The Teatre Goya presents The Grand Inquisitor (Bach · Dostoevsky · Messiaen), a distinctive stage production starring Lluís Homar and the Piano Duo Brugalla & Stambolov, combining spoken word and live music to explore one of the great dilemmas of the human condition: the tension between individual freedom and the tyranny of power.
The performance is based on the celebrated chapter of The Grand Inquisitor from Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel The Brothers Karamazov, transporting audiences to sixteenth-century Seville at the height of the Spanish Inquisition. In this story, Jesus mysteriously reappears among the people and is imprisoned by the highest-ranking cardinal of the Inquisition, who confronts him with an uncompromising discourse on power, submission, and human nature.
The production establishes a dialogue between Dostoevsky’s text and the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and Olivier Messiaen, two composers deeply connected to the spiritual dimension. The performances for two pianos by the Piano Duo Brugalla & Stambolov provide the sonic counterpoint to a reflection of profound philosophical and emotional intensity.
Conceived as a total theatrical experience, The Grand Inquisitor offers a contemporary perspective on the mechanisms of domination and the need to safeguard freedom in the face of all forms of authoritarianism. An exceptional encounter between literature, theatre, and music, it invites audiences to question the boundaries between obedience and freedom.
