programme
Frank Martin (1890-1974) Le vin herbé
performers
Cappella Amsterdam
Ulrike Quade Company
ICK Dans Amsterdam
Dutch String Collective
Daniel Reuss conductor
Léo Warynski conductor (March 22, 23 and 24)
Carolyn Sampson Isolde
Tristan Blanchet Tristan (March 22, 23 and 29)
Georgi Sztojanov Tristan (March 26)
Thomas Walker Tristan
Jonathan Waleson pianist
background
It is with great regret —and disappointment— that we must unfortunately cancel the performance of Le vin herbé on March 20 at the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam. Both chief conductor Daniel Reuss and tenor Thomas Walker, who plays the role of Tristan, have tested positive for the coronavirus.
*Conductor Léo Warynski will conduct Le vin herbé in Leiden, Utrecht and Ghent. On March 23, 24, 25, and 29, soloist Thomas Walker will be replaced by tenor Tristan Blanchet. For the concert performance on March 26, Georgi Sztojanov will perform the role of Tristan.
Cappella Amsterdam will sing Le vin herbé under the direction of conductor Daniel Reuss, featuring soloists Thomas Walker and Carolyn Sampson. This magical masterpiece by Swiss composer Frank Martin (1890-1974) is given a contemporary adaptation directed by Ulrike Quade in an animated setting by artist duo WANDSCHAPPEN, with choreography by Emio Greco and Pieter C. Scholten
For those who wish to experience Le vin herbé purely musically, the piece will be performed without puppets, dance, and scenery in the Nieuwe Kerk in The Hague.
Le vin herbé is named after the “herbal wine” that forges love between Tristan and Isolde in the medieval epic. In this heartbreaking love story, Tristan and Isolde are each destined to marry someone else. However, a cruel twist of fate leads them, by accidentally drinking a love potion, to fall hopelessly in love with each other.
Martin’s hypnotic composition and gripping story lend themselves perfectly to a multidisciplinary performance. In a frame narrative consisting of 22 tableaux, the stories of Tristan, Isolde and their destined lovers Branghien and King Mark are told. Embracing song, music, visual theater, puppetry, dance and design, this medieval story is mystically enacted with two soloists, twenty-four choral singers, eight instrumentalists and six dancers.
The performers alongside Cappella Amsterdam include...
Ulrike Quade Company
Ulrike Quade Company creates visual theater. Their performances consist of a unique combination of acting, dance, music, scenography, and literature, with the common thread being the use of puppets. These are sometimes in the tradition of Oriental puppetry (such as bunraku or wayang), but just as readily we use hyper-realistic puppets (as lifelike copies of the players) or high-tech ones such as robots or cyborgs.
ICK Dance Amsterdam
The Company of ICK consists of an ensemble of dancers and a junior company: ICK Next. Together, founders Emio Greco and Pieter C. Scholten are building a contemporary repertoire centered on the intuitively moving body. Guest choreographers are also invited to create works based on the overarching theme, The Body in Rebellion.
Dutch String Collective
What began 25 years ago as a group of studio musicians, has grown into an experienced versatile multidisciplinary ensemble known both for so many outstanding performances in the studio, and an unmissable element on the Dutch concert stages.
On the stages, the Dutch String Collective presents adventurous concerts with a very individual interpretation, from early music to contemporary compositions, from salon music to new jazz. With the common goal of presenting music in a different, inspiring way where there are no sacred cows and where the musicians’ own initiative is paramount.