Anne-Sophie Weber © Max Zerrahn

Anna-Sophie Weber stages Sven Daigger’s AM GRUND GIBT’S KEINEN GRUND NACH DEM GRUND ZU FRAGEN to a libretto by Fanny Sorgo

> I recount the tale of a failure – and what the reactions are to it. Three researchers in a submarine dive down on a mission of exploration to the deepest point on earth, the Mariana Trench. They represent humanity’s thirst for knowledge, the foundation for our desire to find answers to the big questions: Where did we come from? Where are we headed? During their descent the researchers attempt to overcome the laws of nature, but the more intent they are on analysing issues, the more complex and life-threatening the environment becomes. At the outset a voice announces that they have only 25 minutes of oxygen left. The voice symbolises 20th-century evil-doing, excessive consumerism, our plastic society and our collective bad conscience. Their individual tactics for approaching the subject of inevitable death differ markedly: one person is accepting of it, one denies it, one commits suicide as a way of retaining control. I use visuals to demonstrate that none of the three achieves their objective. Far from having both feet firmly on the stage, they are suspended in airframes from a section of steel scaffolding – a huge technical challenge. The singers are not used to not sensing the resonance of the floor beneath their feet. The composer gave titles to the seven deadly sins. An exciting move, since millions of people are still believers - just not in destiny or a particular deity, more in science and the idea that solutions can be found to all problems. <

Johanna Frech © Max Zerrahn

Johanna Frech stages the chamber opera EURYDICE, a work by Feliz Anne Reyes Macahis to a libretto by Uta Bierbaum

> Staging this work, I’m immersing myself in a huge question mark, in an unfamiliar world. The two main characters, Orpheus and Eurydice, sink to the bottom of the sea. I see the sinking as symbolising the process of dying. The sea bed represents the moment they’ll cross over to the other side. We’re all sinking, without knowing when we’re going to touch down, but everyone touches down sooner or later. Except Orpheus doesn’t want to die; he sees himself as a great explorer, soon to return to the land of the living. Eurydice is positively looking forward to death – not because she’s tired of life but because she’s intrigued about the hereafter and hopes it’s a good place to be. I’m interested in the process of dying. How long does it take? At what point are we actually dead? It’s hard to accept death, to embrace this absolute loss of control. It reminds me of when I gave birth to my children. I compare the moment of giving birth to the feeling of being in the water with waves crashing over you, raging and menacing. You’re helpless; all you can do is surrender to this power, surrender control. It’s the only way you’re going to make it through. There comes a moment when the water’s calmed down and you can breathe again. <

Selina Thüring © Max Zerrahn

Director Selina Thüring stages AUFBRUCH, a chamber opera by Josep Planells Schiaffino to a libretto by Debo Koetting.

> I lived for a while in Norway, near the Arctic circle. When I think of the sea, I think of the noise humpback whales make when they crash back down after rearing up out of the water. Such freedom! It’s exactly what the three characters in AUFBRUCH are searching for, only they have no idea how to articulate this yearning they have. They set off on a journey, wandering without a plan, with an unknown destination. They walk to the sea, which is like a balm to them, helping them to overcome their stagnation and make meaningful contact with each other. And all of a sudden they’re able to open up and give voice to their yearning. The shifting and swelling of the ocean reflects a cyclical way of thinking, akin to letting go, to abandonment, to Goethe’s “Be after death!”. The abandonment idea reminds me of the Tibetan concept of the body, lü, meaning ‘something we leave behind’. lü reminds us that we are all just wayfarers, dwelling for a short while in this life and body. <