The great Igor Stravinsky was born this day in 1882. Although it’s nearly impossible to imagine it happening now, this man’s music once caused riots when performed for audiences not prepared for the radical dynamic shifts and sheer exuberant sonic violence. Of course by now all of these elements have been well absorbed into the public expectation of what orchestral music is supposed to be, but at the time this stuff was an absolute affront to human decency! Below is a complete performance by the man himself conducting his epic Firebird suite sometime in the late 1950’s.