It is extremely rare that a work by the German composer should be performed without the careful control of the composer himself. Intended to be a dedication to the memory of Stockhausen, the performance is arranged by Carlos Padrissa and La Fura del Baus, one of the most radical groups in theatre, together with the musikFabrik ensemble, an enterprising protagonist of multimedia operations, directed by Peter Rundel.
“The director, Carlos Padrissa, tackles the Stockhausen cycle not as a Wagnerian opera of ‘total theatre’, but as a ‘global work of art’ embracing the whole world which he imbues –in the company of his adrenalinic group of artists– with the ‘Mediterranean light of the South’; a voyage through the world following the footsteps of Stockhausen, with innocent and reverential awe, as though he were travelling with us” (Thomas Ulrich).
The illusion of Michael, who flies across the continents and oceans is created by using two transparent screens in front of and behind the musicians, with projections creating the optical effects of a hologram. An invisible machine makes Michael fly across the hologram; the three-dimensional effect acts as a strong visual counterpoint to the sidereal soundscapes of Stockhausen’s music. This new version of Michaels Reise um Die Erde had its debut on 8th May at the Wiener Festwochen.
A Catalan company founded by a collective of artists in 1979, La Fura dels Baus erupted on to the European stage in the 1980s with extreme theatrical actions, in which the spectator is directly involved to the extent of provoking an emotive shock; these were performances that seemed to be tribal metropolitan rites, immersed in an overwhelming flow of sounds and images. During the 1990s, the group’s activities extended to include lyrical opera, and La Fura took a sideways step into the temple of classical music: their first performances were Atlantide by Manuel de Falla and The martyrdom of St Sebastian by Claude Debussy. These were followed by The damnation of Faust by Berlioz, presented at the festival of Salzburg in 1999 and Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, performed at Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (2007/2009).
