Kent Nagano

Kent Nagano leads the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini and the Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento in a concert of primordial energy. From Aziza Sadikova’s new Stradivari Concerto, entrusted to the virtuosity of Rebekka Hartmann, to the revolutionary force of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring: a sonic experience that vibrates with the power of nature. In the words of the French dancer and choreographer Maurice Béjart: “What is spring if not this immense primitive force, long asleep beneath winter’s mantle, that suddenly bursts forth and embraces the world, on the vegetal, animal and human levels? At the moment when the anecdotal frontiers of the human spirit gradually fall away, and one can begin to speak of a world culture, we reject any folklore that is not universal and retain only the essential forces of humankind, which are the same on every continent, under all latitudes, in all times.” One might describe as universal folklore precisely the inspiration that animates The Rite of Spring, recounted in a vision by Stravinsky: a great pagan ritual, the old sages seated in a circle watching the dance until the death of a young girl whom they sacrifice in order to make the god of spring propitious.