11th Munich Biennale

International Festival of New Music Theatre

In May 1988 Hans Werner Henze opened the first Munich Biennale. In the two decades since the festival of new music theater has established itself internationally, and through cooperations it has been able to also considerably strengthen the sustainability of its influence. The Munich Biennale was and is a venue for experiments and lively discussions. It has helped in the creation of seventy-five music theater works and made their world premieres possible. A proud number of these works found their way afterwards to opera houses in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. The composers came from China, Europe, India, Israel, Japan, and the U.S. The focus and conception of the festival has changed according to the changes in demands, possibilities, and perspectives.
Unfamiliar Closeness, the motto of the Eleventh Munich Biennale, refers to a paradox of modern life. What is far away, what is unfamiliar, and what is well-known in the era of globalization, in the era of unlimited virtual and real mobility? In the interpretation of Enno Poppe and Marcel Beyer, Robinson becomes the quintessence of modern irritation: torn away from the society he came from, he doesn’t want to return to it anymore. Survival in unfamiliar territory provides a more reliable closeness than the consensus that remains unscrutinized. Carola Bauckholt shines a spotlight on our closest proximity, on the world of noises, and she transforms it into an unfamiliar realm that demands a new orientation. The reversal of Unfamiliar Closeness means that when we deal with what is distant, it can take us closer to ourselves than that which has always surrounded us, which is in part matter-of-fact, and in part aggressive. Klaus Lang’s project architecture of rain points to individualization through closeness, which is also part of the musical-scenic concept of Jens Joneleit’s opera Piero – the End of Night.

New for the Eleventh Munich Biennale is a series of concerts sponsored by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation, which compliments and expands the excellent and time-tested cooperation with the Münchner Philharmoniker and the Symphony Orchestra of the Bayerischer Rundfunk. Leading international ensembles of new music create the opportunity to experience new forms and contents of music and music theater in a discursive closeness. The spectrum of the program will be enhanced by world premieres of new commissioned works by Helmut Lachenmann; Brian Ferneyhough; Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf; Sebastian Claren; Márton Illés; and Marco Stroppa.

Peter Ruzicka