Stones and Hearts Singspiel
Until the beginning of the 19th century the world of the Alpswas a place of superstition and gloomy conjecture. It was assumed that this mysterious mountain range in the heart of Europewas the home of dragons, monsters and witches. Only towards the middle of the 19th century did the region become the subject of systematic research, something which was to lead in turn to its subsequent exploitation for tourism. Director and author Sven-Eric Bechtolf joins with Tyrolean musicians Andreas Schett, Markus Kraler and their Musicbanda Franui to tell a story from the early years of Alpine exploration. The piece will describe the period of transition when scientific curiosity was still fought as an almost blasphemous challenge to the powers above. It is the story of a watchmaker fromGeneva, driven by an insatiable hunger for knowledge to set out with his young assistant on an expedition to the mountains in the year of the French Revolution. There he becomes drawn into a spiral of superstition, scholarly zeal, megalomania and erotic entanglements. The score of Stones and Hearts reflects the rich musical forms found in Alpine culture. Yodels, cattle calls, dirges, lamentations and dance music from a centuries old central European musical tradition are translated into the musical present and performed by an ensemble composed of actors, musicians and singers.
A work commissioned by the RuhrTriennale