Mariken in de tuin of lust

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Opera dates
Title: Mariken in de tuin of lust
Title page of the printed edition of The Mystery Play, 1518

Title page of the printed edition of The Mystery Play, 1518

Shape: Opera in three acts
Original language: Middle Dutch
Music: Calliope Tsoupaki
Libretto : Karim Ameur, Serge van Veggel
Literary source: Mariken van Nieumeghen
Premiere: October 11, 2015
Place of premiere: Koninklijke Schouwburg, The Hague
Playing time: about 2 hours
Place and time of the action: Nijmegen , Antwerp and Maastricht in the Middle Ages
people

Mariken in de tuin der lusten (German for 'Mariken in the garden of lust') is an opera in three acts by Calliope Tsoupaki (music) with a libretto by Karim Ameur and Serge van Veggel based on the anonymous mystery play Mariken van Nieumeghen from the early 16th Century. It was premiered on October 11, 2015 in the Koninklijke Schouwburg in The Hague.

action

First act: the closed courtyard

The young Mariken lives near Nijmegen with her pious uncle, for whom she runs the household. One day, while cleaning, she finds a book with erotic texts that arouses her curiosity. Her uncle sends her to the town two miles away to get various household items. Since it is already too late to return the same day, he suggests that she sleep with her aunt out of town. He has bad premonitions.

After Mariken has done her shopping, she reaches her aunt's house. This turns out to be an angry woman who seems to have more diabolical than Christian qualities. The aunt is particularly annoyed that the young duke she prefers has been disempowered by his old father. The country is now divided and faces civil war. When Mariken asks her for shelter, her aunt insults her as a dirty slut who would sleep with her own uncle and throws her out.

Desperate about her aunt's unjust behavior, Mariken prays for help. No matter if god or devil - someone should stand up to you. A mysterious one-eyed man appears, who calls himself Moenen and introduces himself to her as a master of all arts. He desires her love and promises to teach her in all possible skills and languages. The only consideration Mariken should change her name ("little Maria"), which he detests. Since Mariken is proud of her name and does not want to give it up, they agree to call her with its first letter "M" or "Emmeken" ("small M") from now on. They want to move to Antwerp , where Emmeken will experience miracles. Even before her arrival, she will be able to speak all languages ​​- but in the end her soul will be lost.

Act Two: The Garden of Earthly Delights

Via 's-Hertogenbosch , Mariken / Emmeken and Moenen reach Antwerp. There they live in the inn "Der goldene Baum". Mariken has long known that she got involved with the devil personally. Still, she enjoys her life. Lessons in rhetoric and the other arts are particularly important to her.

Mariken and Moenen cultivated their love affair for seven years and committed many crimes without Mariken giving much thought to them. Even if her conscience occasionally stirs, she ignores it. Their former piety is long gone.

A showman sets up his stand nearby and invites Mariken to watch his game. He tells of his trip to the Middle East, where he saw a lot of suffering. He points out to Mariken that God forgives all sinners if they show repentance. However, those who continue their sinful life will burn in hell until the end of days. Jesus himself resisted the tempter ("Maskeroon") and did not allow himself to be led on the path of vengeance. His mother Maria taught him to control his anger and to keep it at warnings for humanity.

When Moenen returns, Mariken wants to give up her sinful life. Annoyed, Moenen carries her high into the air and throws her back to earth.

Third act: repentance

Decades later. As if by a miracle, Mariken survived the fall. She entered a monastery in Maastricht , where she spends her life as a penitent in prayer. She relived her life in memories and visions: Her uncle found her seriously injured on the street. After telling him about her sins and her ardent desire for forgiveness, they embark on a journey that takes them to various clergymen who are rising higher and higher, and finally to the Pope. That turns out to be extremely strict. After careful consideration and a prayer, he gives her three iron rings - one for the neck and two for the arms. They should wear them until they are worn out. Then God will forgive her.

