Graphic Design: Mirko Borsche continue their revitalisation of classical music

Date
11 July 2013

It’s hard to convey with simple words just how much I love the work of Mirko Borsche. A facial expression might do it better; wide-eyed excitement paired with an open mouth that’s just loosed a glistening bulb of drool. You see Mirko’s pretty much single-handedly transforming the visual landscape of classical music in Germany, producing printed collateral for the Bayerische Staatsoper that adds an up-to-date approach to material so often treated with a woeful lack of creativity or imagination.

It’s widely accepted that music of a certain era should be paired with imagery that matches it, so baroque comes with oil paintings of bewigged regency figures – actually pretty much all visual material pertaining to classical music features an oil painting in some form. It’s a schtick that’s hard to shake. But Mirko’s turing the tables on this creatively barren landscape, injecting opera programmes with a deserved luxury and a visual framework that’s more suited to the timeless quality of the material itself. After all, opera is just a story set to music; the staging of it offers as much creative freedom as a director chooses and the related print material should reflect that.

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Mirko Borsche: Simon Boccanegra programme for the Bayerische Staatsoper

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Mirko Borsche: Simon Boccanegra programme for the Bayerische Staatsoper

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Mirko Borsche: Simon Boccanegra programme for the Bayerische Staatsoper

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Mirko Borsche: Simon Boccanegra programme for the Bayerische Staatsoper

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Mirko Borsche: Il Trovatore programme for the Bayerische Staatsoper

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Mirko Borsche: Il Trovatore programme for the Bayerische Staatsoper

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Mirko Borsche: Il Trovatore programme for the Bayerische Staatsoper

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Mirko Borsche: Il Trovatore programme for the Bayerische Staatsoper

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Mirko Borsche: Il Trovatore programme for the Bayerische Staatsoper

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Mirko Borsche: Il Trovatore programme for the Bayerische Staatsoper

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About the Author

James Cartwright

James started out as an intern in 2011 and came back in summer of 2012 to work online and latterly as Print Editor, before leaving in May 2015.

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