Since last Saturday, Mechelen has been the centre for twelve days of the musical fight against civilization's number one disease: loneliness. This weekend, the annual international voice festival Lunalia started with a broad and colourful programme to musically frame the positive power of integration in society. "You'll never be alone anymore" is therefore the theme of Lunalia 2023.
The opening evening in the harmonious baroque church Sint-Pieter-en-Paul was held in the context of loneliness as a symptom of a feeling of abandonment. This was expressed, for example, in the song Cucurrucú paloma (anonymous) performed by soprano Sofía Díaz, sung from the roof of the church. She sang of the loneliness of the man remembering his deceased beloved and subtly added dynamics and colour to it. The ensemble I Solisti performed "…Erst das Gesicht…dann die Hände…und zuletzt erst das Haar" by Belgian composer Karel Goeyvaerts in a respectful and sustained interpretation. In the passages where the strings played without vibrato, they created moments of complete barrenness in which the alienation reached a peak. You felt the tension of restrained lyricism that can only belong to a grief that has no outlet.
/*! elementor-pro - v3.12.3 - 23-04-2023 */
.elementor-gallery__container{min-height:1px}.elementor-gallery-item{position:relative;overflow:hidden;display:block;text-decoration:none;border:solid var(--image-border-width) var(--image-border-color);border-radius:var(--image-border-radius)}.elementor-gallery-item__content,.elementor-gallery-item__overlay{height:100%;width:100%;position:absolute;top:0;left:0}.elementor-gallery-item__overlay{mix-blend-mode:var(--overlay-mix-blend-mode);transition-duration:var(--overlay-transition-duration);transition-property:mix-blend-mode,transform,opacity,background-color}.elementor-gallery-item__image.e-gallery-image{transition-duration:var(--image-transition-duration);transition-property:filter,transform}.elementor-gallery-item__content{display:flex;flex-direction:column;justify-content:var(--content-justify-content,center);align-items:center;text-align:var(--content-text-align);padding:var(--content-padding)}.elementor-gallery-item__content>div{transition-duration:var(--content-transition-duration)}.elementor-gallery-item__content.elementor-gallery--sequenced-animation>div:nth-child(2){transition-delay:calc(var(--content-transition-delay) / 3)}.elementor-gallery-item__content.elementor-gallery--sequenced-animation>div:nth-child(3){transition-delay:calc(var(--content-transition-delay) / 3 * 2)}.elementor-gallery-item__content.elementor-gallery--sequenced-animation>div:nth-child(4){transition-delay:calc(var(--content-transition-delay) / 3 * 3)}.elementor-gallery-item__description{color:var(--description-text-color,#fff);width:100%}.elementor-gallery-item__title{color:var(--title-text-color,#fff);font-weight:700;width:100%}.elementor-gallery__titles-container{display:flex;flex-wrap:wrap;justify-content:var(--titles-container-justify-content,center);margin-bottom:20px}.elementor-gallery__titles-container:not(.e--pointer-framed) .elementor-item:after,.elementor-gallery__titles-container:not(.e--pointer-framed) .elementor-item:before{background-color:var(--galleries-pointer-bg-color-hover)}.elementor-gallery__titles-container:not(.e--pointer-framed) .elementor-item.elementor-item-active:after,.elementor-gallery__titles-container:not(.e--pointer-framed) .elementor-item.elementor-item-active:before{background-color:var(--galleries-pointer-bg-color-active)}.elementor-gallery__titles-container.e--pointer-framed .elementor-item:before{border-color:var(--galleries-pointer-bg-color-hover);border-width:var(--galleries-pointer-border-width)}.elementor-gallery__titles-container.e--pointer-framed .elementor-item:after{border-color:var(--galleries-pointer-bg-color-hover)}.elementor-gallery__titles-container.e--pointer-framed .elementor-item.elementor-item-active:after,.elementor-gallery__titles-container.e--pointer-framed .elementor-item.elementor-item-active:before{border-color:var(--galleries-pointer-bg-color-active)}.elementor-gallery__titles-container.e--pointer-framed.e--animation-draw .elementor-item:before{border-left-width:var(--galleries-pointer-border-width);border-bottom-width:var(--galleries-pointer-border-width);border-right-width:0;border-top-width:0}.elementor-gallery__titles-container.e--pointer-framed.e--animation-draw .elementor-item:after{border-left-width:0;border-bottom-width:0;border-right-width:var(--galleries-pointer-border-width);border-top-width:var(--galleries-pointer-border-width)}.elementor-gallery__titles-container.e--pointer-framed.e--animation-corners .elementor-item:before{border-left-width:var(--galleries-pointer-border-width);border-bottom-width:0;border-right-width:0;border-top-width:var(--galleries-pointer-border-width)}.elementor-gallery__titles-container.e--pointer-framed.e--animation-corners .elementor-item:after{border-left-width:0;border-bottom-width:var(--galleries-pointer-border-width);border-right-width:var(--galleries-pointer-border-width);border-top-width:0}.elementor-gallery__titles-container .e--pointer-double-line .elementor-item:after,.elementor-gallery__titles-container .e--pointer-double-line .elementor-item:before,.elementor-gallery__titles-container .e--pointer-overline .elementor-item:before,.elementor-gallery__titles-container .e--pointer-underline .elementor-item:after{height:var(--galleries-pointer-border-width)}.elementor-gallery-title{--space-between:10px;cursor:pointer;color:#6d7882;font-weight:500;position:relative;padding:7px 14px;transition:all .3s}.elementor-gallery-title--active{color:#495157}.elementor-gallery-title:not(:last-child){margin-right:var(--space-between)}.elementor-gallery-item__title+.elementor-gallery-item__description{margin-top:var(--description-margin-top)}.e-gallery-item.elementor-gallery-item{transition-property:all}.e-gallery-item.elementor-animated-content .elementor-animated-item--enter-from-bottom,.e-gallery-item.elementor-animated-content .elementor-animated-item--enter-from-left,.e-gallery-item.elementor-animated-content .elementor-animated-item--enter-from-right,.e-gallery-item.elementor-animated-content .elementor-animated-item--enter-from-top,.e-gallery-item:hover .elementor-gallery__item-overlay-bg,.e-gallery-item:hover .elementor-gallery__item-overlay-content,.e-gallery-item:hover .elementor-gallery__item-overlay-content__description,.e-gallery-item:hover .elementor-gallery__item-overlay-content__title{opacity:1}a.elementor-item.elementor-gallery-title{color:var(--galleries-title-color-normal)}a.elementor-item.elementor-gallery-title.elementor-item-active,a.elementor-item.elementor-gallery-title.highlighted,a.elementor-item.elementor-gallery-title:focus,a.elementor-item.elementor-gallery-title:hover{color:var(--galleries-title-color-hover)}a.elementor-item.elementor-gallery-title.elementor-item-active{color:var(--gallery-title-color-active)}.e-con-inner>.elementor-widget-gallery,.e-con>.elementor-widget-gallery{width:var(--container-widget-width);--flex-grow:var(--container-widget-flex-grow)}
The festival paid considerable attention to Karel Goeyvaerts (1923 – 1993) in this edition, as he would have turned 100 on June 8. In De Zang van Aquarius (from his opera Aquarius), the bass clarinetists positioned themselves in the middle of the church among the audience. The musicians succeeded in challenging the fatherliness of their instrument with moments of light-footed lyricism, a nod to the female voices for whom the piece was originally written. But there were also moments when the listener felt like a deep-sea diver exploring a shipwreck, from which schools of thousands of gleaming fish occasionally darted away. The blue and dark lighting emphasized that there is much to experience on Goeyvaerts' sea floor.
The second half of the concert was taken up by the Berlin-based all-female vocal quartet Niniwe. All four singers devoted a significant part of their training to jazz, and that was audible. The set consisted of arrangements of songs by The Beach Boys, Kate Bush, The Police, Lana del Rey, but also Edvard Grieg and Barbara Strozzi. Their close harmony was indeed close but not too close, so that every reference to American sentimentality was briskly eliminated. Winnie Brückner, who according to the program notes created the arrangements, has essentially re-composed the pieces. "Message in a Bottle" by The Police turned out to have become a moving lament instead of a nice rock number. "Babooshka" by Kate Bush sounded more like a narrative ballad than the mysterious sonic tapestry of yesteryear.
The final piece was an arrangement of Smile (after Charles Chaplin) which Brückner composed especially for I Solisti and Niniwe at Lunalia's request. The motifs in small instrumentation (both instrumental and vocal) came into their own. The tutti sections sounded less convincing. It became clear that the two ensembles, which derive their strength from their uniqueness, sometimes become uncomfortable when they have to leave the familiarity of their own biotope.
WHAT: Opening concert Lunalia 2023
WHO: I Solisti conducted by Filip Rathé, Niniwe, Sofía Díaz (soprano), Maja Jantar (director)
WHERE: Sint-Pieter-en-Paulkerk, Mechelen
DATE: April 22, 2023
ORGANIZATION: Festival Van Vlaanderen Mechelen
INFO and TICKETS: www.lunalia.be