10.05.25
19:30 - 21:00Kühlhaus Berlin, KUBUS
Luckenwalder Strasse 3, 10963 Berlin – U-Bhf. Gleisdreieck
Admission from 18:30h
RUSSIA : TODAY in London, Kings Place
EXAUDI, vocal ensemble
Into the Open Season 24/25 presents RUSSIA : TODAY, a work of documentary opera by composer Eugene Birman. It synthesizes requiem as a form and verbatim as a method in an attempt to discover, understand, and reflect on what contemporary Russia is like.
The work explores the phenomenon of voice as an instrument and means of expression, both in musical and social realms.
Duration: 60 mins
“hour-long immersion in the complexities and contradictions of contemporary Russia.” (Andrew Jack, Financial Times).
The point of departure of RUSSIA : TODAY is the dichotomy between the mutually biased political portrayals of Russia and the West in the media, and the composer’s own complex sense of identity. Assembled from hundreds of anonymous recordings of Russians who testify of the meaning of what Russia was, is, and might become, and paired with a haunting film created specifically for the project by the Russian experimental filmmaker Alexandra Karelina, Russia : Today could be classified as a performative reenactment of the extinction (and possible, one-time resurrection) of the Russian soul at the hands of Russian politics.
Hence, the work’s framing as a Russian Orthodox requiem, and its sound-world rooted deeply in the ancient modes and rituals of the church, reflect a strange coming-together of the wordly and the spiritual. The sounds of bells, of burning (alluding both to environmental destruction and the purification of the soul), collide with images of cities and nature, of fear, despair, and the very occasional hope, spoken and sung verbatim from the crowdsourced contributions in four languages.
In the context of the Russian war crimes in Ukraine, the work sings more loudly than ever, giving audiences a truly rare insight into the Russian state of mind in the fragile pre-war period in which it was conceived - as the Financial Times put it, one hears the “little-heard and suppressed but often premonitory private thoughts, which mix pride and insecurity, victimhood and impotence”.
Kühlhaus, Kubus
Kubus stage
The Kühlhaus Berlin is an industrial monument located in the heart of Berlin in the immediate vicinity of Potsdamer Platz, right next to the Technical Museum Berlin. Built at the turn of the century in 1900, it is now a universal cultural centre that hosts a wide variety of events throughout the year, from readings and concerts to fashion fairs and food markets. The Kühlhaus, with its 6 floors and the Kubus in the middle, provides the ideal setting for our festival and a place where experimentation and reflection are virtually forced upon us. The Kubus makes a wide variety of event formats possible; the musicians can play from hidden galleries, position themselves in the middle like at a boxing match or perform over several floors.
Into the Open (ITO) is the music festival of the new generation. It connects - across national borders and genres. It brings together people who love classical music and want to experience it in a new way. And it connects different art forms. Outstanding young musicians from all over the world present classical music together with artists from other genres such as dance, theatre or visual arts. The result is a unique experience...!
The concert is part of Into the Open Season 24/25 and will take place in the KUBUS of Kühlhaus Berlin.
