German premiere

Three people flee from the pressure and hectic of everyday life. They go into nature in search of true life. In a remote cabin, they hope to find inspiration for their lost art of living. The silence, however, leads the city dwellers into their own abysses.

“Ars vivendi” (lat.: art of living) sees itself as a counterpart to the piece “Ars moriendi” (lat.: art of dying), 2010. The theme of the incomprehensibility of death is now followed by that of the fullness of life and individual search for happiness. The music of the early Italian baroque period is an important element in this. Its idyllic texts and vocal polyphonies form a strong contrast to the stage action.

The CapriConnection company, founded in Basel in 2006, includes director Anna-Sophie Mahler, actress Susanne Abelein and dramaturge Boris Brüderlin. Mahler, born in Kassel in 1979, studied musical theater directing in Berlin. She was an assistant to Christoph Marthaler in Zurich and Bayreuth as well as to Christoph Schlingensief in Manaus / Brazil and directed at various theaters in Austria and Germany. The Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, a college for early music, sees itself as part of contemporary music creation.