Mariavespers

Monteverdi’s moving Marian Vespers are visualised by DNO director Pierre Audi, in an installation by the Belgian artist Berlinde De Bruyckere, in the monumental Gashouder in Amsterdam.

Not only was Monteverdi the first important opera composer, but he

also breathed new life into the religious music of his day. In his Marian Vespers, he combined the old, strict composition style with the modern, free way of setting words to music that led to the creation of music theatre.

Dutch National Opera has performed all the surviving music theatre works by Claudio Monteverdi in acclaimed productions. Now, the colourful Marian Vespers is being represented visually, for which it is excellently suited. Musicologist Denis Morrier calls the Marian Vespers ‘...a wonderful tree. The roots reach deep into the rich past, the broad, strong trunk evokes the splendour of a turbulent present and the luxuriant foliage branches out fruitfully towards the future’.

As there is no ‘real’ storyline in Marian Vespers, director Pierre Audi chose for a ‘mise-en-espace’, rather than a ‘staging’ in the traditional sense. He is collaborating with artist Berlinde De Bruyckere, with whom he previously staged the opera Penthesilea in Brussels. Religious symbolism and mythology are important elements in De Bruyckere’s work.

The music of the Marian Vespers is performed by the historic instrumentalists and the singers of the young Baroque ensemble Pygmalion, led by Raphaël Pichon who, like Pygmalion, is making his first guest appearance with DNO.