Andriessen Theatre of the World

Leigh Melrose, Lindsay Kesselman, Steven van Watermeulen, Maatijs van de Woerd, Cristina Zavalloni; Los Angeles Philharmonic/Reinbert de Leeuw
Nonesuch 7559793618

Reviewed Christmas 2017

Louis Andriessen calls it a grotesque in nine scenes, turning the life of 17th-century German polymath, Jesuit and scientist Athanasius Kircher into a Faustian journey of self-discovery. Using a mixture of languages, children’s songs, Baroque music, jazz and modernism, it’s a dizzying kaleidoscopic creation from a master of stagecraft.

Audio clip: Epilogue