In Coup Fatal the Congolese contertenor Serge Kakudji joins 13 musicians from Kinshasa in an encounter with the Baroque repertoire of Handel and Glück. The original music is enriched by the broad spectrum of the musicians. Around the vocals of Kakudji a new and contemporary universe is created, both in music and image. The new music is an exuberant and organic whole of Baroque phrases, traditional Congolese music, rock, jazz, and popular Congolese music. The Brussels composer Fabrizio Cassol takes the lead himself. Director Alain Platel and dancer Romain Guion (C (H) OEURS) search with the team for a theatrical form. The decor is realized in collaboration with Freddy Tsimba. He makes in Kinshasa large, disturbing sculptures of bullet shells, which he collected in Congolese war zones. The Baroque Coup Fatal reflects the unadulterated brilliance of perky ‘sapeurs’, the dandies of Kinshasa. There is no need for irony, their exuberance need not be reduced that way. In the background of the gray shell cases, the gaudy and grand gestures will challenge. Rather than a tribute to Baroque music, Coup Fatal is a tribute to the grim elegance of the Congolese. Performance at KVS – BRUSSELS