KONTRAKLANG presents the world premiere of the music theatre O’ Karakino by Uday Krishnakumar. In his works, the Berlin based composer often makes social processes, social customs and their developments the material of his music. For O’ Karakino, he decided to invent an »art music tradition« on his own from scratch, such as it might exist somewhere in the Mediterranean region: complete with work songs and an array of individuel vocal and instrumental techniques.
The two main scenes of the piece seem strangely familiar and irritating at the same time – a fisherman is repairing his boat on the shore and is plagued by strange visions, a shepherdess has lost her way in a cave and is conversing there with a distorted echo. Tableaus such as these are widely known from many different narratives and stories, yet in O’ Karakino they appear and resound as if from a completely unfamiliar place.
With great musical imaginative power, the piece thus deals not only with questions of (historical) authenticity, but also with the identity-forming moments of supposedly securely handed-down narratives. In this play, the question of what is historically correct and what is not becomes increasingly less important. The Spanish percussionist and singer Juanjo Guillem plays the role of the fisherman, the soprano Andrea Conanglan embodies the shepherdess. The brass Ensemble Apparat from Berlin and the Aleph guitar quartet bring the musical illusion to life.
KONTRAKLANG presents: O’ Karakino musical theatre premiere by Uday Krishnakumar
with Juanjo Guillem, Andrea Conangla, Ensemble Apparat and Aleph Gitarrenquartett
22.8.2021 | Doors 19:00 CET | Starts 20:00 CET
St. Elisabeth Kirche | Invalidenstraße 4 in 10115 Berlin-Mitte
kontraklang.de | Event @ Facebook | Tickets
