St Petersburg, Concert Hall

The Infernal Comedy


Confessions of a serial killer
Stage-play for a baroque orchestra, sopranos and one actor by Michael Sturminger
Music by Vivaldi, Gluck, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Boccherini and Weber

Writer and Director: Michael Sturminger
Music concept by Martin Haselböck
Costume Designer: Birgit Hutter
Assistant Director: Christiane Lutz

With the participation of Zhanna Dombrovskaya, Anastasia Kalagina, Tatiana Pavlovskaya, Olga Pudova, Larisa Yudina

Conductor: Martin Haselböck

The Infernal Comedy is a stage-play for a baroque orchestra, two sopranos and one actor. It is based on the real-life story of Jack Unterweger, a murderer and acclaimed poet who was imprisoned but later pardoned, a celebrated author and journalist, a notorious womaniser and prime example of reintegration. He was suspected of killing a growing number of prostitutes in Vienna, Graz, Prague and Los Angeles. He then vanished from Vienna and fled to the USA, was arrested in Miami, extradited to Austria and accused of eleven murders before he ultimately committed suicide.

The first scene shows the actor (Jack) reading from his new novel and gradually drifting into his memories which are connected to the melodramatic music of Christoph Willibald von Gluck’s Don Juan. His monologues are interwoven with scenes together with one of the two opera singers. In correlation with a study of the affectations of baroque music, each scene reflects such emotional states as Joy, Hatred, Love, Grief, Desire and Admiration in relation to Jack’s various relationships with women. All of this unfolds against the backdrop of solo pieces such as La scena di Berenice and other works by Vivaldi, Handel, Gluck, Haydn and Mozart that paint the emotional context of our story.

On an ordinary table there is a glass of water and some copies of a paperback. Meanwhile, the orchestra plays the intensely dramatic music of the final Chaconne L’Enfer (the descent to Hell) from Gluck’s Don Juan. Once the music has ended, a handsome middle-aged man wearing a white suit and dark sunglasses comes on stage and welcomes the audience with a brief speech as a preface to a reading of his latest novel which is entitled The Infernal Comedy.

He notes the presence of the great number of beautiful women in the auditorium – after all, the entire book is nothing more than a justification to the women who have always been the centre of his world, his paradise, the source of his despair and his destiny. Perhaps, he notes with an ironic smile, it is all because his name is Jack – Johann or Hans in German, or Juan or Giovanni in Spanish and Italian respectively. At first glance, it would seem that this is an incredibly common name but, if it is your name women will love you and hate you, they will call you a liar and a pervert, yet they will never leave you in peace.

Before he sits down to start the reading, Jack points out that he wrote this novel after his death and that although he was convicted of murder and was an acclaimed author of several plays and novels, he had never before written a single word of truth. Because if he had told even an inkling of the truth he would have spent the rest of his life behind bars. It is, therefore, on this evening only that he will reveal his talent as a writer and performer for the very first time.

“Yes, and before I forget,” he continues, “I will have the pleasure to introduce you to two wonderful ladies, disposed to sing a few nice old fashioned pieces of music, while I will have to clear my throat.”

He indicates the two incredibly beautiful women in stunning evening dresses who appear on both sides of the stage and are welcomed by warm applause. Jack suddenly cuts off the ovations with a sharp gesture, utterly unlike his hitherto charming behaviour. Perplexed, the ladies leave the stage and Jack, reviving his charming manner once more, tells us that these women will be representing several of the women in his life and thus give greater expressiveness to the reading.

Michael Sturminger

 The play The Infernal Comedy was written by Michael Sturminger. In 2008 it was performed in the USA under the title Seduction and Despair, and on 1 July 2009 the full stage version was premiered to great acclaim at the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien, Ronacher. In 2010 the production travelled the world – there were performances of The Infernal Comedy in Luxemburg, Brussels, Paris, Istanbul, Hamburg, Bilbao, Tarragona, Malaga, Athens, Toronto, Quebec, the Ruhr and festivals in Ravello, Spoleto and Turku.
Age category 6+

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