pssst: SPACE
Eva Šušková and Peter Mazalán (SK) – FINE / Death Speaks
concert in images, world premiere
Date: 05 June 2026
Venue: ODA
Admission: free
Space defines the possibilities of movement. It defines modes of being. It is malleable; we believe we can create and transform it. Space is geometry, volume, distance, and orientation. How many spaces do you pass through every day? How many do you notice, and how many slip by unseen? Space is part of everyday (con)sumption. It affects how we feel, what we think about, and the way we think. For urban people, architecture is the scenography of everyday life. This is where our stories, dramas, and joys unfold.
As part of the event pssst: SPACE, urban space becomes a place for art. The façades of ODA, the Circular Army House in the centre of Trenčín, become the stage – staircases and balconies facing Vajanského Street, as well as the rear section hidden from the main view. In a world premiere, Peter Mazalán and Eva Šušková will present their new performative-musical work FINE / Death Speaks, inspired by the music of American composer David Lang.
The theme of death, silence, and human fragility meets concrete human and spatial boundaries. FINE / Death Speaks analyzes the inner image of a person and explores the body at the limits of its physical possibilities – the body as a place of exhaustion, resistance, and inner strength. Despite its dark starting points, the project opens space for hope: the word FINE is used both in its familiar English meaning and its Italian meaning. “I am fine” appears here not as a certainty or a phrase, but as a fragile, consciously spoken decision to continue and not define FINE as “the end.” In the tension between exhaustion and inner energy, the possibility of renewal is born – a quiet acceptance of life despite its finiteness.
The concert is not only a musical event, but also an invitation to look at the city differently – and to see differently the spaces that until now have remained at the edge of our perception.
Cast:
Peter Mazalán – stage concept, vocals, performance
Eva Šušková – musical concept, vocals, performance
David Danel – violin, performance
Miloš Slobodník – electric guitar, performance
Fero Király – piano, performance
Eva Šušková (1979) is a concert singer and music educator. As an artist, she has long focused on chamber music of all stylistic periods and cross-genre collaborations, especially music of the 20th century and contemporary music. She has performed in many opera houses, at international and domestic music and theatre festivals, collaborating with renowned conductors, orchestras, and ensembles. Her recordings document both profile projects and diverse cross-genre artistic collaborations. She is the recipient of the Tatra Bank Foundation Award for Art, the Radio Head Awards, and the Frico Kafenda Award. She works at the Faculty of Education of Comenius University and with the non-profit organisation Superar Slovakia.
Peter Mazalán (1984) is a director, scenographer, and singer. He studied opera singing and scenography at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava and also graduated from the Faculty of Architecture and Design at the Slovak University of Technology. He has performed at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Stadttheater Klagenfurt, Theater Kiel, the National Theatre in Ostrava and Brno, and the Slovak National Theatre. He has collaborated with ensembles such as the Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Münchner Symphoniker, Chorwerk Ruhr, and Filharmonie Brno. He currently focuses mainly on original intermedia projects connecting classical song literature with contemporary performative and visual techniques. His projects Enough Already / Ich habe genug (2022) and the performative project Schwanengesang / Swan Song (2024) were nominated for the Dosky Theatre Awards. At the beginning of 2026, his new project for the Drama Company of the Slovak National Theatre, Studies on Life with Autism Spectrum Disorder, received positive acclaim. In addition to his artistic practice, he teaches at the Department of Scenography at the Academy of Performing Arts and works as an associate professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Design of the Slovak University of Technology.
David Lang (1957) is an American composer and one of the leading figures of contemporary music. In 1987, he became one of the founding members of the New York collective Bang on a Can, which became one of the most influential platforms for new music at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. Lang’s work lies at the intersection of minimalism, experimental music, and music theatre; it is characterized by direct expression, the use of repetition, gradual processes, and a sensitive relationship between music and text. He is the author of orchestral, chamber, vocal, and stage works performed by leading ensembles and festivals worldwide, and he is a professor of composition at the Yale School of Music. His music is regularly heard both in concert halls and in interdisciplinary artistic projects.
