The Theory of Harmony
from 2022
by Novoflot and Arnold Schönberg
In 2022, Novoflot begins the celebrations for a special kind of anniversary: 70 years after his death, the rights to Arnold Schönberg's work become free. What does that mean? Now it belongs to all of us! A wonderful reason to do several things at once.
First of all, to roll out the red carpet for a roaring anniversary celebration in Berlin's Kronprinzenpalais.
Secondly, to move the works of the Viennese composer from the strip parquet to the black ice, for a few grandiose double Rittbergers in the mirrored crab canon.
And thirdly, on the occasion of the now prevailing freedom of rights of "Transfigured Night", "Pierrot Lunaire" and so forth, to ask about the nature of freedom of rights and thus about the splendor and misery of intellectual property. Too much of a good thing? Maybe! But the number of such projects would not have even made the Viennese sound systemist and author of “The Theory of Harmony" raise his eyebrow. His longing to flood all future music with air from other planets was too strong.
This is now also true for the artists of Novoflot, who, where the cultural heritage still hangs neatly within the frame almost everywhere (Unter den Linden!), reorder some too familiar twelve-tone rows and premiere them immediately! In the most beautiful clash of Jacob's Ladders, Hanging Gardens and Foliage of the Heart, they are looking for encouraging and promising possibilities of art production in times of violent disharmony.
Will they find what they are looking for? It's in the stars. You can only wish them one thing: an extremely good “…Hand of Fate”.
Tickets are available here.
The Theory of Harmony #3 – A Murdered from Warsaw
Based on the SURVIVOR FROM WARSAW by Arnold Schönberg By Novoflot, Max Czollek and Michael Wertmüller
Arnold Schoenberg composed the melodrama “SURVIVOR FROM WARSAW 1947” for a narrator, men’s choir, and orchestra. It addresses the suppression of the uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto and, like its historical background, is one of the most poignant works in the history of music. It is a torn testimony of the most brutal dehumanization and one of the few works that explicitly addresses the Holocaust.
75 years after its premiere, the Berlin-based opera company Novoflot launches a REWRITING of the composition against the backdrop of historical and current war and displacement scenarios. For the development of the libretto reworking (the original text was by Schoenberg himself), the renowned Berlin author Max Czollek has been enlisted, whose books such as “Desintegriert euch” (Disintegrate yourselves) and, most recently, “Versöhnungstheater” (Reconciliation Theater) have sparked numerous societal debates. The composition will be undertaken by the Swiss sound artist Michael Wertmüller, an enfant terrible of the international jazz and composition scene, well-acquainted with Novoflot’s work as an artist.
Between newly composed music and fragmentary quotes from Schoenberg, blending opera, performance, installation, jazz gig, and concert, the project “A Murdered from Warsaw” is conceived as a music-theater hybrid with a premiere performance. The typically rigid dramaturgy of an opera is confronted with a second interpretative layer, where several variables, including an outdoor installation at the venue, a tour through the venue building, and the integration of improvisation, expand the scenic structure.
In addition to developing the libretto, Max Czollek will also perform on stage during the Berlin premiere.
Rosemary Hardy Gesang
Noa Frenkel Gesang
Ichi Go Tanz, Gesang
Max Czollek Lecture
Simon Stockhausen Life-Elektronik
Jazz-Rock-Formation Johnny La Marama
Eric Schaefer Drum
Chris Dahlgren E-Bass
Peter Meyer E-Gitarre
Ensemble DissonArt
Lenio Liatsou Klavier
Theodoros Patsalidis Violine
Andreas Papanikolaou Violine
David Bogorad Viola
Vassilis Saitis Cello
Jacopo Salvatori Klavier, Orgel
Videodarsteller:innen: Maxime Barbasetti, Henriette Bothe, Hayden Chisholm, Altea Garrido, Aminata Toscano
Regie und Konzept: Sven Holm
Musikalische Leitung: Vicente Larrañaga
Ausstattung: Nina von Mechow
Video: Rebecca Riedel
Dramaturgie und Konzept: Malte Ubenauf
Management: Dörte Wolter
Produktionsleitung: Axel Lambrette und Rania Mavriki
Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit: k3 berlin.
