Caravaggio (ballet)
Caravaggio is a ballet by Jochen Ulrich , which depicts reports on the life and work of the Italian painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio in the form of a painter portrait and was premiered on November 22, 2003 at the Tiroler Landestheater Innsbruck .
background
The reports on the life and work of the Italian painter Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio , are pervaded by dramatic events, never-to-be-revealed secrets and assumptions that, when viewed in connection with his painterly work, create a tremendous fascination for Jochen Ulrich . This painter, who lived like a candle, burned on both sides, who accepted no boundaries and was immoderate in everything, was the most popular painter of the early seventeenth century. He painted the saints, the apostles, Mother Mary and Christ as people of this world, even as his contemporaries, and left nothing for them to ennoble them except their faith. Again and again in hectic flight from the papal captors from Rome via Naples to Malta, he also painted then, driven by constant restlessness and inner visions.
implementation
The artist's life, work and environment are processed into a fresco in episodes and quotations . The dance runs according to the same, specific movement patterns , dynamic, rich in contrast and with leitmotif sound collages (Peter Kubrik). They underline the transport of emotion, history and social criticism in rich light and dark colors that are characteristic of the painter.
Alfio Giuffrida's set design is economical and mobile. Slidable golden snow crystals (frozen Maltese crosses) hang from the ceiling as an allusion to Caravaggio's exile in Malta. On the floor, round timbers serve as a playful, driving element, as easels and wobbly power platforms on which images, church and emotions are balanced.