Begehbares Musikstück – Michael’s journey through the opera "Licht"
The concept of Karl-Heinz Stockhausen’s opera cycle Licht was to turn the Gasometer arena in Oberhausen, Germany, into a giant “walk-in musical piece.” Over footbridges and in a spaceship-like elevator, the audience crosses a gigantic space machine of flexible walls with light and sound effects.
The opera is presented from the perspective of one of the protagonists, Michael. He takes visitors on a journey through the cosmos – symbolized by the Gasometer – to show them how the diverse powers in the universe work. The travelers notice that the cosmos changes during the journey from the bottom to the top of the arena. From nowhere, walls fall down and form new rooms that open or turn away. At the top, a falling curtain symbolizes the end of the journey, and the elevator returns to the bottom where everything seems to start anew. However, the journey allowed the visitor to gain a new view of the cosmos.
