People are waiting in the street and form small groups. Suddenly one of them bursts out, another follows; together they form the image of a pietà. Can our ability to sympathise extend beyond mere pity? What does it mean today to make a sacrifice or even to sacrifice yourself?

The »St Matthew Passion« by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was first performed in 1729 in St Thomas’ Church in Leipzig. Now it serves the composer and saxophonist Fabrizio Cassol, born in 1964 in the Belgian Ougrée, as source of inspiration for an independent modern composition with jazz and folk elements.

Alain Platel, born in Ghent in 1956, founded the company Les Ballets C. de la B. in 1986 and is one of the most significant choreographers and directors of our time. He has already been at the euro-scene Leipzig with five guest performances: »La Tristeza cómplice« (»The shared sorrow», 1996), »Bernadetje« (1997), »Iets op Bach« (»A little something set to Bach«, 1998), »Allemaal Indiaan« (»Everyone is an Indian», 2000) and »vsprs« (2006). With »pitié!« (»Have mercy!«) he turns to the music of Bach for a second time.

»Platel searches, so to speak, for the divine spark in humans; with each scene he searches for images of suffering and empathy … What’s probably the most astonishing about this evening is that Platel plunges one’s head deep into the heart, but without ending up in sentimentalism« (Dirk Pilz, Berliner Zeitung, 04.09.2008).