20 Must-See Fall Art Events
by Benjamin SuttonPage 3 of 4
Classical/Experimental/Opera
Blarvuster + Electric Kulintang
The Kitchen, September 17, 18
These two immensely different groups are in turn defined by a series of unusual and unexpected fusions. Blarvuster, composer Matthew Welch’s sextet, combines post-minimalist compositions, rock and Balinese vocals, with Welch chiming in on the bagpipe. Susie Ibarra and Roberto Rodriguez, as Electric Kulintang, interpret Fillipino musical and folk traditions with electronic instruments, gongs and drum kits.
Imaginary City (pictured)
BAM, October 14-17
An expressive take on American urbanism, Sö Percussion’s latest symphonic ensemble piece immerses the audience in the sounds, sensations and rhythms of soaring cities. The group’s four members use custom-made sampling technologies and found objects fashioned into instruments to evoke streetscapes inspired by the lyrical descriptive passages in Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities against backdrops by video artist Jenise Treuting.
Mozart’s Prague Symphony
New York Philharmonic, November 5-10
Conductor Neeme Järvi returns to the helm of the New York Phil for the first time since 2001 for this performance of the relatively late Mozart Symphony No. 38 (1786), affectionately dubbed “Prague” because the composer premiered it after moving to the city where his work was wildly popular after the huge success of The Marriage of Figaro.
Esther
New York City Opera, November 7-19
Hugo Weisgall’s epic modern political drama returns to the NYC Opera, where it premiered in 1993. In ancient Persia, the title character, a Jewish maiden, courts King Xerxes, whose banished queen seeks revenge while his scheming prime minister plots to have all the nation’s Jews exterminated. It falls to Esther to save both her husband and her people from malevolent plots.
Kepler
BAM, November 18-21
A concert version of Philip Glass’s symphony, which recounts the life and research of Johannes Kepler, the 17th-century scientist who first discovered the laws of planetary motion. Alongside this discovery, Kepler also explores the scientist’s ongoing struggle to reconcile his work and his faith, and the larger context of science’s from medieval mysticism to modern rationalism.
(photo credit: Janette Beckmam)
