I don't know what I can tell you about Birmingham Opera Company's latest – Stockhausen's six-hour avant garde epic Mittwoch Aus Licht aka "Wednesday from Light". It was an experience that was not wholly enjoyable and yet at the same time it was pretty darn great. I'll let this video and these photos do the talking because I'm all out of words.
The Helicopter String Quartet, featuring the shrieking German counting of the headline (view the live stream recording):
Real camels followed by an unreal one that dances to trombone, downs a magnum of champagne and pops planets out of its butt:
A flying orchestra – and a chance for a lie down:
An astronaut (following this final performance, we came out to the news that Neil Armstrong had died):
Stunning choral dynamics in the World Parliament:
A man with a plane on his head, er…
Karlheinz Stockhausen makes an appearance:
A final bathing in yellow during the Farewell:
Graham Vick and Kathinka Pasveer join the cast for final applause:
Verdict: Far out.
See also: My diary from joining Birmingham Opera Company's Othello chorus and its version of Stravinsky's Les Noces My big fat fake Wedding.
UPDATE: More pix added above, plus here is how Mitwoch played out into Stockhausen's staged farewell which is bathed in the colour of the opera – yellow…