Written for and premiered by Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart.

For some people - maybe slightly more prevalent among Scandinavians - bodily and expressive restraint is a part of the inner dictatorship. The diagnosis is best confirmed in confrontation with cultures known to be more direct, as for example the Argentinian - even if Argentina is sometimes referred to as the ”Scandinavia of Latin America”.

In the most serious cases of obsessive indirectness the condition may develop into a serious disability, forcing the patient on ever longer detours. On the other hand many direct cultures have their own history of dictatorships - the brutal and even fatal outer kind - that have also forced its people to avoid direct ways of expression.

In both cases - without equating the two in any way - reports describe possible positive side effects paradoxically occurring, in rare cases leading to sublime expression, intimacy and beauty. This phenomenon still remains to be confirmed by independent studies.

As the title indicates “Buenos Aires” is about good air. As well as bad air and censorship in inner and outer forms. Or maybe it’s all about the voice, opera and the absurdity of communicating through singing, as expressed by one of the characters in the first scene, who suggests three “solutions” to the obvious problems of opera:

- Only let the characters sing when they actually sing in the story,
- set the story in another reality, where singing is an accepted way of communication or
- don’t use the voice at all, find alternative means of communication with other musical bi- products ...

‍

Scene 1: ARIA
(where Johanna reluctantly sings a duet with a 1000 hz beep tone)

Scene 2: TRIAL
(where Johanna experiences the full power of indirectness)

Scene 3: LOVE IS IN THE AIR
(the title says it all and then the ‘Self-Simulator’ comes for a walk)

Scene 4: MI MANCA LA VOCE
(where Johanna gets to conduct Rossini’s ‘I’m missing the voice’)

Scene 5: TANGO DOT
(where Johanna travels to the city of Good Airs and dances a fatal tango)

Written for and premiered by Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart.

For some people - maybe slightly more prevalent among Scandinavians - bodily and expressive restraint is a part of the inner dictatorship. The diagnosis is best confirmed in confrontation with cultures known to be more direct, as for example the Argentinian - even if Argentina is sometimes referred to as the ”Scandinavia of Latin America”.

In the most serious cases of obsessive indirectness the condition may develop into a serious disability, forcing the patient on ever longer detours. On the other hand many direct cultures have their own history of dictatorships - the brutal and even fatal outer kind - that have also forced its people to avoid direct ways of expression.

In both cases - without equating the two in any way - reports describe possible positive side effects paradoxically occurring, in rare cases leading to sublime expression, intimacy and beauty. This phenomenon still remains to be confirmed by independent studies.

As the title indicates “Buenos Aires” is about good air. As well as bad air and censorship in inner and outer forms. Or maybe it’s all about the voice, opera and the absurdity of communicating through singing, as expressed by one of the characters in the first scene, who suggests three “solutions” to the obvious problems of opera:

- Only let the characters sing when they actually sing in the story,
- set the story in another reality, where singing is an accepted way of communication or
- don’t use the voice at all, find alternative means of communication with other musical bi- products ...

‍

Scene 1: ARIA
(where Johanna reluctantly sings a duet with a 1000 hz beep tone)

Scene 2: TRIAL
(where Johanna experiences the full power of indirectness)

Scene 3: LOVE IS IN THE AIR
(the title says it all and then the ‘Self-Simulator’ comes for a walk)

Scene 4: MI MANCA LA VOCE
(where Johanna gets to conduct Rossini’s ‘I’m missing the voice’)

Scene 5: TANGO DOT
(where Johanna travels to the city of Good Airs and dances a fatal tango)