Romeo Castellucci has chosen Mozart's Requiem Mass as a starting point to propose a reflection on life and death, the two extremes of a cycle that create the conditions for both the miracle of creation—of life and genius—and the catastrophe of destruction. The result is an avant-garde theatrical performance that critiques our material view of the world and offers a spiritual exploration.
There is a passage in the extensive correspondence written by Mozart that can be seen as the origin of the Requiem project conceived by Romeo Castellucci. "Since death is the true goal of our existence," the composer wrote, "I have come to know this true and best friend of humanity so well in recent years that the image of death no longer frightens me."
Death is undoubtedly a serious matter, and in European culture, it has always been more associated with the pain of losing a loved one than with the hope of a joyful transition to another plane of existence. This makes Mozart's words particularly striking. He refers to death as humanity's best friend, and this intellectual approach—one that accepts and even celebrates death as a passage to something better or at least different—could largely explain why his sacred music always seems joyful and bathed in light. This same feeling applies to the Requiem, his final unfinished work, conceived in late 1791.
A requiem mass is, by definition, a piece intended to accompany a funeral service in a church, and its natural place should never be a theater: there is no plot or action, no story that could serve as the basis for a literal stage reenactment. However, Mozart’s Requiem has transcended its liturgical function, and since the early 19th century, thanks to its rapid rise in popularity, it has become a staple of the concert hall repertoire.
It is common to hear the Requiem in church services, but even more so in concert halls and private spaces in the form of recordings. For Romeo Castellucci, it is undoubtedly a work that has far surpassed its ceremonial boundaries. That is why, when he came across Mozart’s quote, he realized that this idea of death as humanity’s best friend could serve as the foundation for a profound reflection on the nature and meaning of life.
"Castellucci offers an experience that is both aesthetic and religious, combining various art forms, with symbolism that is not intended to be tied to a single spirituality, but to all."
It is important to clarify that the work Castellucci ultimately conceived —commissioned by the festivals in Aix-en-Provence, France, and Adelaide, Australia— is not a staged version of the Requiem, but a theatrical performance that uses various religious and secular pieces by Mozart as accompanying music. For example, it features «Ne pulvis et cinis», a fragment from his unfinished opera Thamos, King of Egypt, or the beginning of his Miserere, composed in 1770 when he was 14 years old, although the main piece, and the one most laden with symbolism, is the Requiem in its entirety.
Castellucci's proposal is a reflection on the meaning of life, understood as another phase in an ongoing cycle of birth, destruction, and rebirth, in a very broad spiritual sense, not exclusively in line with the Christian idea that views death as the liberation of the soul, which must embark on a journey to the afterlife to be judged and, consequently, condemned to hell or eternally saved in paradise. For Castellucci, neither life nor death are absolute states, but phases of a cycle that renews endlessly, creating the conditions for its destruction and resurrection.
Castellucci has been known, since he began his international career in the 1980s, for alternating between operas and non-theatrical musical or literary works, such as Dante’s Divine Comedy, Bach's St. Matthew Passion, or Mahler’s Eighth Symphony. From the emotions of the music or text, the Italian stage director creates images and movements that convey a visual beauty and serve as a support for his intellectual reflection.
In the case of this Requiem, the first scene represents the death of an elderly woman, who disappears in her own bed before the first musical piece begins. What happens next? Essentially, life begins to emerge again: the background of the stage starts completely black, but as the cycle of life progresses, it turns white. The choir and solo singers, transformed into a choreographic and acting ensemble, bring to the stage a variety of actions: they dance, plant a tree, celebrate youth, and endure a catastrophe. Because as soon as life arises, its cycle of destruction also accelerates.
"Evolving from the black background to white and from color back to darkness, the set design of Requiem symbolizes the eternal cycle of creation and destruction of life."
The most important segment of Requiem —right when the main piece begins— is what Castellucci calls the “atlas of disappearances”: in the background of the stage, the names of animal species, works of art, cities, or human creations that are no longer with us appear, having passed from life to nonexistence due to a natural disaster or the direct action of mankind. This constant reminder of what has been lost, and what will be lost if we do not act urgently, is Castellucci’s way of anticipating the next turn in the cycle: life is fragile, hard to preserve, and death is inevitable. The stage will return to black and be left in ruins. However, a new cycle is already beginning, life will emerge again, and so on eternally. In this context, Mozart’s music becomes a profound sonic accompaniment, not directly tied to the movements on stage, but deeply connected with the intellectual density and emotion Castellucci aims to convey.