Sonnets to Orpheus by Rainer Maria Rilke, Translation by Stephen Mitchell

Created and Performed by Danielle Birrittella

Dramaturgy and Choreography by Alexis Macnab

Composer-soprano Danielle Birrittella developed a selection of Stephen Miller’s translation of Rainer Maria Rilke’s Sonnets to Orpheus into a multidisciplinary song cycle for voice, and string quartet. Featuring scores by 13 composers and multi-channel video design, Sonnets to Orpheus is a metaphoric excavation of the soul's depths inspired by one of the greatest poetic masterpieces of the 20th century. Presented as a work-in-progress by the Live Arts Exchange / LAX Festival at Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles, September 2016.

“A dreamlike continuously changing visual landscape… What made the hour-long piece so arresting was the way the words and music were integrated into an ethereal multi-dimensional sensory exploration, that was both sonically and visually immersive.” - FABRIK 

PERFORMERS:

Danielle Birrittella - Soprano

Carlos Felipe Silva – violin

Caroline Ewan – violin

Tess Scott-Suhrstedt – viola

Vardan Gasparyan – cello

DESIGNERS AND CREW:

Keith Skretch & Hana Sooyeon Kim - Video Design 

Yao Zhang - Scenic Design

Harlow Price - Sound Design

Beryl Brachman - Costume Design

COMPOSERS:

Aoife O’Donovan, Jherek Bischoff, Ellen Reid, Qasim Naqvi, Christopher Rountree, Andrew Rowan, Bobby Halvorson, Tim Carr, Danielle Birrittella, Greg Uhlmann, Kyle Sanna, Sheena Wenger, Areni Agbabian and Derek Stein. 

Production photos by Keith Skretch