Mozart, Myth, Cemetery: Reencounter with the successful production by Ulrike Schwab, STEGREIF.orchester and Neuköllner Oper.
Instead of the stage space of the Neuköllner Oper, we meet at the New St. Jacobi Cemetery/Prinzessinnengärten Neukölln, at the hour when the sun sets and leads into another world with waning light:
On the border between day and night, an illustrious mourning community gathers on the half-dark avenues and meadows – Giovanni is dead and yet has not died. Everyone knows him, yet he lives on unbroken in all of us. With him, this great mythical figure, all images of women and men, role expectations and the ambivalence of attraction, seduction and encroachment are at stake…. This is the fuel for our search, on which we probably encounter more ourselves than him. And so the celebration of a recollection turns into a wild party – with 22 singing musicians and performing singers in the highly acclaimed production by Ulrike Schwab and the STEGREIF.orchester, which crosses gender boundaries and musical genres and combines Mozart with jazz, flamenco and improvisation. “A journey into music that weaves even more layers into the story through our re-composition and improvisation,” as Juri de Marco, musical director of the STEGREIF.orchestra says.
GIOVANNI. EINE PASSION is an expedition into the alchemy of myth, the magic of Mozart’s music and the creativity of the 22 performers*. “It would be wonderful if the audience approaches this evening as curiously as an exhibition of unknown pictures, with open eyes and above all an open heart. To find out what else this opera can be,” says director Ulrike Schwab (Armida, Wolfskinder, Ist die Welt auch noch so schön; Mortier Next Generation prize winner 2021).
The STEGREIF.orchestra has been one of the leading protagonists for innovative concerts for years – a pool of 30 cross-genre musicians* who love the heritage of classical music as much as free improvisation, jazz and other styles. With its concert programs, the ensemble tours throughout Germany as well as internationally.
Musical direction: Juri de Marco | Direction: Ulrike Schwab | Arrangements: Malte Schiller, Alistair Duncan, Bertram Burkert, Anna-Sophie Brüning, Juri de Marco & ensemble members of the STEGREIF.orchestra | Musical rehearsal: Anna-Sophie Brüning | Set design: Pia Dederichs and Marina Stefan | Project idea/dramaturgy: Bernhard Glocksin
With: Hrund Ósk Árnadóttir, Derya Atakan, Sotiris Charalampous, Jeeyoung Lim, Enrico Wenzel, Justus Wilcken as well as Leon Albert, Bartosz Nowak, Anne-Sophie Bereuter, Julia Biłat, Bertram Burkert, Sebastian Casper, Nikola Djurica, Konstantin Döben, Alistair Duncan, Nina Kazourian, Paul Lapp, Valerie Leopold, Laura Lorx, Juri de Marco, Helena Montag, Jakob Petzl, Antonio Rivero, Celia Schann, Tabea Schrenk
With the kind support of Prinzessinnengarten Kollektiv Berlin, Kiezkapelle Neuer St. Jacobi-Friedhof and Evangelischer Friedhofsverband Berlin.
The world premiere of the indoor version took place on October 10, 2019 as a production of Neuköllner Oper and STEGREIF.orchester. It was funded by the Hauptstadtkulturfonds and supported by the Alfred-Töpfer-Stiftung, the Karl-Schlecht-Stiftung, Radialsystem V and the Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony.
The event will take place in the Prinzessinnengärten at the New St. Jacobi Cemetery (Hermannstraße 99-105, 12051 Berlin | S+U Hermannstraße).
When purchasing tickets and visiting the show, please be aware of our safety instructions and precautions to contain the Corona pandemic.
photo: © Matthias Heyde
