S1·E266 The New Babylon

Arena presents the first television showing of a rare and extraordinary classic of the silent cinema, with an original music score by Dimitri Shostakovich.

Directors GRIGORI KOZINTSEV and LEONID TRAUBERG. Introduced by Lindsay Anderson.

The New Babylon tells the dramatic story of the revolutionary tragedy of the Paris Commune. Like many masterpieces, its first public showing, in 1929, provoked outrage and derision.

Shostakovich's brilliant and innovative score baffled the audience, and the conductor was accused of being drunk. The film and its music were banned immediately, and the score itself disappeared for decades until it was rediscovered after the composer's death. For this showing, the score has been reconstructed from Shostakovich's original handwritten copy by Omri Hadari , who conducts the London Lyric Orchestra