Press reviews

Anyone who loves Beethoven, modern dance and modern theatre was in for a treat this evening. The staged concert ‘Force & Freedom’ impressed the audience. Nico and the Navigators and the Kussquartett showed how Beethoven can be rethought from a contemporary perspective. Their faces are captured by two hidden cameras and projected onto a giant screen behind them, each face looking contemporary yet like an oil painting capturing the beautiful moment. The innovative blend of multiple art forms amplifies the composer’s inner voice and gives new life to the music. The audience was so enthralled by the imagination, drama and sense of humour that the applause went on for a long time. One audience member left the hall saying: ‘I am very excited to have seen such a show in Shanghai.’ The precision of the Germans makes the performances sophisticated and graceful. Literary critic Sun Mengjin remarked that not only did Yui Kawaguchi’s dance conquer the two pieces of musical theatre, but the singers also took over the play. The live images are very carefully set and are sometimes a little reminiscent of the Fassbinder style, the quartet flows through Schubert’s soul. 

The music critic Li Changying is convinced by the avant-garde high-end staging and finds that Schubert’s music offers a great deal of imagination and scope for subsequent generations: ‘Poetry, wandering, phantoms, death, loneliness, confusion and love’. The evening seems to show Schubert’s inner heart, but in reality it also epitomises the mood of modern society.

The impact of the two pieces with live image transmissions quickly spread by word of mouth. On both evenings, the artists demonstrated how technology can skilfully combine with live music in a way that can be expected in the 21st century. ‘This is the best performance I’ve seen in the last few years,’ commented audience members on social media. The vision and courage of the Shanghai Concert Hall is the pride of Shanghai. The audience is shown a definition of how to break boundaries and what a fusion innovation can look like in this world – what the diverse skills of an artist can be today.

I can’t describe exactly what I experienced, but I was shocked. It triggered something, like a seed that is planted deep inside us until it takes root to become a tree that reaches up to the sky. This entire production is a modern multi-sensory expression of classical music. Extreme image charm: These are the best real-time images I have ever seen. They form an ultra-intense clarity of perfect perspectives and light combinations. The images look like baroque paintings. The beautiful voices and strong lyrics were particularly impressive. In scenes such as ‘Meine Ruh ist hin …’, there is a group of people hurrying around the singer in a disorganised manner. I particularly like the charming Syrian girl with her curly hair, deep eyes and natural movements. The quartet’s music is a treat for the ears. Just as Schubert’s songs tell of wandering, separation, alienation and eternal loneliness, the artists, who come from many different countries, tell these themes including dialectical thoughts.

Franz Schubert as I – and other classical music fans – have never experienced him on stage before. As I tend to be a conservative classical music listener, I was a little afraid of too much deconstruction of these works. But this evening was fresh, fun and satisfied all my needs of listening to classical music. The evening filtered and amplified Schubert’s songs and music through its physical and visual performance. Music needs only one sense. By adding the visual senses, this habitual perception of the acoustic experience is expanded and completed. The facial expressions of the faces attracted me the most: Roland Barthes once said ‘The face represents an absolute state of the body that can neither be maintained nor overplayed’. This is not to be confused with personal or physical expression. The faces of the singers and actors were directed at the audience with their close-ups. Muscle changes, mouth movements and emotions in the eyes were clearly recognisable. This forced me to take part in the process that is brought about by singing. It was full of wonder and surprise. The clothes signalled people passing through, probably because ‘Die Winterreise’ made up a large part of the evening. 

The warm clothes and scarves suggested that the warmth of the body is confronted with a cold outside world, which created a special tension in the scene space. Hurried people wandering back and forth and large intimate portraits create an atmosphere of anxiety or tranquillity, sometimes there is a smile at the situations. The remarkable dancer Yui Kawaguchi made you feel like she was dancing on the keys of the piano. There are also feet that wander somewhat bizarrely into faces. But the irony also seems important, because these images allow the head and body to become one. The quartet, the piano and the guitar were excellent, ‘Death and the Maiden’ had a marvellous ending. By the end, one is almost exhausted from so much sensory impression. All in all, a great performance and a wonderful experience for the audience. There was also enough room for your own empty spaces and fantasies.

The Asian premiere presented new heights of cross-border artistic expression. Live images of singing, acting, body and text form a clear, rich and groundbreakingly dramatic picture for each art song. The sensory experience achieved through real-time video transmission is powerful! The perspective, shots and texture are at the level of an art film. The transmissions give the viewer a view of global images of alienation. The pale faces look the viewer directly in the face live and make them feel the breath, hair and facial expressions intensely. Nietzsche quotes in the transitions create a powerful poetry. Just as Schubert portrayed the romantic connotation within the framework of classical music, this contemporary avant-garde production is based on strong performance, rigorous architecture and a deeply philosophical core. The audience in the Shanghai Concert Hall was thrilled!

An approach to Schubert and Beethoven in a new way. These two Asian premieres received high-calibre reviews from music experts and fans. Music critic Li Changying commented: ‘This avant-garde collaboration of outstanding artists is extremely forward-looking and first-class. It leaves an amazing space for the imagination and creativity of Schubert’s music for posterity. Poetry, wandering, phantoms, death, loneliness, confusion, love … At first glance, it may express what is going on inside Schubert, but it also reflects the mood of modern society and offers a deeper reflection and contemporary interpretation of his lyrics and moods.’ On social platforms, audience members expressed their thoughts: ‘The performance of the Berlin music theatre ensemble “Nico and the Navigators” was the best I have seen in Shanghai in the past two years.’

I can’t describe exactly what I experienced, but I was shocked. It triggered something, like a seed that is planted deep inside us until it takes root to become a tree that reaches up to the sky. This entire production is a modern multi-sensory expression of classical music. Extreme image charm: These are the best real-time images I have ever seen. They form an ultra-intense clarity of perfect perspectives and light combinations. The images look like baroque paintings. The beautiful voices and strong lyrics were particularly impressive. In scenes such as ‘Meine Ruh ist hin …’, there is a group of people hurrying around the singer in a disorganised manner. I particularly like the charming Syrian girl with her curly hair, deep eyes and natural movements. The quartet’s music is a treat for the ears. Just as Schubert’s songs tell of wandering, separation, alienation and eternal loneliness, the artists, who come from many different countries, tell these themes including dialectical thoughts.