October 2009
After Life revival in Amsterdam
After Life at the Muziektheater
Michel van der Aa’s opera After Life returned to De Nederlandse Opera last month to great public and critical acclaim. After Life, based on the film by Hirokazu Kore-Eda, was premiered at the 2006 Holland Festival in a sold-out run at the Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ, and its success prompted De Nederlandse Opera to schedule a revival at the Amsterdam Muziektheater from 29 September through 4 October. The original cast was reunited with the Asko Schoenberg Ensemble, conducted by Otto Tausk.
As a music theatre maker, Van der Aa achieves unparalleled results
***** (five stars)
— Volkskrant, Frits van der Waa
Van der Aa is capable of evocative communication and has a remarkable feeling for suggestion…The images are once again moving and effective.
— Parool, Erik Voermans
A masterpiece. Everyone, but everyone, must see it.
— 8Weekly, Henri Drost
The composer has revised the work in preparation for touring. The production will travel to the Lyon Opera in March 2010 and to London in May 2010 in a semi-staged version as part of the Barbican Centre’s Present Voices series.
- read more about After Life
Portuguese language version with João Reis & Ana Moura.