Performer: Katarina Bradić

On a snowy January evening, the premiere of Matthias Pintscher’s new opera Das kalte Herz fails to warm up the Berlin public.

Director Milos Rau, composer Hèctor Parra and librettist Fiston Mwanza Mujila put the operatic spotlight on the fight for justice after a mining disaster in the DRC, with mixed results.

Foccroulle’s limited score imitates environmental catastrophe while Jocelyn’s libretto tries – unevenly – to understand why we might ignore it.