Prom 62The Rite by Heart

Part of the BBC Proms.1I dreamed of a pagan ritual in which a sacrificial virgin danced herself to death.’ A vision was the inspiration for Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, a ballet that caused a literal riot at its premiere in 1913. This Prom is an unprecedented opportunity to get under the skin of the work that set the very foundations of society trembling with its urgent, jagged rhythms. Nicholas Collon and the pioneering Aurora Orchestra dramatise the Rite’s origins, reliving the scene of its notorious concert premiere and finally perform the whole thing from memory.