Quite a few men will immediately think: "Women are always in charge anyway?" when reading the above title and yes, the title is somewhat cheeky, but that's allowed. The MAfestival 2018 Brugge is dedicated to female composers and so they opened with the opera Rinaldo by the man Georg Friedrich Händel. If you know Rinaldo, you know this was no mistake.
Händel's groundbreaking opera Rinaldo, his first opera that he composed in England and for which he borrowed from himself to incorporate quite a few arias successful in Italy into the opera, is the story about women who conquer hearts and can cast spells, but it is also the story of fighting men of whom of course 'the good one' triumphs over 'the evil one'. That can happen without the evil one being killed, but rather converted because the good one is none other than Godfrey of Bouillon, Goffredo, who manages to convert the Muslim king of Jerusalem. All's well that ends well, although first there is still kidnapping and falling in love and spellcasting going on to the nth degree. It's a pity that spellcasting can't happen now, otherwise some conflicts in our crazy world would already be resolved.
MAfestival called upon the Ensemble Le Caravansérail led by Bertrand Cuiller for this concert version of Rinaldo. The ensemble is increasingly gaining an international reputation and it was thus 'the' challenge to give it the opportunity to open the Bruges part of the Festival van Vlaanderen. Judging by the audience's reaction, it was undoubtedly a successful story. Although I was not entirely 100% captivated by this Rinaldo. The orchestra and the conductor deserve all credit, but the singing did lag at times and could not always convince me equally strongly. Händel requires larger voices with especially more volume, virtuosity and carrying power. This does not mean I did not enjoy it, certainly I did and I understand that the audience thanked the musicians with applause that was almost warmer than the weather during this unique summer.
Cherchez la femme
Oh yes, women in charge then. Well, anyone who could listen to Klara during the early morning hours to Espresso, presented by Katelijne Boon, heard quite a few fascinating stories about female composers told by art historian David Vergauwen, lecturer at Amarant. You can listen to the educational broadcasts here.
Those who want to search for Women in Music even more, should now best surf (if they haven't already) to the website of the MAfestival and quickly order tickets (if they haven't already) and they will not regret searching for 'the woman' in Bruges because they will find them there in a surprising way.
- WHAT: MAfestival 2018 Brugge, opera Rinaldo by Händel
- WHO: Le Caravansérail conducted by Bertrand Cuillier
- WHERE & WHEN: Concertgebouw Brugge, Friday 3.8.2018
