The Rite

Ok, can I just give a giant kudos to the ISO for innovation and audience involvement that didn't sink to kitsch concert themes or sexual marketing? Instead of assuming that the only way to attract a new, younger audience was through associating themselves with Barbie, the ISO reinvented the [classical] music concert to be an emotional-connection with the composers experiences and feelings.
Actors portraying the composers and others involved with the creationg of the works (at this concert Beethoven and his Sixth Symphony and Stravinsky and The Rite of Spring) took us back to the progressive nature of these works. Dancers from Dance Kaleidescope danced the revolutionary choreography of Nijinsky during the Rite's introduction, letting us see how different it is from [classical] ballet. Not only did the time with the actors/composers give us an idea about what the composer was thinking, but the monologues melted into a reenactment of the premiere with actors sitting in the audience shouting insults or encouragement and fighting in the aisles, the actor playing the director actually shouting back while 'Nijinsky' yelled dance steps with the orchestra playing excerpts and stopping for the dialogue. All of this led to an experience that was exciting and informative, engaging and sympathetic to the genius and humanity of two master composers (as well as the intelligence of the modern audience).
Course I must mention that the playing was phenomenal as well. I can't give an opinion of the Beethoven, being in the second mezzanine at a full house means listening to candy wrappers, programs, coughing, shuffling, and every other tiny noise in the entire balcony rather than the music. My friend and I moved to the boxes during intermission and were at last able to listen to the music. Venzago led a tight and furious Rite that seemed certain to end in disaster (such is the nature of the piece), but to everyone's astonishment and exhilaration, ended perfectly ensemble. The orchestra performed with such an intense focus that the seemingly random orchestration took shape into a drama of complex organization. Their focus brought clarity to a difficult piece.
But why was this new performance mixture of theatre and music so effective? I believe it succeeded in stirring a theatre of Hoosiers to shouting and whistling for more for five minutes afterwards because instead of dumbing down the music to an association with a Barbie film or raising it above the audience's criticism by putting it on a pedestal, this brought the music back to the people and context in which it was created. No piece of music was written in a vacuum, but musical elitists would have us believe so. This attitude has alienated not only the masses but also the music lovers who otherwise might identify with this rich western musical heritage but turn to the down-to-earth and familiar alternative rock for identity. Instead of creating a shroud of unapproachability around these works, I encourage all [classical] music performers to find new ways of bringing [classical] music closer to your audiences. Tell the composer's story, make them people, tell the piece's context, give it a purpose.