‘Foreign Bodies’ – New York Philharmonic present Salonen double bill

19th January 2018

The New York Philharmonic announces ‘Foreign Bodies’, a one-night-only multidisciplinary event conducted and hosted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, concluding his tenure as The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence. The concert, Friday, June 8, 2018, at 8:00pm will feature Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Foreign Bodies, accompanied by the world premiere of a live video installation by Tal Rosner; Daníel Bjarnason’s Violin Concerto, with Pekka Kuusisto in his New York Philharmonic debut; and Obsidian Tear, a dance work choreographed by Wayne McGregor performed by members of the Boston Ballet (Philharmonic debut) and set to Mr. Salonen’s Nyx and Lachen verlernt. 'Foreign Bodies' will be casual and multi-sensory; drinks and conversation will flow as attendees mingle with the performers, who will give additional impromptu performances throughout the event.

In Foreign Bodies, video designer and director Tal Rosner will manipulate live-feed images of the players and conductor on stage. Mr. Rosner writes that he will ‘animate textural shifts and instrumental gestures, creating a performance that is in effect a closed circuit –– where the flow of sound and projected images are inherently intertwined. It is a hyper-synched video interpretation of the orchestral piece, drawing inspiration from action paintings and expressionist abstractions. The elemental yet simple approach is rooted in Salonen’s own reading of his composition, prioritizing ‘the physical reality of the music, i.e., the sound itself,’ and celebrating the wild rhythmical variety in the piece.’

The New York Times called Wayne McGregor’s Obsidian Tear ‘a choreographic breakthrough.’ He titled the work after the Native American legend about obsidian, volcanic rock formed when lava cools rapidly: a tribe of warriors leap to their deaths over a cliff rather than be defeated by the invading US cavalry, and their families’ tears become obsidian. Mr. McGregor says he found a similarity between obsidian and Nyx, the Greek goddess of night: ‘Her darkness, her deep unknowability, arising from some hidden source, but also her shimmering almost-translucence, the aspect of night which thins the membrane between worlds so that truths are half-glimpsed in dreams.’

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