"I never am seasick. Never," declares Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971) in the seldom-seen 1965 CBS documentary Stravinsky. With an impish grin and karate-chop wave of the hand, the great Russian composer adds, "I am sea-drunk."

That wittily hyphenated word, the product of a multilingual mind fluent in Russian, French, German, Italian, and English, epitomizes the genius of Stravinsky. Listen to any of the master's music from the 1910 Firebird to the 1967 Requiem Canticles and you'll hear ordinary rhythmic riffs sliced up, compressed, sped up, and sutured into a new whole. As if anticipating the beat-based pop music of the 20th century, Stravinsky transfigures immediate, trenchant rhythms into melody.

Pacific Northwest Ballet's "Stravinsky 125" festival presents Stravinsky's biggest hit, the tumultuous Rite of Spring, re-envisioned by choreographer Molissa Fenley. An eruptive incantation of pounding strings and shrieking brass, Rite is an orchestral stampede of careening blocks of sound and frenzied rhythmic complexity. I can't guarantee that the PNB orchestra will thunder as hard as a regular symphonic performance, so I'm chiefly interested in two works choreographed by one of Stravinsky's greatest collaborators, George Balanchine: the Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra and the Symphony in Three Movements.

Composed in 1929, the jolly Capriccio rivals the hand-waving, hoofing Broadway razzamatazz of Gershwin's jazz age Rhapsody in Blue. The brash, doom-laden rumbas of the WWII-era Symphony continue to be plundered by Steve Reich, Philip Glass, John Adams, and countless composers today.

The "Circus Polka," a frolicsome romp, is a bonus. Balanchine choreographed the original for a troupe of elephants in 1942; here, PNB serves up the Jerome Robbins version, which substitutes young ballerinas-in-training for the parade of pachyderms.

Stravinsky 125 continues Thurs June 7 through Sat June 9 at McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer St, 441-2424, 7:30 pm, and concludes Sun June 10 with a 1 pm matinee, $18–$145.

THURSDAY JUNE 7

SEATTLE SYMPHONY
The symphony's "Bridging the 48th Parallel" festival continues with a slate of orchestral works under the rubric "Listener's Choice:" Levente Gyöngyösi's Verkündigung ("The Annunciation"), Music for Prague by Karel Husa, and Leoš Janácek's Glagolitic Mass. Didn't anyone put in a word for one of the greatest 20th-century composers, György Ligeti, who fled his native Hungary in 1956? I was hoping for Lontano or Ligeti's big hit from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, the implacably eerie Atmosphères. Also Sat June 9 at 8 pm. Benaroya Hall, 200 University St, 215-4747, 7:30 pm, $15—$89.

PUGH AND GOLD MOLINA
A CD release party for Penumbra/Heqat (Sol Disk), which bravely couples two out-jazz improvisations for guitar and drums with Chris Pugh's Heqat, a hieratic epic for string trio performed by the Trio Recherché. Live, expect fiery combat and mutual combustion from drummer Jack Gold Molina and guitarist Pugh. Sidewalk Frequencies with alto saxophonist Simon Hanneman opens. Blue Moon Tavern, 712 NE 45th St, 675-9116, 9 pm, free.

FRIDAY JUNE 8

BUDDY CATLETT QUARTET
Catlett, a bassist who has gigged with just about everybody, most notably Count Basie and Frank Sinatra, leads a quartet with trumpeter/saxophonist/flutist Jay Thomas. Hiroshi's Restaurant, 2501 Eastlake Ave E, 726-4966, 7:30—10 pm, free.

SEATTLE SYMPHONY
Part of "Bridging the 48th Parallel" festival, this outsized chamber concert highlights composers who defied (or dexterously avoided) censorship, including Georges Enescu, Witold Lutosawski (the Funeral Music), and Grazyna Bacewicz. Also, star cellist Joshua Roman is the soloist in Kryštof Maratka's Trois mouvements concertants. Recital Hall at Benaroya, 200 University St, 215-4747, 8 pm, $10/$20.

SATURDAY JUNE 9

MICHAEL NICOLELLA
Few classical guitarists dare devote an entire concert to 20th-century music; even fewer bother to become equally fluent and ferocious on acoustic as well as electric guitar. Nicolella, an enterprising guitarist, plays pieces by Hans Werner Henze, Jacob ter Veldhuis, Paul Lansky, Astor Piazzolla, and Jimi Hendrix. Gallery 1412, 1412 18th Ave, 322-1533, 8 pm, $5—$15 sliding scale donation.

SUNDAY JUNE 10

SUMMER JAZZ CRUISE
Despite the romance evoked by the Blue Note record covers of the 1950s, most musicians favor any alternative to small, smoky clubs, late-night hours, and chattering crowds. Thus seeking out new venues—colleges, restaurants serving late-morning breakfasts, cruises, concert halls, any gig in Europe—is central to the jazz tradition. On this cruise around Lake Union and Lake Washington, drummer Clarence Acox, mastermind of the Garfield Jazz program, helms an all-star quintet with Randy Halberstadt (piano), Michael Brockman (saxophone), Phil Sparks (bass), and Brad Smith (trumpet). South Lake Union Heritage Wharf, 860 Terry Ave N, 624-9119, 2:30—6 pm, $45 (couples $80).

WEDNESDAY JUNE 13

MARK SALMAN
The final concert of Salman's "Transcendental Sonatas" cycle showcases the mighty pianist tackling Beethoven's Sonata in C minor, op. 10 no. 1 and the Sonata in C minor, op. 111. Selections from Book I of Debussy's deceptively difficult Preludes round out the program. University Christian Church, 4731 15th Ave NE, 522-0169, 7:30 pm, $15/$20.