Together with the Kuss Quartet, the ensemble Nico and the Navigators wanted to contribute to the Beethoven year 2020 an extraordinary performance on various european stages: the title was “Force and Freedom”, they wanted «music in the existential tension between external constraints and inner freedom with its indissoluble contrast between explore subjective desires and objective reality in which Beethoven had to move and assert throughout his life. »
The premiere would have taken place on May 1, 2020 as part of the Schwetzingen SWR Festival, further performances were planned at Kissinger Sommer, the Konzerthaus Dortmund, at BOZAR Brussels and Radialsystem Berlin.
On March 18, 2020, rehearsals had to be stop at the Berlin Ufer studios, the premiere on May 1, 2020, together with the entire Schwetzingen Festival, has been canceled and is now postponed to next year.
At the beginning of April, however, an online project was initiated, which is based on the work on Force and Freedom and in addition to the questions asked there, also negotiates the current restrictions on life. In short, fast or meditative clips, which are based on the complete recording of all Beethoven Quartets, individual miniatures of the artists are put together, which as a growing digital diary are small memories such as time capsules or reminiscences of the present situation of social distancing.
“It is a technique beyond the usual streaming: the choice of the pieces and the cut of the scenes put the snapshots in context and develop a whole, a digital staging out of fragments. This method cannot replace the common experience of a physical performance. Rather, the work is an expression of the individual’s longing for each other, which should be preserved as a lasting experience from this crisis. ”
The individual sequences can already be followed on social media. The entire diary you can watch HERE.
At the end of this path there is an extraordinary memory game, which can be put together from a selection of a total of 29 clips. If you find the right solution, you can take part in the raffle of tickets at Schwetzinger Festspiele 2021!