LEONARD BERNSTEIN: MASS / OMER MEIR WELLBER

It may sound absurd, but in 1971 the FBI actually warned the U.S. president ahead of the premiere of Bernstein’s »Mass«. The times were too volatile – marked by the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement and the assassination of John F. Kennedy – and the content too sensitive. Rather than a conventional setting of the Catholic Mass, the work became a genre-defying performance piece that deconstructs the liturgy and transforms it into a political demonstration. Latin chants give way to gospel, cool jazz, rock, marching band music, Broadway swing, Indian ragas and expressionist avant-garde. Between ritual and rebellion emerges a monumental sonic mosaic that culminates in an overwhelming cry for peace.

Omer Meir Wellber, General Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera, brings the most ambitious production of this year’s festival to the Elbphilharmonie – and, on Sunday at noon, as a live video broadcast to the St Michaelis church lawn. There, all participants and audience come together afterwards for a creative outdoor celebration with music, food, performances and workshops.