Ephémère enchainé was developed by French composer François Sarhan specifically for the Danish ensemble SCENATET. Described as a theater concert, an installation, an opera, a night, a performance, an experience, a story, an Opera Mundi, a story of a life, a life of thousands of people, a combination of music, voice, video, performances, sound design, an overlay, and a mix of everything together, a Teatro del Mondo, an attempt to find a unity through the chaos, the massive, highly ambitious twelve-hour piece demands of its performer’s a nearly superhuman level of endurance. After its world premiere at SPOR Festival 2015, the piece was praised by music magazine Seismograf, who described it as a revelation.

Throughout the lengthy performance, the audience are free to move sit, stand, lie down, leave, come back, and move around and explore not only the diverse soundscapes ranging from romantic opera to intense funk excursions, aggressive growling, and minimalist impressionism, but also the overwhelmingly elaborate, visually impressive staging consisting of giant, seemingly floating, effigies of fantastic and mythical creatures hanging from the ceiling.

“Wow, a scoop it is for Spor to premiere Ephémère Enchaîné. Wagner must have had a party in the beyond. […] Here was the genius, the one. The uncompromising visionary who spent three weeks to be able to realize what must have been an insane project description. With a musical and scenic excess that could make most others look like … well, whatever you look like when you set the bar lower than extremely high. Je suis un believer, and kudos to the organizers for taking a chance on a French diva.”

Performers: My Hellgren (vlc), Vicky Wright (cl), Rowland Sutherland (fl), Matias Seibæk (perc), Fei Nie (pno), Kasia Ziminska (vio), Clara Stensgaard (voc)
Composer: Christian Winther Christensen
Staging and direction: Anna Berit Asp Christensen
Video: Christian Winther Christensen and Anna Berit Asp Christensen
Light design: Maria Pi Houmann
Technical Manager: Mette Hornbek Hansen
Performance images: Marc Fluri

The Creative Europe programme of the European Union, Sounds Now, The Danish Arts Foundation, Augustinus Fonden, KODA Cultur and William Demant Fonden.