Kurzes Leben, langes Sterben by Various, to 25 touko 2023, Alkaen (2023/2023), Ohjannut Philipp Mayer,, Kammerbühne, Cottbus, Germany

The Austrian bass-baritone Philipp Mayer - as Franz Schubert and Johannes Brahms - and the French pianist Justine Eckhaut - as Death himself - play around the end of life with morbid ease in their recital. In addition to selected songs from Schubert's posthumously published Swan Song, the program also includes the cycle Four Serious Songs by Johannes Brahms and three songs by the German composer Robert Kahn. None other than death itself spans the dramaturgical arc in this amusing scenic implementation and fails miserably. At first he waits impatiently for Schubert's death, only to be surprised by his reincarnation in Brahms' body.