Antikrist
For the multi-award-winning director Ersan Mondtag, Langgaard's opera, which heralds a sparking frenzy of doom, is a parable of our times. Socio-political themes such as the fragmentation of society, the hardening of public discourse and the intensifying climate debate shine through in his visually stunning production.
Despite these references, Mondtag's over-aesthetised visual language leaves room for Langgaard's multifaceted and dazzling music, in which large sections are purely orchestral: In Rob Fordeyn's choreography, a group of dancers translates Langgaard's composition into a gripping language of movement. In his expressionist stage aesthetic, Mondtag quotes the visual arts of the time when ANTIKRIST was created and at the same time creates a surreal world in which the laws of physics seem to have been suspended. In a late capitalist metropolis, the world threatens to collapse - a car falls from the sky, hellish creatures and horror figures populate the stage, society is put to the test and set against each other. The immensely powerful images of the director, who made his Berlin opera debut with ANTIKRIST 2022, are perfect for Langgaard's end-time mystery in their imaginative exaggeration.
Photo credit: Thomas Aurin