House of Creations

The piece has been given its title: Beyond.

Harold Noben

Tonight is the premiere of our concert performance of Parsifal. On purge bébé too contains a tongue-in-cheek musical reference to Richard Wagner's final and most mystical work. For composer Philippe Boesmans, an ardent Wagnerian in his youth, still had to square his account with the Meister of Bayreuth...

In just a few days, Bassem Akiki, conductor of On purge bébé but also a composer himself (see Amor fati), wrote a new piece for the memorial service for Philippe Boesmans: PhiPhinomaenon - a musical ode to the phenomenon of 'Phiphi', as the composer was affectionately called by his closest acquaintances. Two cellos (La Monnaie musicians Sébastien Walnier and Corinna Lardin) represent respectively the composer and the conductor of an opera, engaged in their artistic dialogue. Offstage, clarinettist Paolo Poma plays excerpts from various operas by Philippe Boesmans - from Reigen, Pinocchio, but also from On purge bébé...

IVO VAN HOVE NEW INTENDANT AT THE RUHRTRIENNALE FESTIVAL

Today, it has been announced that Ivo Van Hove, director of Fanny och Alexander, will become the new intendant of the Ruhrtriennale for the 2024-2026 term. On November 1, 2023, he will succeed current artistic director Barbara Frey. Van Hove will also continue his directorial and management duties at Internationaal Toneel Amsterdam.

Think 'composing' and many people picture a man or a woman, all alone, in the silence of a study, scribbling notes on large sheets of music paper. A state of fever, of deep concentration, perhaps only interrupted to try something out at the piano. However, for many musical works, and certainly for 'concertos', the creative process is much less solitary. Harold Noben, too, does not write his new composition in total isolation from the musicians who will perform it. He met some of our orchestra's soloists - harpist Agnès Clément, clarinettist Antonio Capolupo, trumpeter Rudy Moercant and percussionist Pieter Mellaerts - to explore the possibilities of their instruments together. A few impressions.

Today La Monnaie bade farewell to Philippe Boesmans with a moving commemoration in our Main Auditorium. Musicians and artists with whom Philippe had worked closely throughout his glorious career brought a selection of his compositions or recalled his memories. Composers Kris Defoort and Bassem Akiki, who will conduct On purge bébé in December, had even written a new work for the occasion.

The tension is rising! With only a few days to go until the performance series, all the pieces of the puzzle are slowly falling into place during the first dress rehearsal. Check out our photo series here.

There are not many of them, the composers who appear on stage for the world premiere of their work, but Jean-Luc Fafchamps is happy to be present for each performance. For Is this the End?#2 he will not only figuratively, but also literally go 'full organ'.

Tableau vivant

In this 'scenic-digital' performance, the singers interact live with a gigantic video altar piece. With its threefold structure, this impressive piece of technology refers to the idea of the 'triptych' in a literal sense, but aesthetically it also recalls the art of the old masters, which clearly inspired the (neo)baroque universe of director Ingrid von Wantoch Rekowski.

"In my career, this is one of the projects that I have learned the most from." Meet The Woman! Mezzo-soprano Albane Carrère is almost ready to transform into the enigmatic leading lady of Is this the End?#2.