Jacqueline Kennedy asked Leonard Bernstein to compose a work to inaugurate the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The resulting work, Mass, is being performed this week by the LA Philharmonic as part of the celebrations surround Bernstein’s 100th birthday. Performances begin on Thursday.
The work itself has been described as equal parts magic and mess. If anyone can find a way through the complicated hybrid of classical, Broadway, opera and jazz, it is conductor Gustavo Dudamel.
Joining the LA Phil for this concert is director Elkhanah Pulitzer, who directed the acclaimed performance of John Adams’ Nixon in China last year. Ryan McKinny, who played Nixon in that production, takes on the role of “The Celebrant.”
Bernstein’s Mass calls for a rock band, a marching band, a large cast of singers and dancers plus the orchestra. This is a rarely performed work. As a result these four performances are amongst the biggest highlights of this LA Philharmonic season.
Photo Credit: Paul de Hueck, courtesy the Leonard Bernstein Office, Inc.