L.A. Master Chorale to kick off 2016-17 season with Peter Sellars
Peter Sellars, center, shown in 2013 with Anani Dodji Sanouvi, left, and Tamara Mumford, after Sellars’ staging of John Adams’ “The Gospel According to the Other Mary” with the L.A. Philharmonic.
When the Los Angeles Master Chorale announces its 2016-17 season on Wednesday, the lineup will be topped with a program of international significance: noted director Peter Sellars’ first staged a cappella work, the Renaissance masterpiece “Lagrime di San Pietro” (“Tears of St. Peter”) by Orlando di Lasso.
Artistic director Grant Gershon will conduct the show, which was written for seven-part chorus and will feature the poetry of Renaissance poet Luigi Tansillo. The Master Chorale production, which opens the season in October at Walt Disney Concert Hall, will showcase 21 singers.
Sellars, a director known for his contemporary stagings of classical works, has enjoyed a long professional relationship with Gershon as well as with the show’s lighting designer, James Ingalls, known for his wide-ranging work on Broadway and beyond.
“Lagrime di San Pietro” was di Lasso’s final composition. It was written in 1594 and published posthumously in 1595. At the time of his death, di Lasso was considered one of the three most famous musicians in Europe.
In a news release Sellars described Di Lasso’s last opus as “so densely packed with information — from bar to bar — that it makes the collected works of Elliott Carter seem like Gilbert and Sullivan.”
“Lagrime di San Pietro” will be performed at 8 p.m. Oct. 29 and 7 p.m. Oct. 30.
The rest of the 2016-17 season at Disney Hall:
Festival of Carols, conducted by Grant Gershon
Favorite Christmas carols and songs of the season
2 p.m. Dec. 3, 8 p.m. Dec. 10
A Cappella Christmas, conducted by Grant Gershon
Michael Praetorius, “In dulci jubilo”
Giovanni da Palestrina, “Exsultate Deo”
Jan Sweelinck, “Hodie Christus natus est”
Luca Marenzio, “Magnificat”
Ola Gjeilo, “A Spotless Rose”
Ariel Quintana, “Three Christmas Motets”
John Tavener, “The Lamb”
Sven-David Sandström, “In dulci jubilo”
7 p.m. Dec. 4
36th Annual “Messiah” Sing-Along, conducted by Grant Gershon
George Frideric Handel, “Messiah”
7:30 p.m. Dec. 18
Beethoven’s “Missa Solemnis,” conducted by Grant Gershon
Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Missa Solemnis”
2 p.m. Jan. 21, 7 p.m. Jan. 22
Stravinsky & Adams, conducted by Grant Gershon
John Adams, “Great Opera Choruses,” and Igor Stravinsky, “Les Noces”
7 p.m. March 26, 2017
Wade in the Water, conducted by Grant Gershon
Robert Shaw & Alice Parker, “Amazing Grace”
Moses Hogan, “Wade in the Water”
Maurice Duruflé, “Ubi Caritas”
Ralph Vaughan Williams, “Mass in G minor”
Randall Thompson, “Alleluia”
With other spirituals and music of renewal
7 p.m. April 30, 2017
Lux Aeterna 20th Anniversary Performance, conducted by Grant Gershon
Morten Lauridsen, “Lux Aeterna” (20th Anniversary)
Eric Whitacre (world premiere)
Esa-Pekka Salonen, “Iri da iri”
Moira Smiley (world premiere)
Billy Childs (world premiere)
Shawn Kirchner, “Heavenly Home”
2 p.m. June 17, 2017; 7 p.m. June 18, 2017; 8 p.m. June 22, 2017
Twitter: @jessicagelt
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