»Urlicht Primal Light« – Gustav Mahler goes Circus

Musicbanda Franui, the Austrian ensemble known for its blend of chamber music and brass band, encounters the Australian circus company Circa: it unites the love of music by Gustav Mahler and a talent for poetic productions. In »Urlicht Primal Light«, people fly almost weightlessly above the stage and move in graceful choreographies. Franui also discovers new facets in songs by Mahler.

»What Franui achieves with Mahler, Circa achieves with circus – re-composing from tradition, respectful yet innovative, in search of new kinds of poetry. Together we create a symphony of bodies and music in Urlicht Primal Light,« says Yaron Lifschitz, artistic director of Circa. For 20 years, his company has thrilled audiences around the world with exhilarating shows, often set to classical music.

Musicbanda Franui brings its »Mahler Songs« to the project. The ensemble hails from a small Austrian village near Mahler’s last summer retreat. In the idyllic Alpine landscape where many of the composer’s works were written, the musicians feel a close connection to him. With their distinctive sound blending brass, strings and plucked instruments like harp, zither and hammered dulcimer, they reinterpret a selection of Mahler’s songs – without vocals, but with great joy in »their ever-surprising twists and the coexistence of sacred gravity and earthly laughter,« as Andreas Schett of Franui puts it.

PERFORMERS

Circa circus company

Musicbanda Franui ensemble

Yaron Lifschitz stage direction, lights

Andreas Schett musical director, composition

Markus Kraler musical arrangement, composition

Mark Middleton lights

Libby McDonnell costume design

PROGRAM

»Urlicht Primal Light«

Gustav Mahler goes Circus