»Rote Messe«

Rote Messe

Premiered in 2024, the »Rote Messe« (»Red Mass«) project is part of Rundfunkchor Berlin’s acclaimed series of interdisciplinary productions. Director Anna-Sophie Mahler and principal conductor Gijs Leenaars craft a narrative of societal upheaval through imagery, staging and music.

Rossini’s late »Petite messe solennelle« is a curious work: a sacred mass – liturgical in form and rooted in Christian tradition – yet scored with an unexpectedly intimate instrumentation. At times fragile, at times operatic, it oscillates between theatrical grandeur and understated devotion. As director Anna-Sophie Mahler puts it: »The fact that Jesus is nailed to the cross sometimes gets lost in a cheerful aria.« Form and content, she suggests, begin to pull apart.

In the raw, atmospheric space of the former power station – now repurposed as a cultural venue – Mahler takes Rossini’s »little mass« as a point of departure and dismantles it. She renders it permeable, confronting it with what society often keeps at bay to protect privilege and preserve its rituals undisturbed. The mass is interwoven with other works, including Arnold Schoenberg’s »Pierrot lunaire« and Luigi Dallapiccola’s »Canti di prigionia«. Tensions arise. New forms emerge. Forms that speak to our present moment. When the here and now – our own time and place – are taken seriously, says Mahler, »the music becomes audible again«, in a new and different way.”

Mahler stages a decadent feast with the choir – an indulgent celebration that is suddenly and literally disrupted by the eerie figure of Pierrot Lunaire. What unfolds is a parable of our times: a society facing disruption, its long-held privileges under threat, teetering on the edge of transformation. The audience is not just witness but part of the experience – the space itself becomes both stage and auditorium.

Gallery

Rundfunkchor Berlin, "Rote Messe", Regie: Anna Sophie Mahler, Dirigent: Gijs Leenaars, Ausstattung: Katrin Connan, Rundfunkchor Berlin, Sheridan Ensemble Mit: Victoria Randem, Anna-Doris Capitelli, Oreste Cosimo, Emanuele Cordaro, Ruth Rosenfeld. Premiere am 25. Mai 2024 in der MaHalla Berlin