Christof Laceulle / Recenzje

The Dutch National Opera Academy and the NJO have joined forces for 'Die stumme Serenade' by Korngold . The "comedy with music" is performed in the context of the NJO Muziekzomer Gelderland and is highly recommended! Go see that! The eight young and enthusiastic singers of the Dutch National Opera Academy (DNOA) all deliver a top performance. They act with spontaneity, dance wonderfully and sing the genre with class. The Dutch soprano Zinzi Frohwein has already shown at the IVC that she has a feeling for this music style and here portrays the actress Silvia Lombardi perfectly in all her facets. The French baritone Clément Dionet is also completely in his element as the couturier Andrea Coclé. Incidentally, the dialogues have been inventively edited, so that only three actors are needed instead of nine. The eight-piece chamber orchestra of the NJO (National Youth Orchestra) is conducted by the Flemish conductor Etienne Siebens . Siebens has the difficult task of conducting with his back to the singers, but knows how to coordinate the whole perfectly. The musicians succeed in evoking the atmosphere of operetta and twenties revue songs and overwhelm the listener with the exuberant jumps and sighing glissandi of Korngold. DNOA has long had the idea that the singing students are only suitable for Mozart operas – full-length 'Le Nozze di Figaro' (2013), 'La Finta Gardiniera' (2012), 'La Clemenza di Tito' (2010), 'Così fan tutte' (2009) and 'Don Giovanni' (2008) – where after the student's first aria you already know what the rest of the evening will sound like. But it is these productions such as 'Die stumme Serenade' that demand the utmost from the singers and in which opera training is performed at its best! Six performances of 'Die stumme Serenade' in Arnhem had been announced, but because of the stampede on tickets, there are even two extra performances. Go see that!