Let’s examine what the word loop means in music. According to Artopium’s Music Dictionary a loop is “a tape or magnetic film recording where the ends of the tape are spliced together so the tape will continually repeat.” Multi-disciplinary artist Ragnar Kjartansson is redefining loop where the continuous repetition is not spliced together electronically, but rather performed live. As it is with Bliss, which will be performed as part of the LA Philharmonic’s Fluxus program. The performance begins noon on Saturday at REDCAT.
So what’s being looped? In Kjartansson’s Bliss it is the final moments of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. How long will it be looped?  12 hours. Yes, 12 hours of continuous performance of the same excerpt from Mozart’s opera.
Undertaking this performance will be Christopher Rountree conducting Wild Up. Cast in the opera are Kjartansson as Antonio, Kristján Jóhannsson as Count Almaviva, Laurel Irene as Rosina & Countess Almaviva, Maria Elena Altany as Susanna, Cedric Berry as Figaro, James Onstad as Don Basilio, Reid Bruton as Don Bartolo, Justine Aronson as Barbarina, Lauren Davis as Cherubino and Suzanna Guzmán as Marcellina.
The idea here is to run the gamut of emotions as the performance goes on. No matter who much one loves a particular piece of writing, the repetition is bound to influence your perceptions of the music, the world and people around you and of yourself during these twelve hours.
Tickets for the full 12-hour day have already sold out. There are available some $10 stand-by tickets that allow you to attend for one hour.
Kjartansson has been performing Bliss since 2011. I’m not sure if you noticed in the video, but the conductor at some point removed his jacket. Which begs the question, how do the performers (both on stage and in the pit) go to the bathroom? Audience members are welcome to walk in and out of the performance space freely. But what about the performers?
This is certainly one of the more intriguing parts of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Centennial Season which is fast coming to a close.
Standby tickets are available here.
Main photo courtesy of LuhringAugustine.com