Few pieces in history have been so dependent on historical context. Contemporary writings by Shostakovich’s family, friends, colleagues, even some by the composer himself, help us understand the dramatic personal, professional and political forces that shaped his message.
This pictorial presentation of the key events in Tchaikovsky’s life, find out more about how his place in history was shared by his contemporary composers, and defined by world events.
Of the Rite of Spring, Diaghilev’s ballet master Enrico Cecchetti was quoted as saying “I think the entire thing was done by four idiots.” Learn more about the four men behind The Rite of Spring – Stravinsky, the composer; Roerich, the designer; Diaghilev, the empresario; and Nijinsky, the choreographer.
May 29, 1913, a night that will be forever infamous as a night so chaotic, so outrageous that it incited a riot. Learn more about the events as they transpired at the première of Le Sacre du Printemps that night at Le Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.
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