Opera Ballet Vlaanderen brings Ibsen and Grieg to life
In the concert world, the Peer Gynt suites by Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) are universally beloved, but the context in which this music originally sounded – namely as incidental music for Henrik Ibsen's (1828-1906) drama of the same name – remains rarely heard. Opera Ballet Vlaanderen dared to revive this integral approach anew. And how. Under the direction of Tom Goossens, with a sharp ear for text and an even sharper eye for human tragedy, the audience on Wednesday, June 18 experienced a theatrical evening that touched the soul.Ibsen as satirist, Grieg as psychologist
Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt is not a simple play (1867). It is a harrowing journey through the psyche of a man who refuses to face himself. Peer lies, flees, fantasizes – and thereby remains trapped in a cocoon of self-deception. Edvard Grieg's music (1876), often mistakenly interpreted merely as atmospheric backdrop, is in this context much more than accompaniment. It breathes with the text, comments, ironizes, reveals. That this score was heard again in its original function is nothing less than a musical and dramaturgical revelation.
Tom Goossens re-adapted the original text in a refined manner. The new narrative text, with a sense for poetry, irony and accessibility, carries Ibsen's message with respect, but also with necessary lightness. Goossens' signature – known from his ingenious stagings of, among others, Die Fledermaus at OBV – proves effective here as well. In the theatrical design of the piece, clever use was made of the limited space of the Elisabethzaal. Without embellishment, but with a refined theatrical honesty.
The power of Tania Van der Sanden
Actress Tania Van der Sanden took the audience along in the recognizable story of mother Ase. She threw herself into it from the first note and visibly enjoyed herself. The various characters she portrayed (including the troll king and the copper spoon maker) added a light touch to the story and were given convincing faces, but there was also room for restrained reflection where needed, for example when she spoke about the image of the bow: do we go straight ahead or take a detour? Here she touched a universal chord, because rarely is the audience subtly reminded of themselves like this.
Her natural acting style, interwoven with Grieg's subtle sonic palette, gave surprising warmth to an otherwise disruptive story. That Peer Gynt is not merely an adventurous quest became clear this evening as well. Ibsen ruthlessly exposes human weakness: the lie, the delusion of grandeur, the self-deception. Peer lies – to his mother, to his lovers, to himself. And that hurts. Especially in a world where authenticity seems more than ever a rare commodity.
A choir and orchestra in top form, a conductor with vision
Grieg's music, performed in its original context with soloists, choir and orchestra, proved itself once again to be much more than atmosphere creation. Here it was the backbone, the breath of the piece. Melancholic, playful, dark – but always with an accuracy that propelled the story forward.
High praise for the refined orchestral sound. The soloists from the orchestra played their parts confidently. Ase's death received the stillness it needed, while the virtuoso pieces were played with the necessary panache. It is no easy task to study this Grieg alongside Berg's notoriously difficult Wozzeck score, but the orchestra visibly enjoyed it. Young conductor and emerging talent James Henry conducted accurately, sometimes firing up the orchestra somewhat theatrically, but showed masterful understanding of the score and treated the listeners to an orchestral feast for connoisseurs.
The choir sang with conviction and struck the right tone, from the restrained a cappella moments to the shimmering, dramatic outbursts. The cast of characters from the choir – from the milkmaids to the trolls – added an extra dimension, and Lore Binon, as the serene Solveig, sang with a purity that captivated the audience. Her interpretation was honest and serene, and her presence as the anchor of Peer's lost soul was palpable.
A performance that continues to resonate
After almost two hours, overwhelming applause erupted from the audience. This Peer Gynt was no folklore, no musical postcard from Norway. It offered us a confrontational look at the human condition, with Ibsen as dramaturgical scalpel and Grieg as emotional guide.
OBV has not only respected the legacy of Grieg and Ibsen, but has added a deeper layer, so that Peer Gynt was not merely a theatrical experience, but a reflection of ourselves. Peer is not a hero – he is a human like us: full of dreams, shortcomings and anxious denial. What remains after this unmasking is the question. What is left after the layers of the onion? Perhaps nothing – or precisely that which truly matters.
With this production, OBV proves not only respect for heritage, but also daring and vision. Peer Gynt became more than a performance – it became a mirror. And that mirror does not lie…