Sting brings The Night Watch to Florence Gould Hall on Nov. 19

After a summer that saw his musical take over the Met, Sting returns to Manhattan for an intimate evening tied to his album recorded in front of Rembrandt's masterpiece.

There are Sting shows, and then there are evenings with Sting. Next Thursday's is the second kind. Sting plays Florence Gould Hall in Manhattan on Thursday, Nov. 19, at 7:30 p.m., in a date announced Oct. 26 and billed on its ticket page as A New York Evening with Sting.

Florence Gould Hall is a long way from the arenas and stadiums where Sting has spent much of his career. That's the appeal. A room like this suits the record he's been carrying around this year, which was itself made in an unlikely, intimate setting.

That record is The Night Watch: Live at the Rijksmuseum, released June 26 on CD, vinyl and streaming, according to Sting's official site and Universal Music. It was recorded in Amsterdam, in the Rijksmuseum's Gallery of Honour, in front of Rembrandt's painting The Night Watch while the canvas was undergoing restoration. As Bass Magazine reported, Sting played a 17th-century guitar originally built for the court of Louis XIV, loaned for the occasion. The album is the companion to his ARTE TV special, Sounds Like Art.

A record made in front of a Rembrandt, brought to a Manhattan hall built for listening.

It's been a big New York year for him already. In June, his musical The Last Ship was scheduled for a nine-performance run at the Metropolitan Opera House, June 9 through 14, in a reworked production with a new book by Barney Norris and new and revised songs, with Sting himself in the role of shipyard foreman Jackie White and Shaggy co-starring, according to Sting's site and Smithsonian Magazine. Smithsonian noted it was the first musical to be staged at the Met. November's evening is a much smaller stage, and a much more personal one.

What should you expect? The billing points to something closer to an evening than a full arena-style concert, and the Night Watch project is the natural centre of gravity: songs reimagined for a quiet room, built around one guitar and a lot of history. If you've only heard Sting through a stadium PA, a hall like this is a different proposition, closer to the way those Amsterdam recordings sound.

Practical notes: the listed start is 7:30 p.m. on a Thursday. Tickets are sold through Universe via Ticketmaster; a small room and a famous name usually mean the official link is the only sensible place to buy, and it's worth checking it for entry rules before you go. Get there early enough to settle in; this is a night for listening.

For a songwriter who spent the summer on the Met's stage, coming back to a hall this size is a choice. Take him up on it.

Sources: Sting: The Night Watch: Live at the Rijksmuseum to be released June 26 (sting.com) (1.sting.com); The Night Watch: Live at the Rijksmuseum (sting.com discography) (1.sting.com); Sting's new album The Night Watch: Live at the Rijksmuseum available today (Universal Music Canada) (universalmusic.ca); Sting – Sounds Like Art special performance on ARTE (Universal Music Canada) (universalmusic.ca); Sting to Release Live Album Recorded in Hall of Famous Art Using a 17th Century Instrument (Bass Magazine) (bassmagazine.com); Sting to star in newly adapted version of his musical The Last Ship at the Metropolitan Opera House (sting.com) (1.sting.com); Sting's musical The Last Ship docks at the Metropolitan Opera House (Smithsonian Magazine) (smithsonianmag.com); A New York Evening with Sting (Universe / Ticketmaster) (ticketmaster.evyy.net); Sting at Florence Gould Hall (JamBase) (jambase.com)