Interesting to think of Balanchine’s genius for ‘showing us the music’ and that Peter is also often successful at doing the same thing even though without usually achieving the same level of success that Mr. B usually did.

The other aspect of listening to music is, I always imagine what kind of dance might be made out of a given work. Oddly, if I have trouble envisioning choreography, I sometimes lose interest in listening to the piece!

I remember reading once that someone said Stravinsky would be largely forgotten as a composer if it wasn’t for Balanchine. Surely many of his works are rarely heard at the symphony but are thrice familiar to NYCB audiences. It’s interesting that Stravinsky’s most ‘popular’ work, RITE OF SPRING, apparently never attracted Balanchine.