Studio Dan

When Manos Tsangaris composes, it’s not just sounds and words that find new forms, but also spaces and the audience itself. The composer, percussionist, artist, and poet, born in Düsseldorf in 1956 (recently awarded the Mauricio Kagel Music Prize and elected President of the Berlin Academy of Arts), brings together his exploration of Arnold Schoenberg in a large, new, and immersive work at Wien Modern.

"Blicke," as its subtitle describes, is a "station theater for voices, performers, ensemble, light, and a freely wandering audience," experienced as an "individual journey through six performance locations and a bar." The ensemble—comprising actors, singers, and musicians from Studio Dan—spreads across six stations in and around the Secession: the freight elevator outside, a small hidden chamber in the basement, the foyer and exhibition space on the ground floor, above the glass roof of the exhibition hall, and the upstairs library. The audience is free to move between the continuously active stations, though the library has a set entry point, beginning, and end to its segment of the performance, which lasts only a few minutes.

In terms of content, "Blicke" reflects on the relationship between Arnold and Mathilde during and after the personal catastrophe that unfolds spatially in "Schönes Wetter in Gmunden". It also engages with Schoenberg's lifelong fascination with eyes and gazes, evident in his many self-portraits. The audience can explore the space from up close or afar, looking across the room and the street, discovering new details from all angles.

Studio Dan:

Thomas Frey - Flute
Doris Nicoletti - Flute
Theresa Dinkhauser - Clarinet
Julia Schreitl - Saxophone
Matthew Smith - Bassoon
Dominik Fuss - Trumpet
Daniel Riegler - Trombone
Jacobo Hernandes Enriquez - Violin
Flora Geißelbrecht - Viola
Cornelia Burghardt - Cello
Manuel Mayr - Double Bass, E-Bass
Michael Tiefenbacher - Piano
Hubert Bründlmayer - Drums