Composer of the month
401DutchOperas Anthology I
The first part of the 401DutchOperas Anthology covers the period from Sweelinck (1595) to the French Period 1814. The book will be published in 2023 by the Dato Fund in collaboration with the Netherlands Music Institute Foundation. Included are opera composers such as Vondel/Padbrué, Huygens and the Amsterdam Liedschool composers 1687-1715: Hacquart/Buysero, Petersen, Anders and Schenck. In the first half of the 18th century also Van Blankenburg, De Fesch and Zingoni. From the period of Stadtholder William V: Jacob Jan van Wassenaer Obdam, Josina van Boetzelaer, Gottfried van Swieten, Belle van Zuylen, Colizzi, JMeissner, Just, the Mulligen brothers, and Mozart in The Hague. In the French Period: Bartholomeus Ruloffs, Jean des Communes and Ludwig van Beethoven, of whom the story is examined that he was born in Zutphen. A biographical sketch is given for each composer, followed by the plot summaries of those operas by his or her hand of which music survived. These plots are followed by a discussion of the work and a discography. The CDs in and around the book contain highlights from almost all the works discussed.
Opera of the month
BEETHOVEN/NIEUWENHUIZEN: VESTAS FEUER
In June 2022, 401 Dutch Operas presented a try-out (with reduced orchestra) of the torso of Beethoven's first opera, Vestas Feuer, as reconstructed by Cees Nieuwenhuizen. Vestas Feuer was composed in 1803 on a libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder, librettist of Die Zauberflöte! It is an exciting adventure story full of miraculous escapes and with outstanding music. Including two world premieres of completely unknown Beethoven opera arias that Nieuwenhuizen reconstructed for us from the never before examined sketches for scenes 2 to 8. We are now looking into possibilities to have a staged world-premiere with full orchestra.
François-Auguste Gevaert
François-Auguste Gevaert
Remembered mostly as director of the Brussels Conservatory and for his theoretical publications, François-Auguste Gevaert is slowly regaining some of his former stature as as a composer. In 2015 the Brussels Conservatory performed his Offenbach-like opera Le capitaine Henriot (preserved by us on film) and we present highlights from his most famous opera, Quentin Durward, sung by baritone Joris Grouwels and soprano Pauline Lebbe. 401DutchOperas released the video as download under 401Concerts Nr. 2.
Jan van Gilse: Helga von Stavern
Jan van Gilse: Helga von Stavern
Because of his opera Thijl (1940) Jan van Gilse now counts as The Netherlands's most important opera composer but he would not find recognition until 35 years after his tragic death in 1944. His first opera Helga von Stavern failed to make it to any stage because of the bizarre Marxist-political libretto. 401Concerts 4 (18 December 2016 in the OBA Concert Hall The Hague - Spui) will bring the reprise of Helga's monologue 'Ist es denn wahr?', in which the Götterdämmerung Brünnhilde blends with Elektra. Additionally we will bring the world premiere of the final duet between Haron and Helga, with bass-baritone Andreas Goetze and soprano Barbara Schilstra. Helga's monologue from the earlier concert is available in the creation of Jolien De Gendt via 401Concerts 3 download. The creations of Schilstra and Goetze shall be made available as 401Concerts 4 download from December 20 onwards.
Vlaams Opera Symposium
In December 2015 a special symposium on past and future of Flemish operas was organized in the Ghent Opera, focusing the rise of Flemish opera in 1840 to the fin de siècle works by Jan Blockx, Emiel Wambach and Paul Gilson. Lecturers were Adelheid Ceulemans, Jan Dewilde and Johanna Ferket. Following a panel discussed the sense or nonsense of reviving the best operas of Blockx, Wambach or Paul Gilson today. This resulted in a heated discussion!
Ignace Lilien • Beatrijs
Polish-Dutch composer Ignace Lilien (1867-1943) scored one of the greatest successes in Dutch operatic history, with Beatrijs (1928). We wil perform some of its most impressive excerpts at the very first 401DutchOperas live concert of April 26, 2015, in Hoog-Keppel. Among these excerpts the exuberant central duet Beatrijs–Gratiaan stands out.
G.F. de Pauw: Bellida (1897)
Gustaaf Francies de Pauw
Dutch composer Gustaaf Francies de Pauw (1867-1943) composed but one opera, in 1897: Bellida. With the unique 2003/2004 revival now being opera of the month, we made De Pauw composer of the month February. Bellida also features in our first ever 401DutchOperas live concert of April 26, 2015, in Hoog-Keppel, where Flemish tenor Denzil Delaere shall sing the Act I aubade of Bertino, 'Le mai sur le charmille'.
Arnoud Noordegraaf: As Big As The Sky
In his opera As Big As The Sky which mixes traditional Kunqu opera and Wagnerian late romantic, Dutch composer Arnoud Noordegraaf investigates the clash of cultures between East and West, tradition and avant garde, romanticism and reality. With decors by Ai Weiwei.
Gevaert: Quentin Durward
Gevaert: Quentin Durward
Gevaert's opera Quentin Durward was premiered at the Paris Opéra-Comique in 1858. It spread to Belgium, Sweden, Germany, Switserland and The Netherlands. On a libretto by Eugène Cormon & Michel Carré after Walter Scott, the opera is considered Gevaert's masterpiece. We filmed these highlights at the concert of Joris Grouwels and Pauline Lebbe in Museum Vleeshuis, Antwerp. They are a valuable extension of the currently available repertoire from the Opéra-Comique of those days and available for download under 401Concerts Nr. 2.
Limnander van Nieuwenhove
The Flemish composer Armand Limnander van Nieuwenhove conquered Paris in 1847 with his opéra-comique Les Monténégrins. Meyer- beer respected him, Auber copied him, yet his name fell into complete oblivion. Recently soprano Pauline Lebbe sang an aria from De Nieuwenhove's opéra-comique Le Maître-Chanteur from 1853 (post Wagner's work renamed into Maximilien à Francfort). 401DutchOperas was there to capture this precious moment on film.UNIQUE VIDEO DUTCH OPERA ARIAS CONCERT
The video and audio downloads of the April 26, 2015, 401DutchOperas Concert are now available here. They include stunning performances of arias and duets from Dutch and Flemish operas. Participating are soprano Jolien De Gendt, tenor Denzil Delaere, and pianist Pieter Dhoore. Performed were duets and arias from operas by Ten Cate, Van Bree, Von Brucken-Fock, Brandts-Buys, Eckert, Lilien, Jan Rijken, Harry Mayer, De Pauw, and Miry.Martijn Padding (1956)
In June 2014, Dutch composer Martijn Padding (1956) presented his second opera, Laika. He then became composer of the month June.
Martijn Padding: Laika (2014)
From 3 to 8 juni 2014 Martijn Paddings opera Laika was premiered at the Holland Festival Amsterdam. Laika deals with a television host who breaks down over viewer statstics and wants to join the floating first man and dog in space, Juri Gagarin and Laika. ARTICLE IN ENGLISH!
