The most familiar complaint of modern composers is that they don't get a hearing. On that score, Igor Stravinsky has little to complain of. In the past month, packed houses in Manhattan had heard everything from his popular Petrouchka (1911) to his dusty-dry Symphony in C (1940). Even his opera-oratorio Oedipus Rex had been uncovered for the first time in 17 years. Bobbing, crouching and flapping his arms like a grotesque little bird, Composer Stravinsky had conducted several performances of his music himself.
Last week, a Ballet Society audience in Manhattan saw and heard what most Stravinsky fans had been waiting for:...