Life and Fate

‘Life withers away where people try to eradicate their individuality and uniqueness by force.’

Vasily Grossman's novel Life and Fate is considered the War and Peace of the 20th century. In it, the Russian-Jewish writer takes stock of the totalitarian systems of his time and, in the midst of the Second World War, searches for the individuality and uniqueness that make life worth living.

He finds it in the people who, despite everything, wrestle a life from fate: the Russian soldiers in Stalingrad who withstand the siege by deviating from the party line; or the Jewish nuclear physicist Strum, who collaborates with Stalin despite anti-Semitic agitation in the Soviet Union.

Dmitri Shostakovich's 10th Symphony from 1953 also bears witness to this search and the tensions between artist and state. Adapted for the stage, Johan Simons combines both works into a musical theatre piece in which actors and musicians share the stage. In cooperation with the Bochum Symphony Orchestra, Shostakovich's 10th Symphony will be performed at the Musikforum following the first four performances.