Fontesonante

I still cannot quite make up my mind entirely about what to think of yesterday night's world première of Die ganzheitliche Kunst, an Areagraphie (no idea what that might be - neither Brockhaus nor the web know the term) for choir by Béatrice Mathez, performed at Leonhardskirche by the Fontesonante choir. What I do know for sure is that the experience was rather weird and uncomfortable for me, and that was probably not intended.

Facts of the performance: An alternation of traditional romantic pieces (Schubert, Grieg, Marschner, Caccini), short poems by Barbara Groher and the centerpiece, Crystals I - V, a choral choreography (does that make sense?) on the theme of Masaru Emoto's water crystals. The members of the choir were all clad in white and illuminated with different colours. The only instrumentation of the Crystals were quartz sound bowls with their unique, yet literally monotonous sound.

If all this appears rather esoteric, then that's probably because it was, really. Don't get me wrong: I don't mind a bit of hippidom now & again, but the vibes I received from that event were a strange combination of pagan rites, christian messages, germanic Hochkultur in the Wagnerian sense & sundry other oddities. I trust I will be forgiven for feeling queasy about this combination if I out myself as an utter philistine, but I have a feeling that there is more to it than meets the eye, and I am not sure I want to know more.