Vi­en­na Sound Fo­rum

The Orpheus myth was at the beginning of opera history 425 years ago, and it also served composer-in-residence Beat Furrer as a starting point for innovative musical theater. Desire does not simply tell a story, but condenses the ancient material into ten haunting sound images and assembles texts by Ovid and Virgil, Cesare Pavese, Günter Eich and Hermann Broch. Starting from the tragic moment when Orpheus looks back at his beloved Eurydice and thereby loses her forever, Furrer explores the relationship drama between two archetypal figures ("He" and "She"): It's about closeness and distance, desire and the impossibility of meeting, searching and remembering. And it's about the transitions between singing, speaking and instrumental sounds. First performed twenty years ago at the opening of the cultural capital of Graz and replayed in many places since then, Begehren has finally arrived in Switzerland - with the formidable Klangforum Wien and the composer at the conductor's podium.