Premiere of the para-oratorio for chamber ensemble, live-electronics and video Vie et Passion du Christ by Piotr Peszat will take place on 31 August 2019 at 8 p.m. at the Cricoteka Center for the Documentation of the Art of Tadeusz Kantor in Kraków.
The main inspiration to compose the work was a silent film Life and Passion of Christ (fr. Vie et Passion du Christ) from 1903 directed by Lucien Nongueta and Ferdinand Zecca. It is one of the first color feature films with sequences made in the stencil color process Pathéchrome. In 1995, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of cinema, the Vatican compiled a list of 45 "great films" and theThe 45 movies are divided into three categories: religion, values, and the Life and Passion of Christ was included in the religion category.
Piotr Peszat's oratorio is extremely innovative in terms of genre. It combines music, theatralization of instrumentalists' performance and a non-traditional visual layer. Music is the leading element of the work, but since it is performed in conjunction with the fragments of the silent film, its role is to suggest, anticipate and refer to the image. Traditional sound of the chamber ensemble will be expanded to include non-traditional ways of extracting sound, electronic sounds as well as spoken and sung parts performed by instrumentalists. The choice of the subject of the work emphasizes the topicality of religious themes in the 21st century and indicates the importance of Christian aesthetics in the European culture.
The concert will be performed by the Music Cooperative contemporary ensemble. The project is co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage as part of the 'Composing Commissions 2019' programme, implemented by the Institute of Music and Dance.
Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.
More information about the composer at: www.peszat.com