As an old woman in the monastery, Mariken still wears the iron rings. In a divine vision a white dove appears and loosens its chains with its wings. Mariken realizes that she cannot find her happiness in the outside world (the uncle, the devil or the Pope), but has to forgive herself - her own interpretation of the biblical demand “You should love your neighbor as yourself”.

layout

music

The main role of the opera is conceived as a speaking role for an actress. The authors compared her to Alice from Alice in Wonderland , who moves in a musical world that is strange to her and singing allegorical figures such as the devil or the Pope. Tsoupaki designed the devil as a kind of omniscient Don Juan . The women's choir represents "the souls of all Marikens in the world".

The Greek composer Calliope Tsoupaki , who sees herself more as an oratorio rather than an opera composer, also created this work almost “like an oratorio”. Their musical language combines sounds of modern classical music with medieval music and the instruments of that time. The reviewer of Place de l'Opera described it as "atmospheric".

Instrumentation

In the world premiere production, two instrumental ensembles played with the following instruments:

Modern instruments (Ensemble Asko | Schönberg):

Medieval instruments (Tetraktys Ensemble, three players):

Work history

The concept for Calliope Tsoupaki's opera Mariken in de tuin der lusten comes from Serge van Veggel, the artistic director of the music theater group OPERA2DAY. He had the initial idea for this back in 2019. The content is based on the mystery play Mariken van Nieumeghen , the original version of which had appeared anonymously in print 500 years earlier. Van Veggel wrote the libretto together with the dramaturge Karim Ameur.

The world premiere took place after two previews on October 7th in Schiedam and on October 10th in The Hague, officially on October 11th, 2015 in the Koninklijke Schouwburg in The Hague. It was a joint production of OPERA2DAY with the National Theater The Hague (Nationale Toneel) and the executive ensembles. Hernán Schvartzman was the musical director. The staging was done by Serge van Veggel, the stage by Herbert Janse, the costumes by Mirjam Pater and the lighting design by Uri Rapaport. The ensembles ASKO | Schönberg and Tetraktys as well as the women's choir of the Cappella Amsterdam played. The solo parts were performed by Hannah Hoekstra (Mariken), Harry van der Kamp (uncle), Jill Feldman (aunt), Julian Podger (Moenen), Michael Chance (Pope), Joop Keesmaat (narrator), Lucie Chartin (Mariken's soul) and Truus te Selle (old Mariken).

The Opernfreund reviewer described the production as a successful and “project driven by great ambition”, even though the result, especially in the first half, was not “overall good”. The reviewer of Opernnetz expressed himself similarly, for whom the piece did not have enough “dramatic density” and “contrasts”. But it is "a meritorious proof of the efficiency of the opera company".

After several performances in The Hague, the ensemble went on tour through the Netherlands, during which the production was shown in 16 cities.

Recordings

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Rinske Wels: Van Middeleeuwse tekst tot Eigenijdse opera. In: Program of the world premiere production.
  2. ↑ a b Rinske Wels: Interview with componiste Calliope Tsoupaki. In: Program of the world premiere production.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f work information on the website of OPERA2DAY (English), accessed on May 21, 2019.
  4. ↑ a b Thomas Pfeiffer: A world premiere with prominent people in early music. Review of the world premiere production. In: Der Opernfreund , September 20, 2015, accessed on May 23, 2019.
  5. ^ Laura Roling: Mariken: vernieuwend muziektheater. Review of the world premiere production (Dutch). In: Place de l'Opera, October 18, 2015, accessed on May 23, 2019.
  6. ↑ Pedro Obiera: When Mariken dances with the devil. Review of the world premiere production. In: Opernnetz, accessed on May 23, 2019.
  7. ↑ Jordi Kooiman: Tsoupaki's Mariken uit brought on dvd. CD review (Dutch). In: Place de l'Opera, January 4, 2017, accessed on May 23, 2019.