Lost - a new work by Hauschka
7th September 2016
Nicolas Altstaedt © Marco Borggreve
Hauschka and cellist Nicolas Altstaedt have been working together on Lost – a new piece by Hauschka which will be premiered on September 23 2016 by Altstaedt with the VivaCello-Ensemble at the VivaCello Festival in Liestal, Switzerland.
Lost is based on the story of an unfinished film script by Federico Fellini, ‘The Journey of Giuseppe Mastorna’. A plane landing in a raging snowstorm in New York inspired Fellini to write the story of a cellist’s attempt to return home after an emergency plane landing en route to a concert in Florence. The plane lands in the middle of nowhere, but the cellist does not realise that he is already dead. It’s the story of a Dante-esque figure’s metaphysical journey in the afterlife – a seeker, driven by longing and desire for his homeland.
A chance remark from a magician: ‘This will be your last film’, and a near-death illness led to Fellini abandoning the film project, but the veil of mysticism which shrouds the story of Mastorna can be traced as inspiration in all his later films. Only a few months after instructing Manara, his designer, to draw the story board, Fellini died in Rome.
Altstaedt, fascinated by the maelstrom of the screenplay, approached the artist and composer Hauschka in order to pursue, musically, the footsteps of Fellini.
Lost is a piece in 6 movements for prepared piano, solo cello and chamber ensemble. It has been co-commissioned by VivaCello Festival Liestal, Duisburger Philharmoniker and Kings Place London.
VivaCello Festival, September 23 2016
Liestal, Switzerland
Duisberger Philharmoniker, February 17 2017
Duisberg, Germany
Cello Unwrapped, April 1 2017
Kings Place, London
