The Rite of Spring brings a new dimension to ballet
Apr 30 2010 By Christopher Morley
A 3-D ballet, the return of Sir Simon Rattle and Sakari Oramo are among the highlights of a busy classical season ahead in Birmingham. Christopher Morley reports.
Concert-going at Symphony Hall takes on an extra dimension next season, when a strong visual element will add to the effect of many of the events.
Most novel of all will be a very special presentation of Stravinsky’s ballet The Rite of Spring on April 21, with the audience wearing 3D spectacles. While the CBSO plays the primeval score, dancer Julia Mach will be filmed in real time, the images of her movements digitally fed into a computer, and projected stereoscopically, drawing the audience into a virtual reality space.
“This will be the most technically ambitious thing we’ve ever done,” says Paul Keene, director of programming and projects at Birmingham Town Hall and Symphony Hall.
“Even hardened types who know all about these things have said it’s the most exciting multi-media experience they’ve ever seen.
“There are two performances, and we’re hoping to attract a new element in the audience, people who might not ever have come to a classical concert in their life – but who might have seen Avatar – and who will enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
Visual technology is also a major element in the concert on October 8, a joint project between the Houston Symphony and NASA. Here receiving its European premiere, The Planets: an HD Odyssey is exactly what it says on the tin: high-definition images from the space agency’s exploration of the solar system, with commentary from the world’s leading planetary scientists, will be projected on a large screen above the orchestra, whilst Holst’s Planets Suite plays below.
Sponsored by the University of Birmingham, the concert also includes Stravinsky’s Fireworks and John Adams’ Doctor Atomic Symphony.
Even critics have been known to rest their eyes in concerts, but no chance this season. Another musico-visual offering comes on March 11, Thomas Ades conducting the London Sinfonietta in his In Seven Days. Based on the Genesis telling of the Creation in the Old Testament, this is a collaboration with the artist and film-maker Tal Rosner involving piano, orchestra and six video screens. The programme is completed by Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians.
