ATTHIS

Austrian composer Georg Friedrich Haas’ Second String Quartet and song cycle ATTHIS are works of striking intimacy and intensity, combining an avant-garde interest in the miniature with his gift for the grand theatrical gesture.
An exciting new immersive staging of both works, directed by video art experimentalist Netia Jones, plunges the audience into the heart of these pieces’ lyricism. Haas has described ATTHIS, based on the ancient love poetry of the Greek poet Sappho, as "a modern version of [Schubert]'s Winterreise with a happy ending." A dialogue between ensemble and soprano, it seeks to depict the reawakening of love in one of Sappho's disciples. The Second String Quartet, which Haas considers 'a flickering sound picture', is work of murky depths punctuated with beams of beauteous light. 
The London Sinfonietta, one of Europe's premier contemporary ensembles, will collaborate with the Royal Opera for this unique aesthetic experience.