Die 5. Jahreszeit #1 Ouvertüre

The performances are on a loop / Audience members are welcome at any time (open to the public)

With double bass and electronics, two soprano voices, viola da gamba, choir, electric bass, keyboard instruments, and sampled violin sounds from a (real!) member of the Berlin Philharmonic, Novoflot offers a fresh perspective on Antonio Vivaldi’s timeless classic “The Four Seasons,” composed 300 years ago. Amid the turmoil of contemporary world events, teeming with countless question marks, the SeasonsNovoflot’s “Seasons” ensemble investigates rumors that the scores of Vivaldi’s four violin concertos might conceal a secret code for a life-changing FIFTH season—one that has yet to be discovered in this form.

Vocals: Rosemary Hardy and Peyee Chen; Keyboards: Antonis Anissegos, Jacopo Salvatori, and Vicente Larrañaga ; Viola da gamba, double bass, electric bass, and vocals: Chris Dahlgren; Violin: Álvaro Parra; Choir: Girls’ Choir of the Singakademie zu Berlin

THE 5TH SEASON by Novoflot
A music theater festival for Cologne, October 2–6, 2026

It is the latest passion project of the Berlin opera company Novoflot: the examination and potential reformulation of the European concept of carnival. While the “Fifth Season” was originally an unrestrained festival of the people, during which the oppressed were allowed to express their opinions about those in power with impunity, this premise seems rather obsolete in the year 2026. What good are a few great days in the face of 100 million digital expressions of opinion per second, 365 days a year? Who cares about carnival speeches and satirical sculptures on parade floats when you can make fun of others at any time and more publicly than ever before without having to fear serious consequences? Voilà. So how could Rose Monday and the like be breathed new life into?

Perhaps like this: the “5th Season” becomes an ecstatic celebration of taking a moment to pause, an official and grand stage for innovative ideas that provide meaningful and respectful forms of social coexistence! Novoflot, in any case, is getting right down to business: following the premieres of musical theater productions for the “Fifth Season” in Zurich, Athens, and Berlin (including the proclamation of the First Berlin Carnival Stronghold!), the focus is now on several days of fundamental artistic research in Cologne! The experiments are heading in very different directions: while wondrous “Magic Societies” gather at the Philharmonie for the polyphonic “First Fat Tuesday in Cologne” and subsequently witness an unprecedented philharmonic carnival hypnosis, countless carnival sleepwalkers are roaming public spaces—and along the way, they’ll also stumble upon the “First and Only Cologne Open-Air Lenten Cinema” with Dolby Stereo sound! A festival program that brings the wide range of possible new interpretations of the “fifth season” to life for your eyes and ears! This is made possible with the participation of over 100 musicians from the Cologne Youth Wind Orchestra and the Ensemble ColLab, as well as solo musicians, dancers, and performers from the cathedral city, composers Michael Wertmüller (Switzerland), Antonis Anissegos (Greece), Jacopo Salvatori (Italy), British soprano Rosemary Hardy, and the international team from Novoflot!

Direction and Concept: Sven Holm; Musical Direction: Vicente Larrañaga; Dramaturgy and Concept: Malte Ubenauf; Costumes: RegineStandfuss; Set Design: Julia Kawka;Video: Mirko Borscht; Lighting: Luca Soujon and Joachim Hupfer; Sound: Daniel Körner; Management: Dörte Wolter; Production Management: Axel Lambrette and Rania Mavriki; Press / Public Relations: Tom Müller-Heuser