The Theory of Harmony #2 – OperaCall
Opern Call is an opera installation for the glass façade of the Akademie der Künste at Pariser Platz as well as for the entire premises of the Kölner Philharmonie. Freely accessible, the project includes twelve premieres by different composers who reconsider the 3rd and unfinished act of the opera Moses und Aaron by Arnold Schönberg.
With a libretto based on texts by Jo Frank and Ulrich Holbein, the project is conceived as a three-dimensional transformation of Schönberg's twelve-tone technique into public space and opens up the perspective of a specially developed site-specific opera format that seeks to combine analog and digital theater perception. Between opera performance and film, music-theatrical exhibition and audio walk, scenic exploration and newly composed music, a hybrid format emerges that can be experienced in analog form inside the Akademie der Künste and in digital-visual form outside.
Opern Call is the 2nd part of the multi-station project Die Harmonielehre. Further parts will be premiered in 2024 at the Kunstfest Weimar, the Musikfestival Bern and the Kölner Philharmonie.
Uraufführungen von Antonis Anissegos, Minas Borboudakis, Caio de Azevedo, Liisa Hirsch, Haris Kittos, Anna Korsun, Dariya Maminova, David Rimsky-Korsakow, Żaneta Rydzewska, Jacopo Salvatori, Tomasz Skweres, Tom B. Smith
Libretto: Jo Frank und Ulrich Holbein Bearbeitung: Malte Ubenauf
Mit: Peyee Chen und Rosemary Hardy Gesang Ichi Go Tanz
Magne-Håvard Brekke Schauspiel
Auditiv Vokal Dresden: Lisa Fornhammar / Julia Böhme / András Adamik / Mykola Piddubnyk.
Einstudierung: Olaf Katzer Gesangsquartett
Ensemble dissonArt:
Jannis Anissegos Flöte Alexandros Stavridis Klarinette Lenio Liatsou Klavier Kostas Argyropoulos Percussion Theodoros Patsalidis Violine Poulcheria Seira Viola
Hayden Chisholm Saxophon Antonis Anissegos und Jacopo Salvatori Tasten Chris Dahlgren Bass, Viola da Gamba
Sven Holm Regie und Konzept Vicente Larrañaga Musikalische Leitung
Jacopo Salvatori Mitarbeit Musikalische Leitung Nina von Mechow Bühne Nina von Mechow in Zusammenarbeit mit BILKISS CREATION Kostüme
Malte Ubenauf Dramaturgie und Konzept Andreas Deinert Video Ismael Schott Licht Karl Schüller Tonmeister Dörte Wolter Management Axel Lambrette, Rania Mavriki Produktionsleitung k3 berlin Kommunikation Lisa Astrid Mayer, Clara Brezinka Regieassistenz und Abendspielleitung Louis Vincent Platzer Assistenz Bühne Charlotte Brandhorst Assistenz Kostüme Jürgen Holz Toningenieur Joachim Huper Lichttechnik Theo von Mechow Videotechnik
The Theory of Harmony Act 1–5
Gefördert durch den Hauptstadtkulturfonds und die Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa Berlin.
with: Magne-Håvard Brekke acting Rosemary Hardy vocals Ichi Go dance, vocals Altea Garrido dance, choreography Thomas Stache dance, choreography
Conny Bauer trombone Nils Wogram trombone
Antonis Anissegos piano Jacopo Salvatori piano
Ensemble Dissonart: Jannis Anissegos flute Alexandros Stavridis clarinet Lenio Liatsou piano Kostas Argyropoulos percussion Theodoros Patsalidis violin Maria Anissegos violoncello
Danish National Youth Ensemble DUEN Direction: Morten Ryelund
Nicole Bronder, Tina Dalgaard, Carl Ryelund, Stefan Enemærke Becker, Borbála Brezovsky, Sarah Junghanns violin
Katie Le Feuvre, Carmen de la Torre Jiménez, Thorhildur Magnusdottir viola
Benedikte Dalgas, Anna Rebekka Ross violoncello
Lars-Bo Hermansen double bass Harald Tørning Svendsen bassoon
Direction and concept: Sven Holm Musical director: Vicente Larranaga Stage and costumes: Nina von Mechow Dramaturgy and concept: Malte Ubenauf Company management and production: Dörte Wolter Production: Sophie Beck Tour Management: Tina Agency Communication: k3 berlin
