Le Sacre du Printemps ("The Rite of Spring") is one of Igor Stravinsky’s best-known works. And, because of its quite literally riotous 1913 Paris premiere, it also boasts one of the most infamous premieres in music history. The music for the ballet was unlike anything the audience was expecting, and in their confusion, they made Stravinsky’s work quite the succès de scandale.
We weren’t at the premiere, and chances are none of the readers among you were either. But Stravinsky was, and for a 1965 documentary that bore his name, the composer spoke about exactly what happened that evening. He doesn’t care to mince words either, saying of the audience, “they came for Sheherazade, or for Cleopatra. And they saw The Rite of Spring. And they were very shocked. They were very naive and stupid people.”
At least Stravinsky got to see the work mature into one of the most-loved pieces of the repertoire. Adore that.