Mauricio Kagel

Description

Mauricio Kagel (born Buenos Aires, December 24 1931) is an Argentine composer who has lived in Cologne, Germany since 1957. He is most famous for his interest in developing the theatrical side of musical performance.<p>Many of his pieces give specific theatrical instructions to the performers, such as to adopt certain facial expressions while playing, to make their stage entrances in a particular way, to physically interact with other performers and so on. His work has often been compared to the theatre of the absurd.<p>Staatstheater (1971) is probably the piece that most clearly shows his absurdist tendency. It is described as a "ballet for non-dancers", though in many ways is more like an opera, and the musical instruments used include chamber pots and enema equipment. As the work progresses, the piece itself, and opera and ballet in general, becomes the subject matter. Similar is the radio play Ein Aufnahmezustand (1969) which is about the incidents surrounding the recording of a radio...