Deutsche Oper Berlin

Stockhausen addresses major themes in a cosmic world theatre focused on man and woman, good and evil and birth and death in his monumental cycle LICHT. Die sieben Tage der Woche. While other parts of the cycle focus on the struggle between conflicting forces whose polarity determines our lives anew every day, Mittwoch [Wednesday] celebrates the utopia of love and the spiritual connection in the spirit of music – and faith in the feasibility of community and solidarity. Stockhausen was uncompromising in his search for a new type of music and is considered as one of the most innovative and yet polemic composers of the 20th century. The pioneer of electronic music even inspired pop music across all musical genres – including Kraftwerk and Björk.

The spectacular core of Mittwoch aus Licht is the helicopter string quartet. Here Stockhausen extends the musical space over and beyond the theatre auditorium: the members of a string quartet are seated in four helicopters hovering in circles high above the audience. The sounds of the string instruments are blended with the noise of the rotor blades and are transmitted from the sky into the auditorium. For the Deutsche Oper Berlin production, the quartet will be performed live as a unique event for the entire city and the film document of the quartet is incorporated as an element of the production.

The multiple award-winning artistic duo Susanne Kennedy und Markus Selg who caused a music theatre sensation in Einstein on the Beach at Theater Basel and Parsifal at Opera Antwerp will transform Mittwoch aus Licht into an immersive ritual in their first opera production in Berlin. Maxim Pascal, appointed as principal guest conductor on the arrival of the new artistic director, is an expert and passionate advocate of Stockhausen’s music and has already performed all sections of the Licht cycle with the exception of Mittwoch.