Keeping Score: Stravinsky 1-SFist Eve 0.

For a while, we could not write a post about modern music without quoting the influence of Igor Stravinsky. SFist Eve, then our dear editor, even made fun of us. Tonight, we will be vindicated. Not to ruin the suspense, but today’s episode of Keeping Score, the SF Symphony award winning behind-the-scene program, will highlight Stravinsky as a revolutionary. If MTT says so, we can keep mentioning Igor every time we want, he must have been influential.

Tonight’s episode focuses on the Rite of Spring, which is described by members of the orchestra as "sexy," "rock’n’roll" and "raw." MTT would not be our first choice to tell us about eroticism, but give him credit, he makes a fair attempt. The show meshes MTT’s trip to St Petersburg and Paris, excerpts from a SF symphony concert for families, historical anecdotes, Russian folk dancers, and many more surprises. It’s really easy to get into the show, it’s presented on an inviting tone, which is both musically smart yet easy to grasp. And it’s oddly addictive: there’s a narrative arc to the explanation of the musical piece which is quite compelling.

The companion web site has opened. We said last week that conductors, they do more than just wag the baton. In the Rite of Spring web site, you can actually wag your heart out, and conduct using your mouse.

Stricto sensus, it’s the orchestra which conducts you, but we are a sucker for interactive web sites, it's so web 2.0, so we go along with the game. We only missed four beats! You can look at the score with the same really neat moving indication of the beat, you can document the wild opening at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris in 1913, you can see how the meter shift through the score. You will learn, but it won't feel like you're studying.

And then it was pointed to us that, if you find the KQED broadcast times are inconvenient, you can purchase the DVDs too and watch at your own convenience. We like the shows so much, we're happy to plug them. Show runs tonight at 10pm and again Sunday at noon on KQED.