Open-air concerts in the Antwerp region are flourishing. There is Jazz Middelheim, by now a classic. At the provincial estate De Schorre in Boom, this year sees the second edition of 'Lekker Klassiek' and Prince Simon de Merode is putting on an open-air musical for a third time on his spacious estate in Westerlo. A fine alliance between cultural heritage and a musical that moreover ties in with the city festival 'Antwerpen Barok 2018 Rubens inspireert'.
From a blank slate
From scratch a scenario was written. It must be said, Luc Stevens (direction & script) did not dash off a little story on impulse. Substantial historical research took place in a thoughtful and reasoned creative process. The audience sees an evocation of the spirit of the times and the evolution of Rubens in stepping stones: from an inquisitive and talented boy, then painters' apprentice and finally master Rubens, the celebrated, brilliant painter. There is the social and political context to which, with poetic licence, a quest was added. Rubens, the man to whom everything comes easily, alongside a frustrated painter/contemporary (Oscar Jod) whose career never takes off and who seeks revenge. Was the film Amadeus in which the relationship between Mozart and Salieri was sketched an source of inspiration?
Location
The setting naturally lends extra charm to the performance. The stately castle de Merode and the grandeur of nature make an impression on visitors. The August heat, the stillness of the evening, the natural scenery, the contours of the castle and the silhouettes of the trees, it all contributes to a unique atmosphere. The evening glow colours the sky pink, orange, until gradually the night falls deep black, filled with stars. In this unique setting the senses are stimulated: hearing, seeing, smelling.
Décor and costumes
The stage is built above the broad castle moat and leans against the castle wall. The construction somehow reminds me of the inner courtyard of the Rubens House. The décor is extremely austere, but the execution is ingenious and beautiful. A long wall, whose structure and colour of the stones blend nicely with that of the castle. The wall is constructed from a series of linked rectangles, separated by columns, between which a wealth of pictorial material is projected according to the location of the action. The many masterpieces of Rubens are extensively featured in a blazing festival of colours, his preliminary studies in rudimentary sketches. When he struggles against a lesser period, by analogy with a writer's block, everything takes on a grey, dull hue. The final image is simply beautiful, a décor like an art cabinet in a refined visual language. The dressing of the main characters, the responsibility of Marnix Baert, is lavish. The hundreds of extras and dancers regularly change outfits, making the musical Rubens also something of a costume drama.
Direction, music, choreography and performance
Director Luc Stevens keeps everything perfectly in hand. Mass scenes alternate with intimate settings, monologues, duets, ensemble singing... and everything fits together like a carefully assembled mosaic. Top singers are deployed as soloists: Jan Schepens is in top form as Rubens and progresses through the various stages of a tormented artist, the death of wife and child in a striking and cathartic emotional experience, the rekindling of a new love, spring in the autumn of his life with flair. And ends in refined resignation and an ode to life. Schepens makes it a fine theatrical journey, now baroque and then again delicately coloured musically. Hans Peter Janssens presents a taut character as artist Oscar Jod. The build-up of his feud with Rubens happens systematically, and ends with an impressive catharsis, his powerful voice like a stab of flame. The composition by Sam Gevers is impressive and provides goosebump moments. Nordin De Moor slips into the skin of painter Matthias Apostel. He fully embraces la vie d'artiste and provides the comic note. Just like tenor Glenn Desmedt in the role of the conceited, eccentric Duke Van Mantua. The man has a powerful voice and lets it ring out. Sébastien De Smet was entrusted with no fewer than four roles: Alva, Master Van Veen, Caravaggio and Daniël Fourment and gives each character its own colouring.
As for the female roles: the versatile Liv Van Aelst plays Rubens' mother, Joke Van Robbroeck, usually active abroad, plays the loving first wife Isabella Brant. She brings refined singing with a beautiful timbre that can colour both tenderly and fiercely. Elke Buyle puts on stage the Archduchess Isabella, Countess de la Ligne and Madalena. A catchy fragment that keeps returning in Sam Gevers' music is the song 'Laag over laag', which both refers to painting and a life that is built layer upon layer. The large group of extras is given plenty of room for self-expression. Young and old perform dynamically.
Also impressive are the interventions of a select group of dancers from Fontys Hogeschool Tilburg in a choreography by Florian Boutonnier. The 10-piece orchestra under the direction of Sam Gevers plays organically in an enchanting wealth of sound with beautiful accents, soft or fierce, depending on the tone of the story. Music that under the open sky, in the beautiful setting, creates magic in the air. The musical Rubens is intelligently staged and visualized in a brilliant way, a baroque painting in itself. A beautiful image at the end: all extras appear in their everyday outfits on the stage, placing the main characters even more in focus. Westerlo becomes a piece of Broadway and West End these days.
Yet one small note: annoying is the humming of the generator during intimate scenes.
- WHO: Luc Stevens, Sam Gevers
- WHAT: Open-air musical Rubens
- WHERE & WHEN: kasteel de Merode, Friday 17 August