Barocco

The French Revolution of 1968, the shooting of Andy Warhol, the self-immolation of Jan Palach, the second wave of feminism – what do they have in common? And what could they possibly have to do with the distant era of the Baroque? At first glance – nothing. Today, we perceive Baroque music as light, delicate, harmonious – but that’s now. In the 17th century, it was radical avant-garde. It was protest. It broke all the canons of the Renaissance. It rejected the accepted greatness of humankind and reminded us of the fragility and elusiveness of human life.

The term “barocco” originally meant a pearl of irregular shape. The Baroque era was built out of exceptions, out of a thousand flaws, each one making every detail of that age unique.

In his production, Kirill Serebrennikov does not construct speculative parallels between the 17th, 20th, and 21st centuries. But he aligns the passion and fragility of Baroque music with the passion and fragility of people who dared to admit their “wrongness” within the established system at various times. Jan Palach sets himself on fire in protest against the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Soviet troops. French youth take to the barricades, demanding to be seen and heard. Valerie Solanas shoots Warhol, trying to free her mind from his dictate... In essence, all of this is protest – the protest of a lonely, helpless person against the vast machine of society, whose noise drowns out every word, every note, every scream. To be noticed, only gesture remains. Only a vivid act. Because in the midst of noise and darkness, nothing captures attention quite like burning fire.

Premiere on 25th May 2023, THALIA THEATER, Hamburg, Germany