Louis Andriessen “Theatre of the World” at LA Phil Concert 5/9/16

May 9, 2016

I played a piano for Andriessen’s piece at the Minimalist Jukebox festival in 2004 at LA Phil,. and I was expecting this opera to be somewhat I played for the festival. It is completely different! The festival was great success and I truly liked his piece. Again I enjoyed the music in the opera. I grew up listening Emerson Lake and Palmer, and Yes (I am a child of progressive rock!) and I could taste the hint of progressive rock and Kurt Weill in the music. The atmosphere is totally 70s, movies like “Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “Listmania”. Everything fits into my favorite! The singers and actors are fantastic. The story is about the German scholar and author Athanasius Kircher (1601-1680). His genius mind, his crazy mind, his eccentric mind.. The staging is beautiful with creative video. There are so many things going on the stage, singers (not in the same place), orchestra, video, and subtitle. I had a hard time paying attention to everything. That is the only negative side of the show! I hope this production will be played at many venues in the world. It is “Theatre of the World”!