OBV continues to sparkle, pulling out all the stops and appealing to every segment of the audience and their interests: opera, concerts, classical and contemporary dance, and young people get their moment in the spotlight, both on stage with OBV's youth choir and in the audience.
'Summer & Winter' is a brand new, playful, somewhat absurd production based on an old theatrical text from the late 14th, early 15th century – one of the so-called morality plays. Most of the Middle Dutch text has been preserved. The sounds are a joy to sing. The spoken dialogue was provided by Thomas Janssens. While the traditional morality plays confined themselves to courtly love, here Summer and Winter compete to outdo each other in every way. Yet neither gains the upper hand, and a third character, the host-narrator Cockijn, played by Imke Mol, serves as the connection to the audience. An allegorical tale in which Summer and Winter become characters and settle their feud in a musical duel. Fantastically performed by the spirited, warm, and lovely soprano Lissa Meyvis as Summer. With the greatest ease, she commands the highest registers. Her rival is the gruff baritone Kris Belligh as Winter, whose voice can drop chillingly to the deepest, rumbling bass notes.
The SPECTRA ensemble: Pieter Jansen – violin; Ben Faes – double bass; Tille Van Gastel – flute; Julien Bénéteau – clarinet; Frank Van Eycken – percussion; Bart Cypers – horn and Frankie De Kuyper – trumpet conducted by Hans Vercauteren provide vibrant live musical accompaniment. The score was composed by Hans Vercauteren together with Lente Verelst and includes solo passages for Summer and Winter, duets, and beautiful choral sections, combining classical elements with simplicity and repetition. The music drives the emotions and heightens the tension.
Imagination at its finest
Director Kenza Koutchoukali realizes, together with the SPECTRA ensemble, Lissa Meyvis, Kris Belligh, and Imke Mol, a family production about stubborn ideologies and desires. But we nearly forgot the most beautiful element: the 30-strong children's choir of the opera. They stand enthusiastically and disciplined on stage. Their acting and singing are endearing and bring a smile to your face. They don't stand rigidly and stiffly but are actively involved in the action. They storm about, participate in the battles between Summer and Winter. There are also many playful and inventive moments. Maximum impact is drawn from a simple sheet of paper. Paper isn't just a narrative device. They fold it into a paper airplane and toss it into the audience, later the papers are collected and they imitate the sound of falling leaves and rain, and still later a snowball fight is settled with them, etc. At a later point, Venus also appears on stage. The children try to convince the goddess to help them resolve the conflict between Summer and Winter. Swayed by much flattery, Venus is persuaded. She arrives just in time, for Summer and Winter were about to end their struggle violently. She intervenes and reminds them that they exist because of each other: that one only has meaning because the other exists – a plea for harmony. Venus dismantles the feud and reconciles Winter and Summer, because they cannot exist without each other. They will henceforth take turns in peace and harmony. Meanwhile, young Cockijn: Milo Devroede (member of the children's choir) also gets to sing some beautiful passages. With his pure choirboy voice, he spontaneously won the hearts of the audience.
'Summer & Winter' reflects on age-old feuds and the endless cycle of the beautiful seasons, each with their own character and charm. On the stage of theater 't Eilandje, the youthful cast takes the audience on a spirited and playful visual journey with lush music and singing – the invisible threads that bind us together.
The comments from both young and old afterward were wonderful to hear: brilliant, interesting, awesome, cute, cool, amazing…
