The Berlin opera company novoflot reinvents the concept of carnival and transforms the good old ‘fifth season’ into a steaming primordial soup of musical theatre, from which a carnival society of the future, endowed with magical powers, emerges.

It is the latest passion of the Berlin opera company novoflot: the examination and possible reorientation of the European concept of carnival. Whilst the ‘fifth season’ was originally an unrestrained festival of the people, during which one was allowed to express one’s opinion of those in power with impunity, this premise seems rather obsolete in the year 2026. What is the point of carnival speeches and floats in the face of 100 million digital expressions of opinion per second, 365 days a year? Voilà! So how might Rosenmontag and the like be breathed new life into? Perhaps like this: the ‘Fifth Season’ becomes an ecstatic celebration of pause and reflection, the official and grand stage for initiatives that provide meaningful and respectful forms of social coexistence! novoflot, in any case, is getting straight down to business and conducting fundamental artistic research at the Cologne Philharmonic Hall!

Building on the traditions of the legendary Mardi Gras movement from New Orleans, novoflot will, in the first part of the concert, host the re-establishment of several highly musical ‘Magic Societies’, whose stunning performances will herald the ‘First Fat Tuesday in Cologne’. Together with musicians and performers from Cologne, as well as soloists from the international jazz scene, a hybrid musical theatre production is taking shape, featuring more than 50 participants. After the interval, it’s all or nothing: how might we succeed in firmly establishing the 5th Season of the Future as a celebration of a society based on solidarity, justice and transparency? novoflot is surprised that no one has thought of this before and suggests hypnosis! More specifically: the strictly music-based ‘Philharmonic Carnival Hypnosis’ by Peter Fasching & Rosemary Hardy!

Concerts with Hayden Chisholm