Mozart’s Life Reimagined With Holograms in Istanbul
A multidisciplinary stage production combining hologram technology and mixed reality has brought the life and works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to audiences at Beyoglu Sahne in Istanbul. Mozart is widely regarded as one of the most important composers in music history.
The production was written and directed by Pouya Fayazi, who began the project nearly a year before its presentation. The project started as a concept centred on using hologram technology to tell Mozart’s story rather than presenting the technology as a standalone feature.
The production combines mixed reality, LED screens, ghost-screen hologram technology, dance and three-dimensional visuals. Fayazi said the development process was challenging because the team was creating a production for which there was no existing precedent to follow.
The show was not structured as a conventional biographical narrative. Its different elements are brought together to support the presentation of Mozart’s story, with the technology intended to serve the narrative rather than become the main focus.
The production covers Mozart’s artistic journey, love life and inner world. It spans his life from childhood to the final period of his life, bringing these aspects of the composer into the stage presentation.
The combination of hologram technology, dance, visuals and music forms the basis of the multidisciplinary production. Rather than relying on a conventional biographical format, the show uses these elements together to present different aspects of Mozart’s life and works.
The hologram technology is combined with live performance as part of the production’s presentation. Mixed reality and LED screens are used alongside ghost-screen hologram technology, while dance and three-dimensional visuals form other parts of the show.
The production is staged at Beyoglu Sahne, whose historic stone architecture and acoustics date back to the 19th century. The venue provides the setting for the presentation of Mozart’s life through the combination of the production’s visual, technological and performance elements.
T. Umit Ertokus plays Mozart in the production. The role places the composer at the centre of the stage presentation as the show moves through the different aspects of his life, from his childhood to the final period of his life.
Dance performances are presented by Liubou Matviyenka and Hamza Tasci. Live music is performed by Dengin Ceyhan on piano, Derya Celik and Doga Gencalioglu on violin, Birsu Celik on viola, and Devrim Buyukbayraktar on cello.
The live musicians form part of the production alongside the dancers and visual elements. The use of live music places instrumental performance alongside the hologram technology, mixed reality, LED screens and three-dimensional visuals used in the show.
The production’s development began nearly a year before it reached the stage. Its creators brought together several technologies and performance elements while working without an existing production model to follow. This included the combination of mixed reality, LED screens, ghost-screen hologram technology, dance and three-dimensional visuals.
The show’s approach also distinguishes it from a conventional biographical presentation of Mozart. Instead of structuring the production solely as a chronological account, it focuses on his artistic journey, love life and inner world while combining the different elements of the stage production.
At Beyoglu Sahne, Mozart’s story is therefore presented through a combination of live and visual performance. The production brings together the portrayal of Mozart by Ertokus, dance by Matviyenka and Tasci, live instrumental music and the use of mixed reality, LED screens, ghost-screen hologram technology and three-dimensional visuals.
