How we feel
2008 – 2011
Concept: Sebastian Bark, Sven Holm
With premieres by Aleksandra Gryka
Under which conditions do emotions come about? Do we want to feel something ourselves? Would we rather see others think?
Where is the transitional from affect to madness, where is the link between madness and singing, which seems to be so often suggested by the representation of emotion in opera?
What does devotion mean in opera?
With HOW WE FEEL, Novoflot is undertaking a fundamental research with all thinkable means of musical theatre. It is presented as a series of three thematic evenings at the opera. Each instalment of the series is developed as a musical-theatrical combination of new compositions and selected material from the opera repertoire as well as other genres like film, literature, science. The research directly addresses the very heart of the genre of opera: the affects, their representation or production with the old as well as the latest musical and theatrical means, the relationship between affect and narration, as well as the architecture of pathos on the opera stage. Each of the three parts is devoted to a different emotional state.
#1: Scream Queen
With compositions by J. S. Bach, A. Vivaldi, G. F. Händel and others as well as world premieres by Aleksandra Gryka
Premiere
on 19 September 2008 at Sophiensaele, Berlin
In SCREAM QUEEN, NOVOFLOT has Baroque works collide with new works by the Polish composer Aleksandra Gryka. This crash of musical periods and affects becomes a mechanism triggering a disconcerting question: what happens when events from the past – which we thought had long ago been shut down – rise to the surface and threaten everything in the present? In other words: how do six people who apparently met in a certain place by coincident, who suddenly realize that their (hi)stories interconnect so that bit by bit, new links emerge of which they would have rather not known? NOVOFLOT creates such a situation and with three singers, an actress, two children, and twelve musicians tells of an uncontrolled outbreak of fear. ‘It is as if you were an animal, and fear sat on your back. You can’t shake it off, you can’t even try to, because the attempt would require energy that you don’t have.’
co-produced by Sophiensæle
Ensemble:
Sebastian Bark
Julian Gerull
Olivia Grigolli
Gesa Hoppe
Ricardo Müller
Hans-Peter Scheidegger
Hanna Dóra Sturludóttir
Barock-Ensemble/Ensemble Mosaik:
Birgit Schmieder Oboe
Jochen Schneider Bassoon
Symeon Ioannidis Harpsichord/organ
Chatschatur Kanajan Ensemble Mosaik, Violin I
Corinna Jakoby Violin II
Karen Lorenz Ensemble Mosaik, Viola
Marika Gejrot Violoncello
Matthias Bauer Ensemble Mosaik, Double bass
Neue Musik-Ensemble:
Christian Vogel Ensemble Mosaik, Clarinet/saxophone
Nathan Plante Ensemble Mosaik, Trumpet
Leo Koch & Martin Krause Percussion
Ernst Surberg Ensemble Mosaik, Keyboard
Team:
Sven Holm & Malte Ubenauf Concept and libretto
Sven Holm Direction
Vicente Larrañaga Musical direction
Elisa Limberg Stage and costume design
Malte Ubenauf Dramaturgy
Philip Kießling halbbild Video
Jörg Bittner Technical direction and lighting design
Dörte Wolter Production management
Symeon Ioannidis Assistant to the musical director Saori Tomidokoro & Jenny Kim Accompanist Lotte Greschik, Lisa Degenhardt Assistant to the director Silvie Naunheim & Falko Nickel Assistant to the stage and costume designer Kleon Medugorac Graphic design and photos Philip Kießling Documentation
#2: Exhaustion
Performance with opera singers and pianists Music by Händel, Haydn, Ponchielli, Puccini, Mascagni, Richard Strauss, and Depeche Mode. New compositions by Aleksandra Gryka.
Premiere
on 24 September 2010 at Sophiensaele, Berlin
They are meant to give themselves up with total abandon. As well as according to all rules of the trade and directly before our eyes. All the while, completely in control of their breath, facial muscles and the entire precarious voice technique, perfectly synchronized within the complex ‘powerhouse of feeling’…Erschöpfung (Exhaustion) is a thematic evening that focuses on a specific sensitive element of the opera genre: the singers. With serious meticulousness and selfless abandon, they expose and apply the shaky blueprints of pathos and affect on the operatic stage.
How do singers protect themselves and us from the obscenely strong emotions of the 19th century? According to which doctrine of affects should they suffer on stage, without insulting themselves or us? And what kind of presentation could possibly do justice to the surging sensation of insensitivity – to exhaustion itself?
co-produced by Sophiensæle
Composition & Arrangements:
Aleksandra Gryka
Ensemble:
James Clark Tenor
Sabine Neumann Mezzo-soprano
Sonia Theodoridou Soprano
Arnon Zlotnik Countertenor
Pianists:
stefanpaul
Ermis Theodorakis
Saori Tomidokoro
Team:
Sebastian Bark Direction
Vicente Larrañaga Musical direction
Sven Holm Artistic collaboration
Nir de Volff / TOTAL BRUTAL Choreography
Sandra Fox Stage design
Pieter Bax Costume design
Jörg Bittner Technical direction and lighting design
Dörte Wolter Production management
Mauricio Veloso, Juliane Funkel Assistants to the director Iva Wili Assistant to the Costume Designer Kleon Medugorac Graphic design Sandra Fox & Gerhard Ludwig & Richard Rocholl & Laura Tonke Photography Manuel Kinzer / Filmgestalten Documentation
#3: Happiness
Inspired by motifs from Dorota Maslowska, Arnold Schönberg, Quentin Tarantino, Anton Tschechow and others.
Premiere
on 4 February 2011 at Sophiensaele, Berlin
After Scream Queen (2008) and Exhaustion (2010) this is the third and final part of the NOVOFLOT opera series. In #3 the protagonists’ tedious expectations of happiness and faded beliefs are transformed into plans for the perfect robbery. And the hunt for the stolen diamonds takes them through every storey and room of the sophiensaele. A multiperspectival station drama for music, dance, language, film and chamber orchestra. “The sky’s gonna burst tonight … one false move and you go straight to hell.”
co-produced by Sophiensæle
Composition:
Aleksandra Gryka
Ensemble:
Bini Lee Soprano
Yeri Anarika Vargas Sánchez Dancer
Luise Weiß Actress
Ceri Williams Mezzo-soprano
Ensemble Mosaik:
Bettina Junge Flute
Christian Vogel Clarinet
Nathan Plante Trumpet
Matthias Engler Percussion
Ernst Surberg Piano
Chatschatur Kanajan Violin
Karen Lorenz Viola
Matthias Bauer Double bass
Team:
Sven Holm & Malte Ubenauf Conzept & Libretto
Sven Holm Direction
Vicente Larrañaga Musical direction
Elisa Limberg Stage and costume design
Malte Ubenauf Dramaturgy
Yeri Anarika Vargas Sánchez Choreography
Philip Kießling Video
Jörg Bittner Technical direction und light design
Dörte Wolter Production management
Ines Hu Assistant to the Director and Stage Management Nils Strunk Direction Trainee Saori Tomidokoro Accompanist Theodoros Orfanidis Assistant to the musical director Martina von Horn Assistant to the stage and costume designer Silvia Dello Joio Stage and costume trainee Kleon Medugorac Graphic design Thomas Aurin Fotography Philip Kießling Documentation
