I: Both Needcompany and Klangforum Wien are in a certain way specialised collectives in their respective fields, but both are always eager to transcend their own metièr and be open to various other forms of art. How did the idea come up to work together on this meta-opera?

J: It came from a simple question from Klangforum. The company knew our work and had seen our work, and wanted to work with us. And then there was this idea of digging deep into the operas of the 20th century.

M: If Needcompany makes performing art, more or less everything is at the service of this final intention and the intensity of the performance on stage. [But] Klangforum wants to be challenged in a different way beyond its musicality and instrumental skills. And so it's kind of like flirting with these boundaries, but you really feel—and that's the most interesting dialogue or conflict you could be having—that there is a degree where it's not possible to reduce the music to anything of service. So I think that's clearly a field where we do have a different tradition of creating art.