On October 16, Lincoln Center’s monthlong White Light Festival opened with the first of three performances of Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem in a new version entitled “Human Requiem,” performed by Germany’s Rundfunkchor Berlin at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. The conductor is Simon Halsey, with pianists Angela Gassenhuber and Philip Mayers in a four-hands piano arrangement by Philip Moll. The production, directed by Jochen Sandig, involves the chorus moving among the standing audience. Other music offerings include Verdi’s Requiem performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, led by Gianandrea Noseda, music director designate of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C.; Monteverdi’s opera Il ritorno d’Ulisse, featuring singers from the Ricercar Consort paired with puppeteers from Handspring Puppet Company, directed by William Kentridge; and pianist Jeremy Denk performing works by Machaut, Couperin, Frescobaldi, Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Stravinsky, Cage, Ligeti, and John Adams. Also featured are ten multidisciplinary programs focusing on south Indian music and dance, curated by choreographer Mark Morris; Paul McCreesh and the period-instrument ensemble Gabrieli in music from the coronation of Doge Marino Grimani in Venice in 1595; and Samuel Beckett’s radio play All That Fall with Ireland’s Pan Pan Theatre.
Posted October 17, 2016
Pictured: Carnatic vocalist Bombay Jayashri, who will perform in this year’s White Light Festival. Photo by Josh Haner / The New York Times
