1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Live TV
Latest audioLatest videos
In focus
IranIsrael-Hamas warIndia elections 2024
Religion

No heaven without hell

May 3, 2020

The internationally acclaimed Berlin Radio Choir has joined forces with American theater director and visual artist Robert Wilson for a production that marries Martin Luther’s writings and translations with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Wilson’s image theater conjures both anxiety and hope in a timeless statement that places Luther among the great thinkers of history.

https://p.dw.com/p/2n3H3

Pitch darkness. Through the doors come 50 figures in long robes. They position themselves symmetrically along the balustrade surrounding the oval stage. Then a bluish light softly illuminates their whitened faces. They begin singing. The music is Bach. A large figure suddenly appears on the stage below them. It is clothed in a black academic gown and the medieval cap of a Doctor of Divinity. This is Martin Luther. In a forceful voice, he quotes from the Book of Revelation. "Luther Dancing with the Gods" is a gripping performance.