BILDBESCHREIBUNG
by Agata Zubel
For two voices, ensemble & electronics
Klangforum Wien
Text by Heiner Müller
ca. 100'
⧖ Worl Premier
⦿ Titus Engel Director
⦿ Agata Zubel Soprano
⦿ Frank Wörner Baritono
⦿ Eva Furrer Flauto contrabbasso
⦿ Vera Fischer Flauto basso
⦿ Olivier Vivarés Clarinetto contrabbasso
⦿ Gerald Preinfalk Sassofono, Tubax
⦿ Anders Nyqvist Tromba
⦿ Florian Müller Tastiere
⦿ Benedikt Leitner Violoncello
⦿ Aleksander Gabrys Contrabbasso
⦿ Ernest Rombout Oboe
⦿ Reinhold Brunner Clarinetto
⦿ Lorelei Dowling Fagotto
⦿ Christoph Walder Corno
⦿ Mikael Rudolfsson Trombone
⦿ Björn Wilker Percussioni
⦿ Lukas Schiske Percussioni
⦿ Joonas Ahonen Pianoforte
⦿ Krassimir Sterev Fisamonica
⦿ Aurélie Saraf Arpa
⦿ Annette Bik Violino
⦿ Gunde Jäch-Micko Violino
⦿ Sophie Schafleitner Violino
⦿ Dimitrios Polisoidis Viola
⦿ Rafal Zalech Viola
⦿ Andreas Lindenbaum Violoncello
⦿ Bartosz Nalazek Light Design
⦿ Gwidon Wydrzyński Assistente Light Design
⦿ Peter Böhm Sounddesign
⦿ Markus Urban Sounddesign
How to describe a picture?
The eminent German playwright Heiner Müller gave an incredibly powerful reply to this question in his dramatic narrative Bildbeschreibung. He and she, trapped in a picture, enclosed in frozen time. It is only by analyzing this recorded moment that the author can dream up their possible stories, depict events that may have led them to this moment. All this supported by a sophisticated analysis of our reality and of timeless existential questions.
And how to describe a picture with sound?!
This may be more difficult to achieve, but I want to try.
The entire dramatic situation frozen in time, the frozen moment and its unreal status, begs to be complemented with music.
He and she – two actor-singers – stuck in the picture, constantly comment on their present position or on the road that led them to it. The musicians are also part of the picture. An ensemble of a dozen or so instrumentalists assuming the roles of soloists, chamber musicians, or actors. All this is immersed in electronic sounds coming from spatially arranged speakers.
In the first phase of the piece, members of the audience cross the stage, walking past fragments of frozen time, passing them one after another. This is extremely important for a personal and direct experience of the picture’s ‘substance’. Crossing the musically arranged stage space is like walking across a picture – it enables the listeners to establish direct contact with the objects, figures, musicians and actors. The listeners experience their own participation in the presented story. After this carefully designed journey, the next phase can begin –already set in the classical audience-stage situation. The music comes to life… and so does the picture.
Where are you – Where are they from,
How did this – How did that happen,
is this me –
SPECIAL THANK TO