's play "Umwelt", and people reaction was like this, in the opening nignt and during a week. But the play "non danse, non-musique" was brilliant. That evening I was thinking to "Sacre" 1913, so thank you for posting this.

[zamolxis7]

Oh those French people! They said it was violent, and "colonise the bastards" and next year they began la grande boucherie!

[dasteufelhund]

Damn...i thought i almost had an heart attack! bravo is right!

[EricMontreal22]

AMazing--I'd love to see this in full. I've always wanted to see a reconstruction of the full Nijinsky original--is one on DVD?

[huntbot]

WOW! A friend of mine had a VHS of the PBS special and we watched it several times when we were in music school in around 1991. I always wanted to get a copy of it, but I didn't. It's definitely the same amazing choreography as in this interesting riot reenactment special.

[maskerade123]

Why dont the audience just leave and let the others enjoy!

[CarolJWright]

What a wonderful YouTube find. Appreciated the comments as well. Thanks to the poster for making this available. I will buy it if it's ever available. Also, Simon Rattle's "Rhythm is It!" where he brought hundreds of highschoolers to be challenged by choreographer to perform it with the Berlin Philharmonic.

[blueagle2007]

With the present slow death of art all over the world..the likes of these events will never be seen again!

[chubblove]

i agree with you

[jackblair]

This is the mentality of the audience. We think we KNOW what art is, and that whats happening NOW is a "slow death of art" As though it not in line with what art should be? Stravinsky went against convetional.this work is almost 100 years,  RoS IS now convetional! saying composers of today have thin texture, pointless invention, bad voice leading,Its you are not used to it. As the people at this time werent used to RoS. And perhaps you will be one yelling "blashphome" instead of "genius".

[jackblair]

uh... the below comment is posted in response to blueagel2007

[blueagle2007]

I adore stravinsky.....he is singularly my favorite composer of all time..you might see some of my videos..I use his music all the time...seems your extreme reaction has clouded your ability to discern my remarks (see chubblove) seems I would be on stage! and who would you be?

[jackblair]

you obviously miss the point. i just think its childish to critique art.

[blueagle2007]

sssssssssh quiet the orchestra is warming up!

[vanishingofemptiness]

you cant be serious, so no art can be better then any other because they are all beyond criticism? Im a dada who threw some fecal matter at a wall, YOU CAN NEVER UNDERSTAND MY BRILLIANCE!!!

[dogkatt]

does anyone out there have a vhs copy of the original PBS broadcast of this amazing production that does not include all the annoying cutaways to the audience etc?

I remember it was originaly broadcast that way - and never released due to legal problems

thanks

mk

[lemmingguy1]

so beautiful

[g3turk]

wrong

[Flatliner0452]

the dances actually aren't very simple (at least the original one anyways) because the dancers every move is to the rhythm of the music, which is very complicated, and the positions the dancers need to be in are pretty unatural as well. There's a really good version of this somewhere with (somewhat disputed) the original dance, but I can't remember the name of the ballet company or where it can be found so hopefully someone out there knows.

[Flatliner0452]

I did like how in this film it does portray the dancers being completely off the music (just like the first real world performance of this piece the dancers couldn't stay with the music and were dancing horribly

[bbandy2000]

Where?

[TSEliot666]

I think it's the joffrey ballet. They did a reconstruction last year at the Diaghilev festival in the Netherlands. But i dont think it's available on dvd. If it is, someone can always inform me.

[InWonderland13]

joffrey.

[nataliedb2k7]

there is one posted on youtube by the same ballet company called rite of spring. It's in three parts.

[JeeRant]

It always impreses me, how passionate people truly were about art back then. Nowadays, of course, no one seems to be bothered with such trifles as Beauty and Truth. But hey, times have changed.

[andrewcasarsa]

times change but social classes stay the same

[ronneesam]

Do we have any idea what Stravinsky thought about the ballet? As Matthew MingLi says, he left before the end not able to cope with the audience. When you think about how ballet was before Stravinsky - dancers poncing about and swans dying all over the place - The Rite must have come as a firestorm.

[ronneesam]

The Resurrection.

[StrivetobeDust]

GOOD GOD!!! This is powerful stuff! I'd always liked this piece, but I had no idea the ballet was so gut wrenching.

[ronneesam]

Here! Here!

[anders59]

I've read somewhere that it took over a hundred rehearsals to get the choreography down, due to the extreme difficulty of the music.

[nightwisper]

I wanna see the whole movie , plz can someone help me

ohh yeah , i simply love the rite of spring , the dances to , they may be simple but they fit into the whole piece =) , its my favourite ballet of all , or whatever , it just is the best according to me ( im not speaking for everyone ok )

[ronneesam]

The dances might be judged simple but they serve a choreography which is totally magnificent. It is a work of a genius nasmed Vaslav Nijinsky.

[jairrrrrr]

stravinsky was a genious

[ljt07c]

didn't ask.

[MatthewMingLi]

Inaccuracies:

1) Stravinsky actually left in the middle of the performance because he's so upset about the audience.

2) Fistfights actually broke out between supporters and opponents throughout the performance, thus created the riot. This is not mentioned in the reenactment

3) Police were brought in during intermission to calm the riot, but was unable to restore order. Again, not mentioned.

[ronneesam]

What are the sources for your statements? This ballet is so important because most people have access only to the music - there were no videos/films made at the time ,or were there? How much more powerful the music becomes when listened to as a background to the visual images/choreography. How much consultation between Stravinsky and Nijinsky took place? If any.

[MatthewMingLi]

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't criticizing the maker of this TV drama. I was just pointing out the difference between the remake and the history. There are books and interviews about this incident. I was just thinking maybe if they throw in some fights in the audience (which really did happen), it may be more accurate.

[gosmaproducoes]

Sometimes, a scriptwriter has to forget about the accuracy in order to obtain a more dramatic result. Its movies we're talking about, not detailed history.

[bbandy2000]

Yeah you'd think that if they were trying to obtain a more dramatic result, as has been suggested in comments on here, that they wouldn't water down what actually happened that night.

[musicloverrmm]

How dramatc is calling the police? :P

[bbandy2000]

Where are the people ripping up chairs for example?

[nfamiliar]

who conducted the orchestra during the premiere?

[golgicomplex]

Pierre Monteux