Inspired by the lives of Johannes and Katharina Kepler, the music theatre work Earthrise will premiere on October 17, 2024 in the Finnish National Opera.

On Thursday 10.10. at 6 pm, we invite the artists Aleksi Barrière, Marianna Henriksson and Juha T. Koskinen to discuss the new work, its creation process and themes.

Please register via e-mail: anmeldungen.kultur.helsinki@goethe.de

Earthrise

Earthrise is based on Johannes Kepler’s The Dream (posthumously published in 1634) and the astronomer’s life. Kepler saw fictional writing, visual arts, and music as useful devices that could illuminate science and expand its methods and audiences. He was also inspired by traditional practices and intercultural exchange. Although he didn’t acknowledge it until later in his career, a deep influence came from his mother Katharina, who was versed in natural medicine.

With his science-fiction novel The Dream, the astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) tried to advance a new worldview by speaking to his readers’ imaginations: what would our world look like if seen from the Moon? Kepler suffered in his struggle against dogmatism. He even needed to defend his own mother Katharina Kepler (1546–1622) in a witchcraft trial. However, he never ceased to believe in the secret harmony governing the world; a harmony we experience only through the sciences and the arts.