Tuesday May 10 was indeed a new landmark for the Flemish music landscape: De Bekeerlinge by composer Wim Henderickx. The spectacle was nothing less than a psychological Grand Opéra. In collaboration with Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, the magnificent story by Stefan Hertmans came to life. We follow Vigdis Adelaïs, Sarah, black Hamoutal (soprano Lore Binon) in her search for meaning, a place, for her children – who is the convert ultimately?
De Bekeerlinge is innovative in sound and word, and cannot be summarized in a few words. What initially was a review has grown into a true exposé – an exhibition of the opera. Just as Vigdis in the story keeps searching, this is a journey through the complex landscape of the newest opera, I may say masterpiece, by Wim Henderickx.
The composer who gave Vigdis her voice
In the Flemish music landscape over the past decades, a number of composers seem to have emerged who are mastering the international spirit of the times: Luc Brewaeys, Karel Goeyvaerts, Annelies van Parys, and so too Wim Henderickx. A legacy that speaks creation has nothing to do with grandeur or spectacle, but with the language you teach the audience to "speak" (by listening). A new musical language is always born from the fingers of composers like Wim Henderickx. The language of Wim Henderickx's music I had to summarize in three words for Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, and the word that especially stayed with me is "multidisciplinary" (the others were, to my recollection, "intense" and "sensational"). And that is indeed so; the musical language of Wim Henderickx always flows with the story. Multiple disciplines and cultures are involved. Soundscapes, multi-vocality, mantras – a lot comes at the listener both instrumentally and vocally. And it fits perfectly. The compositions are created with the greatest respect for sound and culture, with a clearly audible affinity for the accessibility of music. There are few composers with this gift. Another example that comes to mind, but from a completely different genre, is film composer Howard Shore. What I am trying to achieve with this account is to create a picture of how many facets of Wim Henderickx as a composer exist, and how this puzzle creates a unique sound image. For the music of De Bekeerlinge, Vigdis, the tragic protagonist, was the muse of his musical language. And like a painter, Wim Henderickx set to work to give us the complex, musical tableau of the opera De Bekeerlinge.
The woman in all her complexity: De Bekeerlinge by Stefan Hertmans
That the opera of De Bekeerlinge places the woman in all her psychological nakedness is putting it mildly. In the history of opera, woman has always played a sort of dual role: as a protagonist or antagonist in the first sense, but also as a psychological, or even sexual, driving force in the second sense. Do not be mistaken when you listen to or watch an opera: the underlying layers of the characters create new dimensions, and even sounds. A woman has always been a being of fascination and conflict – think of the Queen of the Night in her quest for power, but also for freedom – for what woman should bury her power together with her husband –, in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte (1791), the magnificent Floria Tosca, in all her conflict between her own strength and her love for Mario (Tosca, Giacomo Puccini, 1900), or the tragic, realistic Suor Angelica by Puccini (second part of Il trittico, 1918). The latter, in her penance and the pursuing past, could almost be a reincarnation of Vigdis – the convert. There is something beautiful, fragile, tormented about the story of the blonde Jewess. Her desires are very human, but her fate is tragic.
That Stefan Hertmans based himself on historical sources – he researched Jewish documents regarding a Christian woman from the eleventh century, who squandered her life for love of a Jewish man –, makes the reality tangible. That De Bekeerlinge by Wim Henderickx has gone from a chamber opera (according to the words of OBV director Jan Vandenhouwe) to contemporary Grand Opéra is anything but surprising.
WHAT: De Bekeerlinge (The Convert)
WHO: Wim Henderickx [music], Krystian Lada [libretto], Hans Op de Beeck [direction]
VOICES: Lore Binon, Vincenzo Neri, Amel Brahim-Djelloul, Luvuyo Mbundu
ORCHESTRA: Symfonisch Orkest Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, Choir and Children's Choir Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, Stadskoor Madam Fortuna
WHERE: Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, Antwerp
WHEN: Tuesday 10-5-2022, premiere
INFO: De bekeerlinge can be seen until 19 May in Antwerp, and on 27, 29 May and on 2 and 4 June at the opera in Gent. Tickets and more information on this link.