The summer of 2020. The world is in the grip of an unprecedented pandemic. The world as we know it stands under immense pressure.
The crisis has also impacted Dutch National Opera. The scheduled new production of Arrigo Boito’s Mefistofele, a large-scale opera based on Goethe’s Faust, cannot go ahead. Almost four years of preparation time – programming in the opera world happens far in advance – cannot culminate in a performance that had to open not only a new season, but also a new artistic era.
Against this background, Lisenka Heijboer Castañón and Manoj Kamps were asked to fill the empty space. Their assignment: take Goethe’s Faust as a starting point and make sure that the production is flexible, so that it can be adapted to changing measures and protocols.
In an artistic pressure cooker FAUST [working title] was created in just three months. The title was decided on when little was clear about the project, except that it could still go in all directions. Work in progress.
In addition to existing Faust repertoire, items from the personal musical archives of the artistic team and the performers have been included. The choices are personal, nestled in the bodies of those involved.
The musical world of FAUST [working title] is layered and polyphonic. The classical repertoire is present, next to lesser performed works. In addition, several contemporary composers have been asked to add their voices – no matter how loud or subtle – to these works.
Born out of limitations, FAUST [working title] is a performance that celebrates abundance.
The Programme
PROLOGO IN CIELO
(from Mefistofele)
Arrigo Boito & Martín Mayo
–
AIR D’HÉLÈNE
(from Faust et Hélène)
Lili Boulanger & Lochlan Brown
Performer: Polly Leech
–
PÂNĂ CÂND NU TE IUBEAM
(Romanian song)
Vasile Nedea
Performers: Olga Busuioc
–
ROMANCE DE L’ÉTOILE
(from Eighth symphony & L’étoile)
Gustav Mahler, Emmanuel Chabrier & Marc Migó
Performer: Martin Mkhize
–
VENTI, TURBINI
(from Rinaldo)
Georg Friedrich Händel & Rick van Veldhuizen
Performer: Polly Leech
–
PALOMA NEGRA
(recording)
Tomás Méndez & Chavela Vargas
–
LAKUTSHON’ ILANGA
Mackay Davashe, Miriam Makeba, Thuthuka Sibisi & Maretha van der Walt
Performer: Martin Mkhize
–
遠和近 FAR AND NEAR
(to a poem by Gu Cheng)
Lingbo Ma
Performer: Fang Fang Kong
–
MOON BRIDGE
Florence Price & Meriç Artaç
–
THE GENERATION
(to a poem by Gu Cheng) Lingbo Ma Sung by: Fang Fang Kong
–
L’ALTRA NOTTE IN FONDO AL MARE
(From Mefistofele)
Arrigo Boito & Grace-Evangeline Mason
Performer: Olga Busuioc
–
CERF-VOLANT
(From Les Choristes)
Bruno Coulais
–
FOUR ETHERS
(based on Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz, recording) serpentwithfeet
–
LONELY CHILD
Claude Vivier
Performer: Olga Busuioc
–
RIDDA E FUGA INFERNALE
(from Mefistofele)
Arrigo Boito & Florian Magnus Maier
–
WE WEAR THE MASK
Paul Laurence Dunbar
–
KOMM! HEBE DICH ZU HÖHEREN SPHÄREN
(from Eighth symphony)
Gustav Mahler & Lochlan Brown
Performer: Olga Busuioc
–
GRETCHEN AM SPINNRADE
Franz Schubert & Reinbert de Leeuw
Performers: Olga Busuioc, Polly Leech & Martin Mkhize
–
VITHIYIN KURAL
(based on Schicksalslied)
Johannes Brahms & Ravi Kittappa
–
JOY BOY
Julius Eastman
–
EPILOGUE
Akim Moiseenkov
Performers: Zeynep Ajar, Alaaedin Baker, Renato Bertolino, Olga Busuioc, Mary-Jane Franker, Polly Leech, Jonathan Lever, Martin Mkhize, Lidiane Moreira, Federica Panariello, Renzo Popolizio & François Vincent