October 2009
'The Book of Disquiet' Dutch premiere
Klaus Maria Brandauer, Ana Moura
Following its premiere in Linz in January, van der Aa’s The Book of Disquiet received its Dutch premiere at the Saturday Matinee concert at the Concertgebouw on 10 October, with actor Klaus Maria Brandauer in the leading role.
Brandauer appeared on stage as well as on video together with actor João Reis and fado star Ana Moura, while MusikFabrik was conducted by Martyn Brabbins. The performance in a sold-out Concertgebouw was broadcast live on Dutch national radio.
Brilliant handiwork by composer/filmmaker Van der Aa. Dream flashes set to intelligent music
***** (five stars)
— Volkskrant, Roland de Beer
Melodramatic in the most literal sense. Das Buch der Unruhe rouses the intellect as well as the emotions through the mix of text, music and film. [Van der Aa’s] paths bring us to the kind of places we have not yet visited, but would like to see more often.
***** (five stars)
— NRC, Mischa Spel
A new Portuguese version of the piece with actor João Reis and Remix Ensemble will be premiered on 9 February 2010 in Casa da Música in Porto. The original version with Klaus Maria Brandauer travels to the Staatstheater Saarbrücken in the spring of 2011 for its German premiere.
- read more about The Book of Disquiet
Photos of the Amsterdam performance (Photographer Klaus Rudolph):
Sol Gabetta, cello. Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Candida Thompson. Vakil Eelman.