Docufictional Music Theatre for Orchestra, Vocals, Movement
 and Video Installation by Marc Sinan

In Turkey and Central Asia, the heroic tales of Dede Korkut – the singing and lute-playing sage of the Oghuz – are recounted with the same esteem as that preserved for the Nibelungenlied in Germany. A brutal rape led to the birth of the »Cyclops« Tepegöz. Born into an alien world, he was not only hated but also became the bitter enemy of the Oghuz, whose acceptance he desperately desired. This dramatic conflict forms the backdrop for a project that offers a dynamic amalgam of music, images, text, bodies and song. Marc Sinan’s work is based on documentary videos of Central Asian musicians which he and Markus Rindt filmed during their extensive journeys through Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, along with video interviews with young Istanbul-based literati, philosophers and thinkers about their take on the story of Tepegöz. The Oghuzian narrative tradition teams up with the many resources of modern theatre and traditional music meets contemporary compositions, thereby opening up a dialogue between medieval folklore and the present day.

Azerbaijani, Uzbek and Kazakh guest musicians perform together with the Dresden Symphony Orchestra. Soloists like the singer Jelena Kuljić, the double bass player Jun Kawasaki, the subcontrabass flutist Sascha Friedl and the guitarist Marc Sinan become objects of choreographic intervention in Aydin Teker’s extraordinary approach. Projections of images from Central Asia set space in motion. The libretto combines a poetic reworking of the traditional “Tepegöz” material with voices from Istanbul’s literary scene, who speak in video interviews about the material so fundamental to the self-understanding of the Turkic-speaking peoples from today’s perspective.

Conductor: Fabián Panisello
Soloists: Jelena Kuljić, Jun Kawasaki, Marc Sinan, Sascha Friedl, Ulzhan Baibussynova, Mehri Asadullayeva, Askar Soltangazin, Toir Kuziyev
Production: Markus Rindt & Marc Sinan
Artistic direction: Marc Sinan
Choreography: Aydin Teker
Technical management and lighting design: Albrecht Leu
Technical management guest performances: Ben Deiß
Video and stage: Isabel Robson
Dramaturgy and text: Holger Kuhla
Sound: Volker Greve

A joint production of the Dresdner Sinfoniker, the Marc Sinan Company, the Maxim Gorki Theater Berlin and HELLERAU – Europäisches Zentrum der Künste Dresden