MEDIATHEK

DieOrdnungDerDinge (the order of things) is a Berlin-based ensemble integrated by actor-musicians, specialised in developing staged concerts out of a highly visual and performative musical repertoire. The stage work with this inherently theatrical repertoire allows for the creation of a hybrid form between performance and concert: the pieces are seamlessly integrated with theatrical transitions that highlight ideas present in them, or enable atmospheres necessary for the works to come; the musicians turn into “characters” leading the public in and out of the different worlds; in short, the “classical” separation of the senses in the concert situation is dissolved, giving way to a integration of all parts involved, out of which something new can emerge. 

// In “If you know what I mean” the ensemble explores the fascinating world of translation, both in its text-related sense (in the stage work) as well as in an audiovisual meaning: the works used as basis for the piece use different sorts of translations between acoustic, visual or narrative/emotional layers: e.g., Chen, in adagio, aims to translate the emotional content of a Bruckner symphony fragment through a detailed facialemotional choreography entrusted to four performers (hearing the piece through headphones); Giner-Miranda's enlightened transforms musical performance into an audiovisual event in itself, by placing small LED lights on a violinist's arms and having her play in the dark; Steen-Andersen wonders whether a piece for cello remains the same piece when we transpose its movements onto a different instrument in next to beside besides, effectively a series of choreographic translations. All through the piece, these seemingly straightforward transpositions yield new, unexpected results, raising, with a touch of lightness and a keen sense of humour, the question of whether translation is actually possible at all, and to what extent do our own expectations and experiences play a role in this seemingly objective process. 

// Programme: Irene Galindo, Ein Augenblick (2009), on a video by Telemach Wiesinger / Steen-Andersen, Next to beside besides (2004-2007), Versions for cello, violin, flute and snare drum / Iñigo Giner-Miranda, enlightened (2013), for violin and LEDs / Ana M. Rodríguez, Les miroirs, (premiere) for violin, cello and video / Carolyn Chen, Adagio (2009), for four performers listening to a fragment of Bruckner's 7. Symphony / Cathy van Eck, 412 Meter laufen (premiere), for walking performer