Composers Andreas Eduardo Frank and Patrick Frank go hunting for happiness in the economic metropoles of Munich and Basel. What is the relationship between collective happiness and the unhappiness of individuals? Is it possible to share the path to happiness with others? The two Franks invite audiences to the foyer Philharmonie of the Fat Cat for a Musical Happiness forum. The three-part performance interrogates different ideas of happiness whilst journeying through the body centers of the heart, brains and intestines. Audience and performers encounter each other in a kaleidoscope of mini-concerts, music-theatrical actions, intimate discussion circles and culinary art breaks. Socio-philosophical theories meet intimate stories and deeply personal definitions of happiness. Happiness researchers and extreme athletes have their say, as do worms, Nietzsche, Gandhi, you and me.
In Georg Schütky‘s production, the differing styles of the two composers form the basis of a polyphonic and collaborative work of art: participants include the Ensemble Lemniscate, opera
singers, professional and non-professional performers, and the via-nova choir. The upshot is a place to linger, enjoy, and ponder the question of all questions: what is it, this so-called happiness?