New London Chamber Choir . Champ d'Action . Slagwerkgroep Den Haag

The curator Jonathan Harvey opted to open the music@venture festival with two creations: a work commissioned from Wim Henderickx (b. 1962) by the Flanders Festival in Antwerp and Muziektheater Transparant, and excerpts from the contemporary multimedia opera 'Hildegard' by James Wood (b. 1953). For 'Hildegard', Wood was inspired by the mediaeval mystic and composer Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179). He interwove extracts from her correspondence, parts of her liturgical drama 'Ordo Virtutum' and visions from her 'Scivias', with spectacular sound effects. The use of technology is essential in this opera. Music, light and sound invite the audience to share in the experience of Hildegard's visions as if these dream images were being observed today. The programme also includes 'The Parliament of Angels', another work by James Wood. Wim Henderickx' music is performed regularly at deSingel. There was for instance the recent first performance of his string quartet 'The Seven Chakras' and the opera 'The Triumph of Spirit over Matter'. In the present work, Henderickx was writing specifically for Champ d'Action and electronics, for which he cooperated closely with the ensemble and made use of their expertise in electronic music.