"The Greater Hope - Ilse Aichinger"

Concert Reading in a Version by Anne Bennent, Otto Lechner, and Peter Rosmanith

Anne Bennent, Otto Lechner, and Peter Rosmanith approach Ilse Aichinger's masterpiece with playfulness, imagination, and virtuosity. The novel tells of persecution, expulsion, and annihilation, yet even in horror, language regains its magical power – and the world its voice.

In the midst of overwhelming darkness, children let the story speak. Images, dreams, tales, and judgments fly through space and time, unstoppable, daring, ever new. Their games free them, without overlooking the shadows of their pursuers; and the glow of their words cannot be captured.

Anne Bennent unleashes the boundlessness of language that spills from the book, breaking the boundaries of fear. Peter Rosmanith and Otto Lechner respond virtuously and imaginatively, turning everything upside down. A small accordion becomes an orchestra, hermetic structures dissolve into absurd results. And suddenly one realizes: even in the midst of cruelty, a little dance is still possible.

Anne Bennent - Voice, Otto Lechner - Accordion, Drums, Peter Rosmanith - Percussion