The Rite of Spring: A Stage Sensation by Hong Kong Ballet and HK Phil

Description

A ballet and orchestral concert work by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring was written for the 1913 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes company. The composer described the production as “a musical-choreographic work, [representing] pagan Russia… unified by a single idea: the mystery and great surge of the creative power of Spring”. The work does not show a specific plot or narrative, and is widely considered as a succession of choreographed episodes. When it was first performed at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées on 29 May 1913, the avant-garde nature of the music and choreography caused a sensation and a riot broke out in the theatre.

Inspired by the energy residing in Stravinsky’s seminal music, Yuh Egami and Hu Song Wei Ricky have reimagined a new version of The Rite of Spring. Through a dynamic creative process, they have imbued extreme human emotions into the score while questioning human existence, modern society and our relationship with nature.

Conducted by British conductor Tim Murray who has appeared in prominent music events such as BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, the production will be accompanied live by The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, a leading local classical orchestra directed by Maestro Jaap van Zweden, one of today’s most sought-after conductors.