Inferno d'amore (Shakespearion I)

Volker David Kirchner gave his seventh work for the stage the subtitle "Scenic Moments". The texts are compiled from Shakespeare’s tragedy ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and sonnets by Michelangelo. Kirchner’s Inferno d’amore entwines the language of music and the musical language of the lyrical styles of Shakespeare and Michelangelo. Kirchner has largely reduced Shakespeare’s well-known drama to the love scenes between Romeo and Juliet; this allows the theme of "love and death" to take centre stage with the result that the family conflicts between the Montagues and Capulets and their effects on the pair of lovers are largely shaded out. Inferno d’amore is primarily focused on the central theme of the unfulfilled yearning for love, the burning desire to be consumed by each other – nirvana achieved in a kiss.