Zornfried

In the organizer's words:

Music theater

The masterminds of the New Right gather at Zornfried Castle: A lady of the castle philosophizes in a folkish manner, young groups of men combatively exercise their bodies, and a mysterious poet forges verses dripping with blood, consecration and kitsch. And time and again, links to a growing new party emerge. This also attracts critical journalists, who are eager to accompany the new right-wing cultural center - losing all distance and doing democracy a disservice.

In 2019, Jörg-Uwe Albig wrote Zornfried (UA), one of the "most important books of the year" (FAZ). In the Kassel premiere as an adaptation of the novel, the boundaries between participant observation and observational participation become increasingly blurred: Military sports drills, Wagner and solemn dinner rounds fill the aura of the old Prussian Jägerkaserne around the INTERIM.

Composer Philipp Krebs is an award-winning new voice in music theater and sets out in search of the grotesque horror vision of new German tonality for Zornfried (premiere). In the undercurrent of his advanced sound language with a large orchestra, there is a constant murmur of leitmotifs, national romantic sounds mingle with beer-soaked folk music hits and retro kitsch, and the deep brown abyss lurks beneath an enticing, tongue-in-cheek lightness. Director Kerstin Steeb and conductor Viktor Jugović turn the real-life satire into an expansive new piece of music theater that all too quickly leaves you guiltless.

A commission from the Staatstheater Kassel, funded by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation.