METAMORPHOSES
(This production will be performed in Dutch)
OVIDIUS REVISITED - 5 YOUNG COMPOSERS IN DIALOGUE
WITH BENJAMIN BRITTEN
In this METAMORPHOSES, music, sand images, and a narrative voice come together in harmony, creating a new and unique whole. For a moment, you are transported to a mythical world.
I SOLISTI NextGeneration Artist, Balder Dendievel, explores the philosophical core ideas of Ovid's Metamorphoses together with writer Michèle Delagrange. Ovid's texts are rich in humor, ambiguity, and musicality, inspiring numerous artists, including composer Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976). His masterful character sketches in "Six Metamorphoses after Ovid" for solo oboe form the backbone of this program. Britten set six characters from the Metamorphoses (Pan, Phaeton, Niobe, Bacchus, Narcissus, and Arethusa) and leaves no possibility of the instrument untouched: Britten crafts his own musical narrative of transformation.
These solos are interspersed with short text fragments from Ovid's work, rewritten by Michèle Delagrange and brought to life by Simone Milsdochter, alongside newly composed pieces. Five young composers have written commissioned works for I SOLISTI (Belgian wind ensemble Antwerp) in a combination of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and percussion, providing their perspective on this theme. Music and text are visually supported by live sand drawings from artist Immanuel Boie ("De Zanderling"), a form of art that seamlessly aligns with the subject matter. Together, they present this musical-literary ensemble on change and the futility of resisting it.
The crossover of music with sand art and word art elevates the mythological content to a new dimension, in a performance centered around a theme that transcends centuries.
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Oboe Solo: Balder Dendievel (I SOLISTI NextGeneration Artist)
Ensemble: I SOLISTI with Lieve Goossens (flute), Balder Dendievel (oboe), Tomonori Takeda (clarinet), Francis Pollet (bassoon), and Mathijs Everts (percussion)
Narrator: Simone Milsdochter
Sand Artist: Immanuel Boie
A production by I SOLISTI ACADEMY
Concept: Balder Dendievel (I SOLISTI NextGeneration Artist)
Text: Michèle Delagrange (I SOLISTI MakerSpace)
Music: Benjamin Britten and commissioned compositions by Emile Daems, Julia Emmery, Noah Senden, Siebe Thijs, Benjamin Windelinckx
Coaches: Francis Pollet, Frederik Neyrinck, Simone Milsdochter