17-time Grammy Award winning artist Sting has released The Night Watch: Live at the Rijksmuseum, a twelve-track live album capturing his breathtaking performance at one of the world’s great cultural landmarks.

Recorded inside Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum — home to Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Judith Leyster — the album documents an evening unlike any other in Sting’s celebrated career.

Performing in the museum’s Gallery of Honor among paintings built on dramatic contrasts between light and shadow, Sting brings that same sensibility to his song choices: intimate ballads & classic hits. Sting’s performance carries an equivalent emotional weight —his are intimate portrayals of love, loss, labor, and longing, each rendered with the care of a painter who knows that what you leave out matters as much as what you put in.

Sting sees a close connection between songs and paintings, saying, “The longer you look at a painting, the more you discover in it. It’s the same with a song – the more often you hear it, the more you understand it.”

During his performance at the Rijksmuseum, Sting played a rare 17th-century guitar — originally crafted for the court of Louis XIV. Accompanied by his longtime collaborator & guitarist, Dominic Miller, Sting navigates his catalog with an unhurried authority. Selections from his Tony Award-nominated musical The Last Ship — a deeply personal tribute to the shipbuilding community of his native Northeast England — sit alongside The Police classics and his beloved solo hits.

Rijksmuseum opened the doors of its striking glass-fronted gallery for a rare, intimate performance of “Mad About You” and “When We Dance” accompanied by Miller. They also performed in the museum’s spectacular library. The full performance can be viewed on ARTE – as part of their Sounds Like Art series.

Produced by Martin Kierszenbaum, The Night Watch: Live at the Rijksmuseum is available now on CD and vinyl as well as all streaming platforms.

Source: RTT Music News