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If you happen to be passing by Park Avenue and 66th Street tonight, don’t be surprised if you see fur-draped Westchester matrons knife-fighting with monocle-wearing Upper West Side pensioners. They will be battling for seats to the St. Matthew Passion, the 1727 oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach that is the fall’s most elusive ticket. The two Berliner Philharmoniker shows—conducted by Simon Rattle and “ritualized” by mercurial director Peter Sellars—have been sold out for weeks, and folks are shelling out thousands of bucks to get in. Apparently, this night of holy music can bring out the devil in some people. Here’s a taste from the Berliner Philharmoniker's Digital Concert Hall, and a trailer:
It’s just one of several much-coveted tickets in the White Light Festival, a border-dissolving celebration of classical music, innovative staging and visual splendor that pushes music appreciation past the opera house and concert hall. Besides the Passion tonight, I will be seeing genius puppeteer Basil Twist’s unique take on Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring next week. There’s also visual wizardry from South African director William Kentridge’s multimedia take on Schubert’s Winterreise; and maestro Riccardo Chailly leading Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig in a program dubbed Cathedrals of Sound. If you have to beg, borrow or steal to get a ticket, do so. Just don’t hurt anybody.