OBV opens the new opera season in a special way. With De Materie by Louis Andriessen, the opera house makes a statement that it wants to take a deliberate path and dares to venture away from traditional routes.
De Materie by Louis Andriessen was created in 1989 at the annual Holland festival in a production by Robert Wilson. It was then described by Belgian music journalist André Hebbelinck as "a piece like a dike" (Knack, 14 June 1989). While the production was front-page news in the Netherlands at the time, the press interest for the creation of the opera at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen is roughly equivalent. The premiere proved it was justified.
Abstract story brought to life
The title hardly appeals to the imagination. On the contrary, it calls for some explanation. What is "De Materie" about? The subject that Louis Andriessen (1939-2021) addresses in the opera combines philosophy, history and science. The opera poses the question: "How does the human spirit relate to matter"? Louis Andriessen attempts to formulate an answer through four periods that have defined the history and life in the "Low Countries" – that is, Flanders and the Netherlands. These periods are the four parts of the opera and each forms, as it were, an independent one-act play. The texts are compiled by Andriessen himself and are something of a patchwork, each also with its own musical style, especially an unconventional opera style.
Direction: subtle with much meaning
Although "Materie" refers to something physical, there is hardly an opera imaginable that is more abstract. But the very sober and at the same time very subtly conceived direction creates music theatre that comes to life and captivates. The set emerges through direction. Phia Ménard is responsible for both direction and scenography. The opera begins on an empty stage with pure-white blocks as walls. On the floor are wide strips of flexible material ("materie") that are gradually shaped by the dancers to the sounds of music that is equally abstract and wordless. This set is constant and receives the appropriate variation for each part, depending on the content of that part. Thus, the bow of a ship is evoked for the first part (sixteenth century with the shipyard and the philosopher Gorlaeus), the vaults of a cathedral for the second (vision of Hadewych), colour fields are added (early twentieth century and the painter Piet Mondriaan), and finally a strange light circle is shown that suggests the scientific progress of chemical elements. This part, which focuses on the Polish-French scientist Marie Curie, first places her in the circle for her scientific contribution when she receives the Nobel Prize. Then she steps out of the circle for her heartbreaking farewell text to her deceased husband, the most moving moment. With that, the opera ends in stillness. The visual aspect of the production is simply enchanting, a true masterpiece by director and set designer Phia Ménard.
Music for the unspeakable
Debussy claimed that "music serves the unspeakable". Louis Andriessen is certainly an extreme representative of that. The score is structured according to a strict framework with a calculated use of instruments such as percussion and wind, which carry the opera far more than voice or vocal parts. In many passages the voice is even simply "drowned out" by the instrumentation and the loud effects of mostly percussion. In this case, that is probably only to a limited extent a matter of poor balance between orchestra pit and stage, but simply inevitable due to the nature of the composition. Young conductor Bas Wiegers masterfully controls Andriessen's score, which is certainly evident from the unique and sometimes overwhelming effects, but especially from his very beautifully indicated transitions from one part to the next. You didn't need to look at the text display to see: here begins the next part, you could hear it announced in the music.
The choreography plays a particularly large role in the opera and throughout the performance is not only aesthetically skillful but always meaningfully employed. It contributes to the success of the production.
The vocal parts are, however limited, of course essential, and there the shoe pinched a little. Tenor Robin Tritschler sang the part of Gorlaeus with little clear tenor, moreover in incomprehensible Dutch (Middle Dutch?). Perhaps as a stand-in he had too little preparation time, as his name was added with a sticker in the programme. Katrien Baerts was vocally a heavenly Hadewych, and assisted by the choreography, she portrayed as the erotically-mystical Hadewych perfectly the religious compulsion with which she mastered sexual desire. The performance of Lies Pauwels as Marie Curie in the final part, on the other hand, did not convince me at all, even disturbed me, as heartbreaking as her grief and tribute to her husband Pierre is expressed. An ending that, as a contrast to the many loud blows, nevertheless brings stillness at the end of the performance.
A production that Opera Ballet Vlaanderen may include in its annals of opera history.