STRAVINSKY'S OEDIPUS REX by PETER SELLARS

A staging of Stravinsky's "Oedipus Rex" opened on April 16, 2009 at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Stage director Peter Sellars brought Ethiopian artist Elias Sime, whose thrones and masks from his earlier exhibition Eye of the Needle, Eye of the Heart shown at the Santa Monica Museum of Art. This exhibition was curated by Peter Sellars and Meskerem Assegued. The thrones and masks served as the principal props for the tragic oratorio. With Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting in his final performances as music director of the L.A. Philharmonic Orchestra the atmosphere was emotional.