XVI Berlin, 2009

Orchestra has to be the protagonist of this opera, that invisible, incomprehendable power, which predominated in the Soviet Union, and whom we really were not capable of recognising. The power, which poured out from a labyrinth of hierarchy, coerced people to act in a certain way: insecurely, cowardly, sometimes heroically, very often with a good sense of humour – but was impossible to personalise.

The orchestra dwells in the bottom of this pit. I decide to use only certain colours in the orchestration. Colours, which pass the angles, which sound has to swerve on its way from the pit to the audience. I think of the darkness of the theatre. Darkness, which is a companion of that opera, a hidden orchestra, which with all its power pushes the singers to act in a certain way.

There’s a big amount of risk in this, but I decide to act upon this.