Novoflot: The 5th Season #4 - NO NAME (GOD)
7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. (flexible entry)
After stops in Berlin, Zurich, and Athens, Novoflot returns to its hometown with its multi-part project “The 5th Season” and, there, explores ways to reinvent the concept of Carnival in an unusual setting: St. Elisabeth Church. German premiere by Michael Wertmüller.
With *NO NAME (GOD)*, the independent opera company Novoflot and composer Michael Wertmüller explore previously undiscovered potentials of togetherness and discover them in the ancient quests and journeys of pilgrimage. Contemplation, insight, and euphoria are the three central categories through which the Berlin opera company seeks to conceptualize pilgrimage as a specific form of musical theater.
In “No Name (God),” audience members are invited on an unusual pilgrimage within St. Elisabeth Church. Moving from very intimate, chamber-music-like staged scenes, the space repeatedly opens up. The audience thus experiences a series of diverse musical and scenic elements and connections, spanning a broad spectrum from Wertmüller’s compositions and Baroque and Renaissance fragments to contributions by special musical guests (SpreeEnsemble and BERLiN SAZ Evi).
Without a dramatic beginning or a clearly defined end, the production is open for free exploration; it invites visitors to linger and offers the opportunity to discover new elements with every visit, embarking on an “eternal” pilgrimage.
Performers: includinga. Franziska Gross, soprano | Ichi Go, dance | Nils Wogram, trombone | Hayden Chisholm, saxophone | Andi Schnellman, bass | Emilio Guim, guitar | David Meier, drums | Jacopo Salvatori, keyboards | SpreeBlech, Brass Ensemble I BERLiN SAZ EVi, choir, and Turkish instrumental ensemble
Composition: Michael Wertmüller | Direction, Concept: Sven Holm | Musical Direction: Vicente Larrañaga | Costumes: Regine Standfuss | Set Design: Flóra Kruppa | Video Design: Mirko Borscht | Dramaturgy, Concept: Malte Ubenauf| Company Management: Dörte Wolter | Technical Production Manager: Axel Lambrette | Production Manager: Rania Mavriki
About Novoflot
Novoflot is an independent opera company based in Berlin. It was founded in 2002 by director Sven Holm, conductor Vicente Larrañaga, and performance artist and dramaturg Sebastian Bark. Since 2002, the company has produced more than 50 experimental opera productions. In 2014, Novoflot was awarded the George Tabori Prize. In 2018, the book “Novoflot – The 15th Season” was published by Theater der Zeit. Novoflot receives a four-year conceptual grant from the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe.
With “The 5th Season,” Novoflot is developing a musical-theatrical exegesis of international carnival cultures. Carnival is a vehicle for otherworldly contributions to discourse, allowing us to express ourselves beyond conventional rhetoric and, through masks and costumes, to let today’s laughter give way to tomorrow’s reflection. The focal points of our carnival research are various music theater camps where our different ensembles come together. In times of international crises, the “fifth season” becomes an artistic voice; it offers opportunities to leave paralysis and speechlessness behind and to develop encouraging and courageous forms of expression through musical theater discourse. It is complicated to express oneself politically. Working together is even more difficult. This is a first attempt. The season will continue with stops at the Greek National Opera in Athens, the Citykirche in Zurich, and the Cologne Philharmonic Hall, before the musical theater carnival celebration reaches its provisional finale in Berlin at the end of 2026. Further information on the production “The 5th Season”: https://novoflot.de/de/produktionen/die-5.-jahreszeit/
Michael Wertmüller
Michael Wertmüller, born in 1966 in Thun, Switzerland, graduated from the Swiss Jazz School and studied composition at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam and with Dieter Schnebel in Berlin, where he has lived for 15 years. As a drummer, he played in the Bern Symphony Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, and with the jazz-core band Alboth!. On his concert tours, he has collaborated with musicians such as John Cale, William Parker, Bill Laswell, Ken Vandermark, Jim O’Rourke, Holger Czukay, Yoshihide Otomo, Jaki Liebezeit, and Blixa Bargeld. Wertmüller has composed numerous pieces for various ensembles; his works have been premiered at events including the Donaueschingen Music Festival (“Sketches and Ballads”), MaerzMusik, Musica Viva, and the Lucerne Festival. He has been collaborating continuously with the opera company NOVOFLOT since 2011.
Tickets: €20, reduced €15 plus advance booking fees; available online via Eventim and at the box office.
Organizers: Novoflot & Citykirche Offener St. Jakob Zurich in cooperation with Kultur Büro Elisabeth
Funding: Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion, City of Zurich, Ernst Göhner Foundation, Canton of Zurich, Fondation Suisa
Photo ©Falko Siewert