Press

” … The prelude for a rousing evening is given: … The ensemble sings and dances as if in a frenzy and in between reflects on good and evil. As if they were possessed by the devil, singers, dancers and actors outdo each other … Evil seduces … Nico and the Navigators lead the audience through the abyss of the soul and make it clear: the devil is all of us. The premiere audience enjoys this parade of evil and applauds enthusiastically.” 

“Even if the traditions provide a rough picture of how and who this Beethoven might have been, the fragmentary and the associative seem to be the most suitable means of approaching the familiar stranger. […] 

Yui Kawaguchi of the ensemble Nico and the Navigators lends the reflections that revolve around Beethoven and his time the depth dimension that consciousness cannot grasp. The expressive and not infrequently acrobatic choreographies of the Japanese dancer interpret Beethoven’s music as if it were a mirror of mental conditions. […] Is the human being nothing or everything? […]”

“Alternately, the audience heard excerpts from Beethoven’s string quartets and adaptations of song fragments by the composer. […] In combination with dance, songs and quotations, Beethoven’s string quartets appeared in a new light. […] The breathtaking movements of the dancer Kawaguchi made clear the ambivalence of the feelings inherent in the music. Despair, hope, lightness and melancholy alternated in short intervals. […] The crowning finale of the performance, the “Great Fugue” Opus 133, in which Beethoven repeatedly explodes the firmly established system of the fugue, was also in keeping with this. The audience was enthusiastic.” 

“A stunning round dance spreads out during the 90 electrifying minutes…. Go and see this play. It makes you devilishly happy!”