[Dixielandjazz] fights at concerts

[Bill Gunter]

Bill Allen writes (regarding conflicts at classical debuts):

>The most famous that comes to mind was the premiere of the Firebird suite 
>by Stravinsky, about 1916 or so. It begins with a bassoon solo in the 
>stratospheric range of the instrument; supposedly at the first rehearsal, 
>the bassoonist threw his instrument down and stated that the solo was 
>unplayable.

Stravinsky was somewhat ahead of his time but, nevertheless, his music was 
certainly within popular tastes.  For example, the "Rites of Spring" ballet 
music was featured in the 1930's Disney classic "Fantasia."

That being said, I do believe that it was the "Rites of Spring" and not 
"Firebird Suite" that caused the ruckus at it's premier (conducted by Pierre 
Monteaux" as I recall).  That's the one that starts out with the really high 
bassoon solo.

Respectfully submitted,

Bill "Stravinsky be da man" Gunter
jazzboard at hotmail.com