Keeping Score – Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring (2006)

by | Dec 18, 2006 | DVD & Blu-ray Video Reviews | 0 comments

Keeping Score – Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring (2006)

Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony
Studio: San Francisco Symphony (Distr. by Harmonia mundi)
Video: 16:9 widescreen, color
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 on concert, 2.0 on documentary
Optional closed-caption English subtitles
Other subtitles: German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese
Length: 116 minutes
Rating: *****

This is one of four of the San Francisco Symphony video presentations now available on DVD and also being shown on PBS stations nationwide. The others are on Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony, Beethoven Eroica Symphony and “Copland and the American Sound.”  Each one is divided into two parts: a documentary on the music being considered, with excerpts performed by Tilson Thomas and the Symphony, plus a complete uninterrupted live performance of the works with 5.1 surround sound.

In the fascinating documentary, MTT emulates his one-time mentor Leonard Bernstein in communicating his enthusiasm about the music to the viewer in understandable terms. There is footage with him visiting some of the buildings in St. Petersburg where Stravinsky’s Firebird Ballet was first staged, as well as the concert hall in Paris where the riot over the premiere of The Rite of Spring occurred in 1913.  Included also are scenes of the actual ballet.  The background to what is probably the most revolutionary piece of music composed in the 20th century brings deeper understanding of the score when you hear the complete live performance by the symphony in San Francisco’s Davies Hall.

MTT seems to have adopted a new more visually interesting orchestral layout – whether just for the videos or as a permanent practice I don’t know.  The musicians are in concentric rows around the podium. There are a variety of camera angles and movements which are perfectly synced to the music. The rapid cutting during the most violent portions of the score are almost like some rock videos but certainly communicates the strong rhythms of Stravinsky’s music in a visual fashion. With the excellent surround sound the result is an exhilarating musical from start to finish. I’m primed to view MTT’s other Keeping Scores ASAP.

 – John Sunier

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