Heretical Angels

"When I wanted to exist, I could not exist." Mystical inscriptions on old Bosnian gravestones formed the inspiration for this programme. Medieval Bosnia fascinates us through the coexistence of religions: Catholics, Orthodox, heretical Bosnian Christians, Jews and Muslims ... Their texts and traditions have been preserved in oral tradition, in mysterious manuscripts in Latin, Cyrillic and Glagolitic script and on inscriptions on gravestones: Monuments through which the dead speak to the living. Heretical Angels is an exploration of ancient pagan and Christian rites from the heart of the Balkans and testifies to the traditions of Bosnian Christians who were persecuted by the medieval Catholic and Orthodox churches. By interweaving the epitaphs with exorcisms and meditations, Katarina Livljanić, Ensemble Dialogos and Kantaduri have created a story of moving songs that comes close to music theatre and invites us to follow pagan and Christian rituals around birth and death. In this programme, which follows the success of the cd Dalmatica (Diapason d'or 2016), Ensemble Dialogos meets traditional cantors - including one of the youngest epic singers of Herzegovina - to seek peace and meaning in a land ravaged by wars at the gates of the East.