Gothic, new age and electronica at a classical music festival; people dancing in black medieval-looking clothing with somewhat excessive eye makeup and that at the Festival van Vlaanderen? Have they completely lost their minds?
We put on black jeans, looked for a matching black shirt and immersed ourselves to take a closer look. The verdict is clear: No, they haven't lost their minds, Qntal fits wonderfully into the Lunalia festival in Mechelen.
That Lunalia once again places the voice at the center is something we don't need to tell the readers of Klassiek Centraal. After the opening party, opening concert and the Voca Me concert with music by Hildegard von Bingen, last night was Qntal's turn, and that's without mentioning the other Lunalia concerts of which a review can be read on our website.
For the average classical music enthusiast, Qntal probably won't ring a bell. However, it is one of the projects in which the central voice of this Lunalia, Sigrid Hausen, shines. This versatile mezzo-soprano is not only a member of Voca Me, a choir that specializes in early music, but is also the lead singer of a gothic, new-age band.
Qntal originated from an experiment in the world of medieval music. In 1992, a pick-up ensemble experimented with electronica in the performance of a 14th-century musical piece "Ad Mortem Festinamus" and from out of nowhere became one of the most important phenomena in the Gothic and New Age world. It was the beginning of Qntal and by now they are releasing their 8th album, Nachtblume. They draw texts from the Carmina Burana as well as from German mystic Meister Eckhart, Chaucer and Byron. It's refreshing to hear the Carmina not in an Orffiean manner.
The styles of the songs vary greatly and sometimes it sounds ethereal while the next song lets the beats loose only to then slide into an Oriental atmosphere. They bring each style with equal verve and enthusiasm and joke with the audience and with each other between songs.
The special line-up and musical style created a very diverse, albeit quite small, group of listeners; a crowd of Qntal fans had come down to Mechelen but there were also concert-goers who had never experienced such a performance before and remained open-mouthed until the end. It was also the way to get qntal fans to discover other aspects of music at the festival. The cross-pollination and interaction does work, as several concert-goers told me.
Coloring outside the lines of traditional classical music turns out to be an interesting and fascinating activity, and it ensures that people come closer to each other through music. And what could be more beautiful than that? It is therefore my hope that the Festival van Vlaanderen in Mechelen (and beyond) does more of this kind of experimentation. I'm already a fan.
- WHAT: a concert full of moonflowers
- WHO: Qntal
- WHERE: Cultuurcentrum Mechelen
- WHEN: Unfortunately you missed it, 27 April 2018