The Georgian Giya Kancheli has dealt more profoundly than any other contemporary composer with the night side of existence. However, life as a path of suffering is not at all depressive and sobering for him, but rather fulfilling, enriching, beautiful. Against this background, Kancheli has repeatedly tried to bridge gaps with his melancholic, moving music. Internationally known mainly for his symphonies, he also wrote one opera – only one, one might lament.

"Music for the Living" deals with a bleak world into which the light of hope breaks. It was first performed in Tbilisi in 1984, followed by a revised version in Weimar in 1999. Since then, the work has not been performed again. The Bonn Theater will remedy this as part of its series "FOKUS'33" – with a new staging by Maxim Didenko.