On 9 September 2026, at the Auditorium Conciliazione, Caterina Barbieri, Christian Marclay and the ONCEIM orchestra opened the 41st edition of the Romaeuropa Festival with an evening divided into three parts: Christian Marclay’s Constellation, performed by ONCEIM, Non puoi contare l’infinito and, finally, Caterina Barbieri Live – 50’ for electronics, vocal ensemble and brass. “Caterina Barbieri uses music to bend time and space around herself,” wrote a Pitchfork critic in 2019[1], Thus, responding to one of the composer’s projects and offering an interpretative framework which, today, following this performance, takes on a new meaning. A living, breathing entity of the performance brings together the scattered elements – which may not be immediately apparent to the audience – into a cohesive whole: a musical and transformed vision of consciousness.
The first part, the orchestral section, is built on contrast: tensions, dissonances and sudden openings prevent the listener from settling into the music. Christian Marclay’s Constellation treats improvisation as an almost physical phenomenon, consisting of mutual listening, variations and imperceptible shifts. On stage, breathing, heartbeats, the sounds of bodies and the chaos of the instruments coexist. These are not merely incidental elements of the performance, but become an active part of the composition, gradually drawing the audience into the narrative. The orchestra thus ceases to be a predictable entity, as it is no longer confined to following the conductor’s instructions or the written score, but constructs a second narrative layer, akin to the logic of artistic performance, the contours of which are revealed as the event unfolds.
The second part, comprising Caterina Barbieri’s new composition, continues this organic construction. Whilst Bruma and Non puoi contare l’infinito seem to ask the audience to inhale and hold their breath, the subsequent Caterina Barbieri Live, on the other hand, seems to let them breathe out. Whilst the space remains bathed in soft light, criss-crossed by light sources refracting through the mist, the composer’s station remains the main focus of attention. Shortly afterwards, the sound engulfs the hall with an almost physical force. The experience Barbieri offers is never uniform, as it takes on the form of a sound installation. At that moment, the composer does not merely ask us to listen, but invites us to engage with a multi-sensory work.
Indeed, the logic and narrative of the performance held at the Auditorium Conciliazione are not immediately apparent from the perspective of a philharmonic concert. It can also be interpreted through the lens of contemporary art: an experience in which the various components work together to shape a perception. To grasp the significance of the double premiere by Caterina Barbieri and the ONCEIM orchestra, one must continue to view the performance as a living, layered and multifunctional organism. The Romaeuropa Festival facilitates this shift in perspective, allowing the music to transform into space, presence and matter.
Sound, in this instance, becomes the space and simultaneously inhabits it, guiding the audience through various states of trance. It never recedes into the background, but rather becomes the vessel, the container that encompasses all the other elements and presents them anew to the audience.
[1] Miles Bowe, Ecstatic Computation. Caterina Barbieri, Pirchfork, 23.05.2019, https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/caterina-barbieri-ecstatic-computation/
