Until now, the only way to hear this remarkable performance was live (for example, at the Dakota last December) or online at WBGO's The Checkout, which still has a link to a recording of the debut performance at Duke. We're eager to hear this studio recording, where every effect and nuance of Reid Anderson's electronic intro should be clear, and all the notes. I'm tempted to buy new speakers.
Here's the press release.
New
York, NY - Sony Music Masterworks has announced the release of Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, arranged and
performed by The Bad Plus. The long anticipated recording arrives
in stores and at all leading digital retailers on March 25th.
The Bad Plus -
bassist Reid Anderson, pianist Ethan Iverson, and
drummer David King - have a well-earned reputation for
pushing the limits on what is
expected of a piano-bass-drums trio. The past
14 years have seen the genre-smashing
band creating a distinctive repertoire of inventive original music, along with
a series of iconoclastic covers of such divergent artists as Nirvana and Neil
Young, Aphex Twin and Ornette Coleman. Now, with The Rite of Spring, the trio takes on one of the most influential works of the 20th century, a complex score
fraught with revolutionary experiments in rhythm and metre, tonality and
dissonance.
In
2010, when commissioned by Duke Performances at Duke University and Lincoln
Center Out of Doors to create an evening-length work, The Bad Plus were reminded of their previous
attempt at tackling a Stravinsky score when they recorded "Variation
d'Apollon," from the composer's
1928 ballet, Apollo, on their 2009 releaseFor All I Care.
Emboldened by their past achievement, the group
translated Stravinsky's notoriously demanding score for piano, bass, and
drums. The trio holds fast
to the original work -- its
frenetic tempi, pounding percussion and jarring repetitions an ideal fit for a
band well known for its rhythmic ingenuity. Electronic undercurrents in the opening movement - orchestrated by
bassist Reid Anderson - are expertly used to conjure Stravinsky's
insurrectionary orchestrations, bringing depth and counterpoint to the acoustic foundation. With their
rendition of The Rite of
Spring, The Bad Plus has
managed to uphold the radical
spirit of Stravinsky's modernist masterpiece while also furthering their own
ambitious approach towards music, a remarkable feat that affirms the trio's preeminence as the one of the most adventurous and imaginative bands of the modern era.
March
2011 saw Duke's Reynolds Theater host the debut
performance of The Bad Plus'
audacious version of Stravinsky's score, dubbed "On Sacred Ground:
Stravinsky's The Rite of
Spring." The group
performed TheRite 13
times in 2012, and then, in 2013 - the centenary
year of The Rite of Spring's
riotous 1913 premiere at Paris' Théâtre des Champs-Élysées - The Bad Plus toured "On Sacred Ground:
Stravinsky's The Rite of
Spring" to universal acclaim, including performances in Ireland, Canada,
Israel, Norway and the Unites
States. That same year also saw the trio
accompanying the Mark Morris
Dance Group at the annual
Ojai North Festival for the world
premiere of "Spring, Spring, Spring," choreographer Mark Morris'
acclaimed new adaptation of "The Rite
of Spring" ballet.
Known
for their rigorous touring schedule, The Bad Plus has
slated a wide array of international live dates through April, including two
performances of The Rite
of Spring alongside the Mark
Morris Dance Group at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's Krannert Center
For The Performing Arts
slated for March 14th and 15. They are also confirmed to
perform the piece in May in
Phoenix, and will soon announce more appearances. For complete tour
information, please visit www.thebadplus.com/tour-dates.php.
The Rite
of Spring was produced and arranged
by The Bad Plus.
It was recorded in June 2013 in Union City, New Jersey's Kaleidoscope Sound
Studios alongside engineer Pete Rende; the Executive
Producer is Darryl Pitt.
 |
| L to R: Reid Anderson, Ethan Iverson, Dave King Press photo |
Talking with Ethan Iverson about Stravinsky and Sony (December 25, 2013)
Stravinsky gets the Bad Plus treatment (Minneapolis StarTribune, May 17, 2011)
