NICO AND THE NAVIGATORS: Flesh & Spirit

"Be careful that your hearts are not weighed down with gluttony and drunkenness..."

A woman sits at the front of the stage, speaking more than she sings. Her tousled blonde hair covers her face. A sombre mood, muted colours, violet, mustard yellow, brown, dusky pink. A drift into other times, war, plague, and yet the need for spiritual deepening. That's why there are books everywhere, books on the shelves at the back of the stage. In contrast to this is the unconditional desire for direct life. Nicola Hümpel, director and head of NICO AND THE NAVIGATORS, combines the music of Heinrich Schütz and some of his contemporaries with contemporary sounds, dance, and lots and lots of action in "Fleisch & Geist" (Flesh & Spirit). Exuberant like baroque fireworks, but always close to the abyss...
Frauke Thiele | rbb Kulturradio

In 2022, on the 350th anniversary of Heinrich Schütz's death, NICO AND THE NAVIGATORS dedicated themselves to the work of the early Baroque composer, who received his musical training in Kassel before studying the Italian style in Venice. For decades, he shaped musical life in Dresden as court kapellmeister before retiring to Weißenfels. By then, he had already achieved European significance with his madrigals and motets, his Symphoniae Sacrae and Passions.

The scenic project "Fleisch und Geist" (Flesh and Spirit) explores the inner and outer coordinates of his art, heavenly faith and earthly desires, and the contemporary resonance of such an attitude. At the end of the Gutenberg galaxy, the book cosmos from whose words Schütz and his contemporaries drew their spiritual and secular works is once again being measured.

The historically informed performance practice serves not as the unshakeable pedestal of a monument, but as a vibrant platform for the revival of the artist in his and our sound worlds, which meet on equal terms in different forms of performance—music, dance, song, language.

Cast "Fleisch & Geist"
Artistic director: Nicola Hümpel
Musical director: Elfa Rún Kristinsdóttir
Stage design: Oliver Proske
Dramaturgy: Andreas Hillger

By and with:
Baroque violin: Elfa Rún Kristinsdóttir
Guitars & lute: Daniel Seminara
Recorder & baroque violin: Kerstin Fahr
Viola da gamba & violone: Alon Portal
Percussion & synthesizer: Philipp Kullen
Soprano: Peyee Chen
Mezzo-soprano: Ekaterina Bazhanova
Baritone: André Morsch
Dance & breakdance: Choreography, Florian Graul
Dance & choreography: Martin Buczko
Dance & choreography: Yui Kawaguchi

Costumes: Nicola Hümpel, Marie Akoury
Costume Assistant: Meret Zürcher
Lighting: Leroy Nikolas von Bergen
Sound: Sebastian Reuter
Set Design Assistant: Sonja Winkler, Lara Scheuermann
Artistic Collaboration: Wolke Mišewitch
Production: Talea Nuxoll, Franziska K. Huhn, Leonie Schirra

Tickets:
Category A: €24.00, Category B: €18.00, reduced €12.00
online via eventim. Remaining tickets available at the box office.
(Tickets available at all eventim network advance sales outlets / order hotline: + 49 (0) 1806-570070 (€0.20/call incl. VAT from landlines, max. €0.60/call incl. VAT from mobile networks) available Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.).

Further information on ticket prices can be found here: Service/Tickets

Further information at: navigators.de or: Tel +49 (0)30 - 473 78 138

A co-production by Nico and the Navigators, Heinrich Schütz Music Festival | SCHÜTZ22, Kassel Music Days, Kassel State Theater, and Theater Altenburg Gera. Funded by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion. In cooperation with Kultur Büro Elisabeth.

Trailer: Nico and the Navigators on the Vimeo page of Fleisch & Geist

Photo © Piet Truhlar