A contemporary, ecological passion story about the relationship between man and the sea.
In this compelling performance, the musicians of VONK, along with soprano Sterre Konijn and counter-tenor Kaspar Kröner, create a dynamic world on stage.
Writer and playwright Lisanne van Aert wrote a lyrical and philosophically layered libretto for Nicoline Soeter's colorful, polyphonic composition. The musicians stand in a light set designed by Floriaan Ganzevoort that evokes an ever-changing environment: from a laboratory to a magical fantasy scene; from a rigid, cold place, to an intimate inner world; a tidal wave or a gentle current.
The Ming Passion is based on a true story. In 2006, it became a real media hype: “Scientists kill oldest living animal ever. Ming, an ocean quahog clam, or Arctica Islandica, was killed during scientific research. The composition of the annual rings provided information about climate change, such as rising sea temperatures in recent centuries. The shell, along with conspecifics, was fished off the coast of Iceland in 2006 and frozen. Only in the laboratory did researchers find out that Ming was 507 years old at the time of death. The animal was named Ming, after the dynasty then ruling China.
The Ming Passion has the musical form, the structure of a passion, there are choruses, recitatives and arias. It is not a religious story, it is a passion for Ming, an animal. Ming symbolizes our relationship with the sea and everything in it. We as Western people are so used to putting ourselves first. The Ming Passion is about whether we can imagine ourselves in the world of a shellfish. We can count the annual rings in the shell, but can we know what Ming experienced in 507 years? Our boundless need for knowledge doesn't bring us any closer, a dilemma the scientist in the performance struggles with.
Nicoline Soeter: “I think it is a very beautiful find by Lisanne van Aert that in the text she lets the scientist go back to the innocent curiosity of a child who puts a shell to her ear and listens to the voice of the sea. Despite the adult realization that that voice really exists only in her own imagination, it speaks of a desire to look at reality differently. Are there ways to listen to the sea and everything in it? Playing with these questions and the scientist's desire, I wanted to express in the music a tension between freezing and an ever-recurring fluid movement.”
Creators involved:
Composition - Nicoline Soeter
Libretto – Lisanne van Aert
Light design - Floriaan Ganzevoort
End direction - Stijn Dijkema
Performers:
Soprano – Sterre Konijn
Countertenor – Kaspar Kröner
Bariton and bass clarinet – Erwin Muller
Saxophone – Tom Sanderman
Percussion - Reggy van Bakel
Technician - Dario Giustarini
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Listen to the interview with Aad van Nieuwkerk VPRO Vrije Geluiden radio 4
Concertzender 01.04.2024: Concertzender 01.04.2024: “Impressive are several arias including ‘So Many Voices’ and the absolute highlight ‘Wash Me,’ in which Sterre Konijn grabs the momentum. A beautiful passion in all its simplicity, in which the extraordinary story comes to life in a subtle way.” Mark van de Voort
Dutch Malacological Society: “The performance is poignantly beautiful and provides food for thought. The timbre of the music interprets the underwater environment in which Ming lived, the blue-colored lighting enhances Ming's habitat.” Charles Krijnen
The Ming Passion is supported by the province of North Brabant, the municipality of Tilburg, the Performing Arts Fund, NORMA Fund, Stichting Jacques de Leeuw