Musical scenes                                                                                                                                                                                 Stage direction and concept  

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World première February 2020

at the Villa Elisabeth Berlin | Further performances at Tafelhalle Nürnberg

A production by Isabelle Kranabetter in co-production with Tafelhalle Nuremberg. A project within the framework of BTHVN 2020. Supported by the Hauptstadtkulturfonds Berlin, with funds from inm – Initiative für Neue Musik e.V. and the Cultural Department of the City of Nuremberg

Arrangements and musical direction: Iñigo Giner Miranda
Scenography, costumes and lighting: Michael Kleine
Technical direction and lighting: Catalina Fernandez
Production management: Kirsten Junglas
Graphics: Swami Silva
Public Relations: Kerstin Böttcher

Performers: Lisa Ströckens (Soprano), Tobias Dutschke (Speaker), Emmanuelle Bernard (Violin), Jakob Roters (Cello), Neus Estarellas (Piano)

“And from then on – up to the “linear” tinnitus finale – all of the subsequent speech inserts were audible and perceptible by means of sound engineering intervention and/or distortion. For us (the audience), this meant that we were able to physically put ourselves in Beethoven’s state of hearing and not hearing, and in this way became quasi-witnesses of this unbelievable tragedy of completely restricted, unperceivable acoustics.Extremely suggestive, and indeed as a whole.” Andre Sokolowski, kultur-extra 

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IN CONVERSATION WITH … explores the question of how the human imagination complements and transforms narratives, unconsciously and consciously; how projections, myths and forgeries shape our cultural history. Five musicians and performers sift through shopping lists, political discussions and family quarrels from conversation books as well as late compositions by Beethoven.

Hardly any other composer has been as present throughout all epochs as Ludwig van Beethoven. Every age revered “their” Beethoven: Romanticism celebrated him as the first free composer committed only to himself and to art. Nationalism emphasized the heroic German genius and socialism later emphasized the internationalist humanist. Today, as the composer of the European anthem, Beethoven stands for the values of the Enlightenment as the cultural basis of Europe.

IN CONVERSATION WITH … deals with the collective and individual reception and asks about the authenticity of an artistic figure. What shapes our image of Beethoven as a person, what as a concept of cultural history? What is zeitgeist and projection?

The basis of the investigations are the conversation books of deaf Beethoven. These only convey the voice of his counterpart. Beethoven answered orally and remains silent for the reader. The blank space offers space for projections, myths and forgeries.