Mark Morris’s lyrical choreography, the soulful voices of Azerbaijan’s Alim Qasimov and Fargana Qasimova, the vibrant musicality of the Silk Road Ensemble, and the striking visual palette of British painter Howard Hodgkin combine in this new, large-scale production that receives its world premiere in September.
A Persian love poem that originated in ancient Arabia, Layla and Majnun is a timeless story of tragic love between two young people who are not allowed to unite. Uzeyir Hajibelyi’s powerful music — at once profoundly sorrowful and ecstatic — provides the perfect backdrop to the story that Lord Byron called “the Romeo and Juliet of the East.”