One of the greatest pleasures for anyone who attends performing arts events is to watch a performance with little – or even no – prior knowledge of what they are about to see, and leave the venue astonished, surprised, filled with admiration and emotion for the artistic event that unfolded before their eyes. This is exactly what happened with “Proprietà Privata” (Private Property), which was presented in Berlin for only two days, on April 3 and 4, Good Friday and Holy Saturday for Germans.
The easily verifiable facts are that this is a mixed spectacle subtitled “God’s influencers are coming,” which includes excerpts from Bach’s “St Matthew Passion,” Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s unfinished “Christus,” and the rarely performed oratorio “Fiery Tongues” by our own Yiannis Christou. In the latter, we also heard two “our own” artists, mezzo-soprano Martha Sotiriou and baritone Stefanos Tsirakoglou. In addition to the actors from the theatrical part of the performance, the Berlin Chamber Orchestra played under the direction of Kai-Uwe Jirka, and three (3!) choirs participated.
Christian Philipps’ work is nothing short of overwhelming: it does not hesitate to address issues ranging from theological, philosophical, and political matters, to the impending privatization of the Volksbühne, prompted by an attempt by a group of artists to stage a performance based on the Passion of Christ.
It is impossible not to wonder about the tolerance of Greek society compared to how such a spectacle is received in Germany or most other European countries. Even more so – and prompted by the recent incidents outside the Church of the Twelve Apostles in Thessaloniki concerning a concert organized there, on the very same day – Friday, April 3 – that “Proprietà Privata” premiered: why is tolerance required for an artistic event to take place? In Thessaloniki, it was simply an event where a soprano sang religious hymns – and with the Metropolis as co-organizer, no less. Pasolini would have much to say about this… In Berlin, on Good Friday itself, we saw a woman in the role of the Crucified on stage, as well as various other daring elements, such as the correlation of political events with the Divine Passion and other scenes with connotations that did not hesitate to cross boundaries. And yet, none of the very numerous audience members – as the event was sold out, as we say in my village in Mani – felt their religious sentiments offended or were overcome by righteous indignation. On the contrary, the applause was spontaneous, enthusiastic, and repeated.
What captivates in this mixed theatrical-musical performance is both its scale and its perfection – let’s not forget that this is a spectacle intended to be presented for only two evenings. Excellent dramaturgy with thought, boldness, and structure, imposing set design on two or three levels, and most importantly: impeccable musical execution. The success begins with the concept: combining excerpts from Bach and Mendelssohn with Yiannis Christou’s oratorio for Pentecost carries the obvious risk of remaining at the level of an ill-matched, almost random coexistence based solely on a thematic axis. And yet: the result was structured, with careful sound dramaturgy that effortlessly traversed the time separating the three creators and offered the fortunate listeners a truly meaningful musical experience. The combination of an educated audience, who have attended concerts from a young age, with orchestras and choirs that know their audience and possess a level corresponding to its demands, was also ideal. Without any desire for grumbling or envy, there is much to learn from this relationship between artists and audiences to fundamentally change the domestic equivalent experience.
After the performance, I spoke with baritone Stefanos Tsirakidis, and he briefly recounted his journey: from Greece to the United States, and from there to Germany since 2012, ending up in Berlin a year ago. The adventure of a Greek freelance opera singer. There are many such interesting, fascinating stories of our artists. It is worth learning about them.
