Quite a few men will immediately think: "Women are always in charge anyway?" when reading the above title and yes, the title is a bit cheeky, but that's allowed. The MAfestival 2018 Brugge is dedicated to female composers and so they opened with the opera Rinaldo by the man Georg Friedrich Händel. If you know Rinaldo, you know that this was no mistake.
Händel's groundbreaking opera Rinaldo, his first opera that he composed in England and for which he borrowed from himself to incorporate quite a few arias that were successful in Italy, is the story about women who conquer and enchant hearts, but it is also the story of the fighting men of which of course 'the good one' triumphs over 'the bad one'. That can happen without the bad one being killed, but rather converted because the good one is none other than Godfrey of Bouillon, Goffredo, who manages to convert the Muslim king of Jerusalem. All's well that ends well, even though there is first kidnapping and falling in love and enchanting to beat the band. It's a shame that that enchanting no longer works, otherwise some conflicts would have been resolved in our crazy world.
MAfestival called upon Ensemble Le Caravansérail led by Bertrand Cuiller for this concert version of Rinaldo. The ensemble is increasingly making an international name for itself and it was thus 'the' challenge to give it the opportunity to open the Bruges part of the Festival van Vlaanderen. Judging by the audience's reaction, it was undoubtedly a successful story. Although I wasn't quite 100% captivated by this Rinaldo. The orchestra and conductor deserve all the credit, but the singing at times felt somewhat lacking and couldn't always convince me strongly enough. Händel demands larger voices with especially more volume, virtuosity and carrying power. This doesn't mean I didn't enjoy myself, certainly I did, and I understand that the public thanked the musicians with applause that was almost warmer than the weather in this unique summer.
Cherchez la femme
Oh yes, women in charge then. Well, whoever was able to listen to Klara during the early morning hours to Espresso, presented by Katelijne Boon, already heard quite a few fascinating stories about female composers told by art historian David Vergauwen, lecturer at Amarant. You can listen to the educational broadcasts here.
Whoever wants to search more for Women in Music should now best surf (if they haven't already) to the MAfestival website and quickly book tickets (if they haven't already) and they won't regret having searched for 'the woman' in Brugge because they will find them there in a surprising way.
- WHAT: MAfestival 2018 Brugge, opera Rinaldo by Händel
- WHO: Le Caravansérail conducted by Bertrand Cuillier
- WHERE & WHEN: Concertgebouw Brugge, Friday 3.8.2018