‘Rite’ Returns to Paris After 77 Years

Igor Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring,” with Vaslav Nijinsky’s original choreography, returned here Wednesday for the first time since it horrified French audiences in 1913 and closed after five shows.

The Joffrey Ballet and the French National Orchestra conducted by Allan Lewis brought a vivid reconstitution of the landmark production to the Theatre des Champs Elysees, where it premiered 77 years ago before a howling audience.

Spectators in 1913 grunted, hissed and booed. Gabriel Astruc, the theater’s director and founder, recalls in his memoirs how he shouted back, “Listen first! You can whistle later.”

The critics were practically unanimous in their disapproval. Writing in the newspapers of the day, they called Stravinsky’s score “dissonant” and the choreography “wild, agitated and bedeviled.”

Today the work--with its radically irregular rhythms and harsh dissonance--is considered a monument of modern music, and Nijinsky’s athletic and demanding choreography is seen as way ahead of its time.

After Paris, the “Rite” went to London, where it closed after only three performances.

The revival made its world debut in September, 1987, in Los Angeles. It has since been performed in numerous cities.