Pianist Igor Levit performs Erik Satie’s challenging Vexations, lasting upwards of 16 hours, in a unique event directed by conceptual artist Marina Abramović.
At this, Levit’s first ever live performance of the work, you can bear witness to part or all of this feat of endurance, including an introduction from Marina Abramović at 10am.
In Abramović’s words: ‘What the audience is going to experience and to see is a unique event. They will witness silence, endurance, immobility and contemplation, where time ceases to exist. Igor interprets Vexations with endless repetition, yet constant variation. My role is to prepare the public for this unique experience.’
Vexations is one of classical music’s most simple, yet arduous and demanding, works. The one-page score includes an instruction to repeat it 840 times, which translates to between 16 and 20 hours of continuous playing.