Lifelines

Scenic concert with music of Christianity, Islamic Sufism, dance and video projections

With the musicians of the ensemble Megaphon and guest artists, we span a wide range from Hildegard von Bingen's mystical chants from the 12th century to traditional Arabic Sufi music, improvisations and today's music. In doing so, we include the space, the light and its atmosphere and all meet in a musical dialogue.

Press commentary

Excerpt from criticism in the Celle newspaper, November 2016:

"A total work of art made of space, sound, light and movement

The different music was followed by transformations of the space through light and video projections. At first, these looked like moving water surfaces, then they reverted to Paul Klee's angel drawings, which were set in motion. And finally, the moving video projections also showed the light-framed contours of the musicians covered with luminous strips, but not as a one-to-one reproduction of what was being experienced, but as a recording of what had been played before. These light projections were not always characterised by movement; there were also moments when the entire space as architecture seemed frozen by lighting that traced many columns. It was a most impressive evening of transgressive art."

R.Hanke

Excerpt from the review in the Bremerhaven Zeitung, December 2018

Fractures can also be bridges

Soprano Sophia Körber did not simply sing with soft and clear-as-a-bell lines, she radiated the intensity of the pieces. Oren Lazowski made dance-like use of the altar space. In the course of the concert, too, new music met Renaissance. And not as a contrast, but always seamlessly and seamlessly linked. A central example: After Körber and Zupkova, together with double bassist Johannes Keller, had worked out the rough edges beyond the lyrical beauty in Monteverdi's "Lamento d'Arianna", a microtonal work peppered with numerous acoustic barbs followed with Helena Tulve's "Silences/Larmes". Vlady Bystrov gave it an edgy bite with his soprano saxophone, and Ehsan Ebrahimi, who had already unfolded the sonic richness of the Iranian santoor during other parts of the programme. When the enthusiastic final applause rose, the artists had proved that breaks between different ideals of sound and art can also be used as a bridge.

Thorsten Meyer

What do angels sound like and what do they look like? Fascinated by images and compositions by various artists and composers, the musicians of the Ensemble Megaphon embarked on a journey. In this, poetically spoken word and choral singing combined with compositions from the Middle Ages to the present day, sung by soprano Sophia Körber and played by violin, flute and accordion. Under the artistic direction of Lenka Župková and Klaus Hermann Anschütz, the musicians and the choir spanned a wide range from the oldest chorals to mystical chants from the 12th century by Hildegard von Bingen to the music of the present day. The floating light projections of Paul Klee's angel paintings transformed the church space and merged with the dancer's movements to form a collage. In a production rich in images, the four musicians, a dancer from the music Ensemble Megaphon and the Schola Gregoriana Cellensis wandered through the church and through timeless sound worlds.