Rosa Arnold is the first violinist of the Ragazze Quartet and initiator of Normality No More. She seduced Via Berlin and Conny Janssen Danst to participate in a plan to turn Schubert’s Winterreise completely upside down.
What was your idea when you contacted Via Berlin and Conny Janssen Danst and asked them to participate?
‘For some time now, our string quartet has played Winterreise in the conventional concert setting. Because it is such a significant piece, we felt the need to take it a step further. With this idea, I contacted Dagmar (Slagmolen, Via Berlin) who instantly took to it. Because we thought it would be nice to add movement, we approached Conny Janssen Danst. The three of us talked extensively about it. About the piece itself: is it about an actual physical journey, or rather a journey inside his head? However, we primarily talked about the feeling of rejection the main character experiences, and the way he withdraws from society. A gigantic source of inspiration for all three of us.’
‘We completely shake up the classical piece’ Rosa Arnold (Ragazze Quartet)
What is it in the piece that appeals to you musically?
‘In 24 songs, the piece tells a concrete story of a man who takes a long, lonely journey. The main character’s emotions, the sounds from nature, everything is beautifully voiced through the music which is as delightful as it is elusive. We thought it would be nice to bring this classical top hit to the present, to turn it into something contemporary.’
How did you go about it?
‘With this performance, we want the audience to see and hear the beauty of the deviant. We created our own version of Winterreise in which we shook up the classical piece and turned it upside down in such a way that only at times it will be recognizable.
Winterreise was the starting point; that is how you should look upon it. However, we created a story completely of our own that, every now and again, totally derails. It is performed by an unusual ensemble of strings, a percussionist and vocalists, each one of them adding their own colour and continuously switching between musical styles. From soulful jazz to pulsating electro pop and punk, from small and intimate to overwhelming and hallucinating.’
Normality No More is the artistic product of a collaboration between Dagmar Slagmolen (Via Berlin), choreographer Davide Bellotta(Conny Janssen Danst) and Ragazze Quartet under artistic supervision of Ria Marks, with artistic advise by Conny Janssen.
> Normality No More is in theaters from December 14, 2024 untal April 6, 2025.
