Luther and No End

Last Sunday night Red Baron was at the Konzerthaus (concert hall) to listen to the one and only performance of the pop oratorio Luther - Das Projekt der tausend Stimmen in Freiburg.

Rather than 1000 voices, here at the Konzerthaus, we listened to five local choirs with just 300 singers aged between 6 and 85 years clustered on stage. A permanent ensemble of fourteen professional singers and six instrumentalists who had toured Germany performing the oratorio throughout the Lutheryear 2017 completed the setup.

The main aim of composer Dieter Falk and librettist Michael Kunze is the participation of as many local laypersons as possible. So the music, a mixture of gospel, soul, pop, rock, and old church music, was simple, easy listening, and repetitive.

Introducing the singers. Sitting in row five, I couldn't get them all in my photo.

First Mayor and Freiburg's culture man, Ullrich von Kirchbach, welcomes the audience.

Indulgence preacher Johann Tetzel pictures the tortures of hell.

Indulgence for sale. Note the nearly filled money box.

Enter Martin Luther.

Emperor and playboy Charles V is bored by the religious quarrel.

Luther confidently holds the letter to the Romans 3:28 and quotes:
For we reckon a man to be justified by faith alone without deeds of the law,
while the original Greek text leaves out the word alone.

Some professional actors
with small Luther were recruited locally and trained on the job.

Post-finale: Singers and actors are waving and clapping hands with the audience.

So, in the end, the audience was invited to clap their hands and sing the catchy melodies in a medley.

All in all, it was a pleasant evening.

For your listening experience, here are three trailers on YouTube of performances in Dortmund, Berlin, and Munich.

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