Rethinking forms (IV) : The " Thinkspiel ", a new theatre/music combination

From the mysteries of the Middle Ages to Baroque, Classical, Romantic and modern opera, some music has always been used to tell stories. How can music support a narrative? Can it symbolize a reality? Does it offer something more than literature, theater or film can? Today's audiences are confronted with "stories" through discontinuous frames. Television, videos and the Internet no longer deliver linear narratives similar to those of great novels or stage dramas. The traditional codes of opera no longer seem really suited to today's audiences. I'm working on Kein Licht, a new form to which I've given the name Thinkspiel. Based on a text by Elfriede Jelinek, and directed by Nicolas Stemann, I'm trying to renew the relationship between music and narrative.

Musical excerpts

Woyzeck, after Georg Büchner, film by Werner Herzog, available on DVD.

Wozzeck, opera by Alban Berg, directed by Patrice Chéreau.
Berlin StaatsKapelle Orchestra conducted by Daniel Barenboim, available on retail DVD.

Wozzeck, opera by Alban Berg, Orchester des Deutschen Opernhauses Berlin conducted by Karl Böhm, available on retail CD.

Excerpts from Nicolas Stemann's theater productions

Rhein Gold with text by Elfriede Jelinek and music by Richard Wagner. Directed by Nicolas Stemann. Orchestra of the StaatsKapelle Berlin musical director: Markus Poschner. StaatsOper Berlin. Year 2014

Die Räuber by Friedrich Schiller. Directed by Nicolas Stemann. Salzburger Festspiele/Thalia Theater Hamburg Year 2008

Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Staged by Nicolas Stemann. Salzburger Festspiele/Thalia Theater Hamburg - 2011 (Festival d'Avignon 2013)

Kontrakte des Kaufmanns by Elfriede Jelinek. Directed by Nicolas Stemann. Schauspiel Köln/Thalia Theater Hamburg - 2009

Images: Dreigroschenoper opera by Bertold Brecht and Kurt Weill - Directed by Nicolas Stemann. Schauspiel Hannover 2002/Schauspiel Köln 2011