The Rite of Spring, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Festival Hall

Where in history would you like to have been? High on my list is Paris, the Théâtre de Champs-Elysées on 29 May 1913, when an astonished audience first heard the new ballet score by Igor Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring, Diaghilev's dancers struggling with the competing demands of Vaslav Nijnsky's choreography and the composer's angular, arhythmic score.

These ritual dances and human sacrifice was all too much for many ticket-holders – not to mention the ever-changing time signatures, and off-centre orchestration. And now, of course, it is one of the most popular and well-loved works in the repertoire. While he could probably have done without the rioting in 1913, Stravinsky would probably have been as horrified as that original audience to discover that his radical work had become something of household favourite....

Putting the frights back into The Rite of Spring is a challenge for the modern conductor, and that falls to Juanjo Mena (21 Feb) when he conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra in The Rite of Spring at the end of a programme of music inspired by the spring and new beginnings.

Debussy's clean-green Printemps and Delius's Idylle de Printemps are also played, and the orchestra is joined by the pianist Benedetto Lupo for Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand. This piece was written for the Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein who, having lost his right arm in the first world war, resumed his concert career playing with one hand only. Wittgenstein gave the virtuosic first performance in the 1932, and today the work is an artistic and technical challenge for pianists of all abilities.

Don't miss The Rite of Spring if you have never heard it live – and if you have, be prepared to be surprised all over again.