Münchener Biennale

The motto of the 14^th Munich Biennale contains the sharpest contrasts: liberation – catastrophe; redemption – horror; departure – downfall.

A composer attempted to live and create these contrasts: Claude Vivier, who was murdered when he was 34 years young in March 1983 in Paris. Marko Nikodijević's opera centers on Vivier, and we will open the Biennale with this opera. "Kopernikus," Vivier's magnum opus for the stage, will be performed as part of the Biennale Special program.

We are presenting the world premieres of five commissioned works during the 14^th Biennale. Samy Moussa explores the dynamic in "Vastation" that erupts when a personage and the function of power lead to an ungovernable conflict. Hèctor Parra's inversion of the Orpheus myth illuminates the virtual situation of a free passage between life and death. From Elias Canetti's drama about assumed almightiness over the lifetime of a person, Detlev Glanert developed with Nico and the Navigators a new form of experimental music theater. Dieter Schnebel has set his sights on the vanishing points of human hope in his theater of sound and movement.

We always viewed our festival as experimental set-ups in the history of modernity. Therefore, I am pleased to be able to round off my years as artistic director with special retrospectives. An opera by Detlev Glanert opened the first Munich Biennale in 1988. Dieter Schnebel represents with his oeuvre the continuously new reflection on music theater elements: space, sound, movement, voice.

It was a special wish of mine to honor the founder of the festival, Hans Werner Henze, during the last Biennale I am responsible for. The core program of the Biennale is supplemented by concerts by the Philharmoniker, the Münchener Kammerorchester, and the Münchener Rundfunkorchester; in the series Biennale Special Munich artists and groups are presenting new concepts of music theater. Two symposiums and events of Munich's adult education center will provide impulses for reflection and discussions.

We would like to extend our gratitude for making this program possible to the City of Munich and to all of the cooperation partners and supporters. Personally I would like to thank the Biennale team for their great and consistent commitment during the eighteen years of working together.