Classical Russian-German pianist Igor Levit takes to a London stage this week for an epic musical endurance test directed by the world-famous Serbian performance artist Marina Abramovic.
Levit is aiming to be the first person to solo play “Vexations”, a single sheet of music repeated 840 times, in a public performance expected to last at least 16 hours.
The audience at central London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall will witness “silence, endurance, immobility and contemplation, where time ceases to exist”, according to Abramovic on the venue’s website.
Written by Erik Satie in 1893, “Vexations” is described as “one of classical music’s most simple, yet arduous and demanding works”.
Satie’s manuscript included a composer’s note instructing that it should be repeated 840 times, a feat which generally takes between 16-20 hours of continuous playing.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Levit livestreamed a “Vexations” performance from a Berlin studio.
He also streamed dozens of “concerts” from his flat in the German city to highlight the challenges faced by artists during lockdown.
Although numerous pianists playing in succession have succeeded in performing “Vexations” over the years, it has rarely been completed in its entirety by a single musician.
Tickets have been priced from £32 for a one hour slot with others available for the full-length performance.
Levit, who is a professor at Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media, has released a dozen albums of classical works including Beethoven’s complete piano sonatas and concertos by Brahms.
Levit told The Guardian daily he’d “never tell an audience” what they should hope to experience.
“But I would encourage people to just literally let it go. There is no agenda in this piece. There is no meaning to it,” he said.
“It’s just empty space, so just dive into that and let go. That would be the dream,” he added.
Abramovic, 78, an art world icon, has earned worldwide acclaim for her work that has frequently tested her own physical and mental endurance.
In one of her best known early works Rhythm O, Abramovic invited audiences to interact with her in any way they chose which resulted in a loaded gun being held to her head.
The “Vexations” performance will begin at 10:00am (0900GMT) on Thursday.