© Kristian Kruuser / Kaupo Kikkas
Adam’s Passion by Arvo Pärt and Robert Wilson was premiered on Tuesday, 12 May, at the Noblessner Foundry in Tallinn, Estonia. The performance will reach audiences worldwide through international tours, TV and videodisc. Adam’s Passion is also subject of the first international documentary about the composer Arvo Pärt.
According to the visionary theatre director Robert Wilson, the music of Arvo Pärt creates a mental space that allows for reflection. “I construct a kind of environment or space that hopefully helps the public to hear the music better. My work is not interpretative. To me interpretation is not the responsibility of the director, the author or the performers: interpretation is for the public. This is a work we want to reflect on and continue to think about even after leaving the theatre,” says Wilson.
The musical director and conductor Tõnu Kaljuste compares ‘Adam’s Passion’ to a journey characterised by the uniqueness of Pärt’s music at each performance. “The performance is a meeting of two great masters of silence. In the cooperation of them something extraordinary and almost three-dimensional is created,” says Kaljuste.
The musical core of the production consists of three main works by Arvo Pärt, selected by Pärt himself: Adam’s Lament, Tabula rasa and Miserere. Sequentia, a new work specially composed by Pärt, will blend the monumental landscape into a powerful story of depths and splendour of the
humankind: « This story is your story, one that questions me. And this story is my story, one that responds to you. This is our common story. The story of Adam is the story of all mankind. And it is one of tragedy”, reflects Arvo Pärt.
Tõnu Kaljuste conducts the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra and the soloists. Legendary dancer and choreographer Lucinda Childs performs on stage joined by Michalis Theophanous. Over 30 Estonian actors and students of theatre and dance participate in Adam’s
Passion.
