Simon Steen-Andersen “Inszenierte Nacht”

The night, the obscure, but also the frivolous interplay between light and darkness have all fascinated painters and musicians from time immemorial. The night as a theme can be found in European painting from the 15th century onwards and into the present time. This also applies to its musical counterpart – the nocturnes, notturni or night music. “Inszenierte Nacht” is a play with famous compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, Robert Schumann, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Maurice Ravel, who are all connected by the common theme of the night.

Danish-born Simon Steen-Andersen, an original and distinguished young composer, approaches these nocturnal works like a theatre director. He kisses the historic musical sources awake from their slumber, dusts them off and updates them. He reinforces their elemental ideas and structures, and stages them for the eye and the ear. In doing so, he rouses these nocturnal pieces with his own means and uses his own perspective to breathe new life into them, freeing them from the corset of being turned into museum pieces and left for posterity. The audience can experience the universally known works in a new costume and in accordance with our times – a listening adventure!