Sun, Jun. 02, 2024, 5.00 pm - 10.15 pm | Elbphilharmonie, Grand Hall Premiere
A project by Kent Nagano and Georges Delnon
A work that is only written once in a hundred years: With Saint Francois d'Assise, Olivier Messiaen created an exceptional work that touches the roots of human existence, posing the question of humanity, of the right to life in a world full of violence and hatred. Just as Saint Francis of Assisi radically broke with everything over a thousand years ago, gave up a life of luxury and dedicated himself to the poorest of the poor, sought God in nature, among the animals and thus wanted to serve creation and the Creator, the composer Messiaen also created a world that invites us and challenges us at the same time.
The Elbphilharmonie will be the venue for a musical and scenic Gesamtkunstwerk with over 300 participants Kent Nagano accompanied the world premiere in Paris in 1983 and lived and worked with Messiaen for over a year. Today, he is the world's most intimate connoisseur of the music of this brilliant composer, who consistently pursued his own independent path.
For Messiaen, as for Francis, the divine can be experienced in the song of the birds. His music is drawn from nature and at the same time can hardly be surpassed in virtuosity and complexity. The spatial-theatrical realization in the Elbphilharmonie poses the questions of St. Francis of Assisi to the world in the 21st century: How can we still responsibly do justice to creation and nature in the face of war and refugee misery, hardship and climate catastrophe? People of our time will make this directly tangible on a large LED ring in the stage area. The films were made on the Sea-Watch 5 rescue ship, in the Assisi monastery, in a Hamburg hospice or a shower bus for the homeless and with the internationally renowned climate expert Prof. Mojib Latif.
A top-class ensemble, led by Jacques Imbrailo as Francois and Anna Prohaska as L'Ange, two choirs and the Philharmonic State Orchestra take us on a great musical journey into the world of Olivier Messiaen.
Musical Dircetion: Kent Nagano
Scenic set up: Georges Delnon
Scenography: Thomas Jürgens
Costumes: Julia Mottl
Video: Marcus Richardt
Camera: David Rankenhohn
Lighting: Stefan Bolliger
Dramaturgy: Janina Zell, Ralf Waldschmidt
Choir: Martin Steidler
In French with German surtitles
Co-production of the Hamburg State Opera, the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra
and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. Supported by the Foundation for the Promotion of the
Hamburg State Opera and Commerzbank Hamburg.
Venue: Elbphilharmonie, Grand Hall, Platz der Deutschen Einheit 4, 20457 Hamburg
Prices: 23,00 EUR to 129,00 EUR
