29.5.63
The 29th May 1963 was the 50th anniversary of the first performance of 'Le sacre du printemps' at the Theatre des Champs Elysees, Paris.
To
commemorate that notorious occasion the LSO had planned a concert at
the Royal Festival Hall, London to include ''Le sacre' under its Musical
Director Pierre Monteux who had of course been the conductor of the
ballet 50 years previously. The concert would be in the presence of the
composer and would take place 50 years to the day later.
Stravinsky
had been unhappy to attend this concert because he would have liked to
have conducted it himself but there was no denying that Monteux had been
the original conductor and no doubt a large fee had been offered for
him to make the journey to attend the concert and take a bow afterwards.
This
is the background to Stravinsky's intention to be elsewhere during the
performance and merely to take a bow afterwards. So he asked his friend,
Isaiah Berlin where they could go during the concert in order to be out
of the hall but within reach for a quick appearance afterwards.
At
the time Berlin was on the board of directors of Covent Garden and
suggested they attended the first act of 'The marriage of Figaro' which
was being performed that night and then take a cab across the bridge to
the Festival Hall.
A
group of perhaps 6 or more therefore went to the Royal Opera House. At
the end of the first act ('Non piu andrai') they got up to leave but an
usher ran up to them and hissed 'It's not an interval.' At this
Stravinsky said rather loudly in his bass voice 'We all have diarrhea.'
I
happened to be at that concert and witnessed not only the marvellous
performance of 'Sacre' but the two old gentlemen taking their bow hand
in hand at the end.
So touching.
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