Amen Feizabadi: Deep Siesta

With »Deep Siesta«, Amen Feizabadi ventures a radical shift in perspective on the ubiquitous discourse surrounding artificial intelligence: we experience human existence from the AI’s point of view. Through the eyes of the protagonists, we look as though through a prism, in which our own reflection is shattered into its myriad components and appears alien and shadowy to us.

In the 85-minute work »Deep Siesta«, the focus is on acoustic music–performed by the Zafraan Ensemble and the Neue Vocalsolisten. However, the boundary between reality and virtuality becomes increasingly blurred by AI-generated voices, images and electronic sound effects. Dilek Mayatürk’s libretto, too, enters into a dialogue with the aimless AI. From initial fragments of words through to more complex linguistic connections, it leads to an emotional climax in the shift from German to Persian. This is interwoven with the evocative elements of traditional Persian music, an attempt at universal reinvention.

Video portrait

Amen Feizabadi

podium-gegenwart.de

Concept, composition and direction: Amen Feizabadi

Libretto: Dilek Mayatürk

Dramaturgy: Konstantin Parnian

Video production: Amen Feizabadi and Maryam Takhtkeshian

Photography: Maryam Takhtkeshian

Camera: Hamed Otadi, Ghazal Bakhtazad

Sound: Soheil Mirzadeh

Production manager: Piotr van Gielle Ruppe

Featuring audio, video and photographic recordings of the Veda Music Institute Boys’ Choir (conductor: Soudabeh Salem) in Tehran.

Neue Vocalsolisten

Helena Sorokina, mezzo-soprano

Daniel Gloger, countertenor

Martin Nagy, tenor

Andreas Fischer, bass

Zafraan Ensemble

Liam Mallett, flute

Carola Schaal, clarinet

Martin Posegga, saxophone

Josa Gerhard, violin

Jacobo Díaz Robledillo, viola

Martin Smith, cello

Beltane Ruiz Molina, double bass

Anna Viechtl, harp

Clemens Hund-Göschel, piano/keyboard

Daniel Eichholz, percussion

Conductor: Yalda Zamani

WERGO

Release 2026

WER 64502