Daniele Gatti and the Rite of Spring, a view from backstage

In 2008 Daniele Gatti, the former conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Academia di Santa Cecila in Rome, and theTeatro Communale in Bologna, becomes the new music director of the Orchestre National de France. For the opening of that season, Gatti chose a program of French music: Messaien, Debussy, Stravinsky.

The film is divided into two parts: in the first one Alain Duault shows us the conductor working with his orchestra, while the second part coincides with the beautiful performance of the The Rite of Spring by Stravisky.

Which is the reason for choosing The Rite?. It is its difficulty, which means a lot of exercise for the musicians and the possibility for Gatti to take the control over his orchestra. The main difficulty, as it appears from the rehearsals, is in its rhythm, which is extremely irregular, so that the sound comes out savage. Gatti speaks of "colors of the sound" and "clarity of the timbre" and explains his "vertical" approach to the score.

Finally, during the concert, all this work seems to suddenly disappear. A really stunning performance, video and sound experience.