Brilliant in dance and music

It was a special musical and dance experience that the visitors of the St. John's Church in Gmünd were able to experience on Friday evening. Not only the choir and the nave became the stage, but all the galleries as well. The dance performance "Cantatatanz" by "Nico and the Navigators" to music by Johann Sebastian Bach was a first-class listening and viewing pleasure. The full St. John's Church thanked the audience with huge applause. The Romanesque interior of St. John's Church was the ideal setting to combine baroque Bach music with contemporary dance and song. The wonderful acoustics made the impressive voice of countertenor Terry Wey an unforgettable vocal performance. His full-toned falsetto did not waver throughout the concert and was admirable. Combined with the expressive dance art of a Yui Kawaguchi, an overarching total work of art of the first class was offered. Vocal power and precision were paired with impressive body control, which ideally translated the musical guidelines into danced movement. Kawaguchi has an excellent understanding of how to interpret music as a game of movement and dance. Her dance is not only an expression of a musical feeling, her body itself is a played instrument. Three musicians accompany countertenor and dancer. Mayumi Hirasaki masterfully on the violin, congenially Jakob David Rattinger on the viola da gamba. Eugène Michelangeli on the organ and harpsichord provides a sacred feeling of the mass in tones. Hirasaki does not simply play the violin; her incredibly varied playing on an incredibly versatile instrument opens up new listening dimensions and spellbinds her listeners to their seats. It is true for Rattinger that he not only masters the, viola da gamba technically impeccably, but also knows how to convey intensely felt musical life. Bringing the sound of old instruments to life, Michelangeli masters brilliantly. His harpsichord playing transports him to the epoch and emotional world of the baroque composer Bach, as does his virtuoso organ playing. Equally impressive is how the ensemble grasps the sacred space of St. John's Church, transforms it for its own purposes - and makes optimal use of its possibilities in terms of staging. Oliver Proske was responsible for the spatial conception and the sparingly but effectively used props. Nicola Hümpel was responsible for the overall performance.

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