After an enthusiastic welcome by the French audience at its avant-première on 4 April in the packed UNESCO hall in Paris, the film Mystery 14 HUMAN REQUIEM IN ELEUSIS by French director Stephan Talneau will have its world premiere, in the presence of its creators, at Cine Eleusis on Saturday 27 April, while one day later, on Sunday 28 April, it will be presented at the Athens Concert Hall. A special depiction of the homonymous performance, directed by Jochen Sandig and choreographed by Sasha Waltz, which took place in the framework of 2023 Eleusis, in autumn 2023, at the archaeological site of Elefsina, with the participation of the 65-member Berlin Radio Choir (Rundfunkchor Berlin). Afterwards, a discussion with the creators will be held. Admission is free with pre-booking here.
Mystery 14 HUMAN REQUIEM IN ELEUSIS is a transcendental musical creation-contemplation designed specifically for the archaeological site of Elefsina, attempting to raise the same existential questions that the famous Eleusinian Mysteries have posed for almost two millennia. The ancient sanctuary of Elefsina is transformed into an open public space of collective catharsis, where text and body, space and sound are fused into a single work of art. This is not a mass for the dead, but rather a rite celebrating life: a memento mori (remember you must die) being transformed into carpe diem (seize the day). An experience of collective catharsis rooted in the recognition that mortality unites all human beings in a common fate. Based on Johannes Brahms’ composition “A German Requiem”, the film also involves the participation of one of the world’s finest choral ensembles, the Berlin Radio Choir (Rundfunkchor Berlin) under the direction of Gijs Leenaars, where each of the singers fills the space with their voices as soloists: soprano Marlis Petersen, baritone Benjamin Appl, Angela Gassenhuber and Philip Mayers at the piano, as well as soloists from the dance group Sasha Waltz & Guests. The performance has toured around the world, from New York to Hong Kong, Berlin and Athens to Adelaide, and from Amsterdam to Granada. In 2016 it won the Classical: NEXT Innovation Award, while the New York Times acclaimed it as “an anthem for our time”.
Mystery 14 HUMAN REQUIEM IN ELEUSIS was presented at the archaeological site of Elefsina from 29 September to 1 October, with the support of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Western Attica, to crown the events of the International Symposium Mystery 299 “How to change our mind, to change the world”, which took place from 27 to 29 September at IRIS, in Elefsina.
A co-production of 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture, the World Human Forum, the Berlin Radio Choir, Sasha Waltz & Guests and Radialsystem-Berlin.
