Louis Andriessen: Writing to Vermeer

Louis Andriessen (Composer), Reinbert de Leeuw (Conductor), Susan Bickley (Performer), ASKO Ensemble (Orchestra), Schoenberg Ensemble (Orchestra), Barbara Hannigan (Performer), Susan Narucki (Performer), Marijje van Stralen (Performer), Marjolein Niels (Performer), Martine Straesser (Performer), Melanie Greve (Performer), Tomoko Makuuchi (Performer), Violet Serena Noorduyn (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Susan Bickley, Barbara Hannigan, Susan Narucki, Marijje van Stralen, Marjolein Niels, et al.
• Orchestra: ASKO Ensemble, Schoenberg Ensemble
• Conductor: Reinbert de Leeuw
• Composer: Louis Andriessen
• Audio CD (April 11, 2006)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B000CNFALO
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #250,720 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This remarkable, unique opera, premiered in the Netherlands in 1999, is a beautiful, lyrical piece of work. It takes place in 1672, when the artist Johannes Vermeer left his home in Delft for two weeks to advise a collector on the purchase of some Italian paintings. The opera's form--thoroughly anti-dramatic--involves letters sent to Vermeer (who never appears or reacts) by his real mother-in-law, his real wife, and a fictional model. There are 18 letters, and each of the women represening them has a unique voice and attitude. The model, Saskia, has music that sits high in the soprano voice and is always sung sweetly; the mother-in-law, Maria, is a mezzo, and her middle register provides warmth and caring; Vermeer's wife, Catharina, another soprano, sings lovingly and passionately. The letters are relatively mundane. They describe the health and well-being (or not) of the children, domestic life, and so forth, and all of them yearn for Vermeer's return. So where's the drama? Well, 1672 was a catastrophic year for the Netherlands. Catholic-Protestant battling tore the country apart, there was an explosion in Delft, the French invaded, two important statesman were murdered, and finally, the Dutch flooded their own country as a defense against the French, ruining the country's economy and Vermeer's livelihood. These events burst into the narrative and the music, which is simply lovely and gentle most of the time, although it becomes dissonant and aggressive. Andriessen's score is interrupted by electronic music and sounds composed by Michel an der Aa. If all this, with the libretto by Peter Greenaway, sounds odd and difficult to take, it is only odd. The string playing is light and Baroque-flavored (and there is prominent use of harpsichord), while harps and cimbalom create a gentler world. And the final all-encompassing flood is as impressive in its cataclysmic grandeur as the simpler, domestic scenes are charming. As great drama, onstage, I'm not certain of how this would play; on CD it is a joy to behold. --Robert Levine

Product Description

Writing to Vermeer is the sixth Nonesuch release from Louis Andriessen, the most highly regarded contemporary composer working in the Netherlands today, an influential and inconoclastic figure whose work has been presented on stages throughout the world. The multimedia opera contrasts the alluring stillness and warm glow of the domestic scenes painted by Dutch master Johannes Vermeer with the clangorous political, social and economic turmoil or the encroaching outside world during the late 1700's.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can minimalists repeat themselves?, December 16, 2006

By 

Jeff Abell (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Louis Andriessen: Writing to Vermeer (Audio CD)

When I first discovered the music of Louis Andriessen, I suddenly understood more clearly why so many contemporary composers (esp. those who'd worked with him) sounded the way they did. Andriessen brings a European edge to the repetitive, jazz & rock tinged music we call "Minimal" in the USA. I ran out and bought just about everything available on CD. Listening to this new opera, however, I'm reminded that every composer has a tendency to repeat themselves. While there are some absolutely stunning moments in this piece (especially those that combine music with concrete sound) I also found the all-female voices got taxing about 90 minutes in. An opera, after all, is a theatrical experience, and I bet this piece (with staging and projections by Peter Greenaway) was dazzling to watch. Where the hell's the DVD?

4.0 out of 5 stars Great music; where're the words?, May 24, 2010

By 

Roger Downey "ozmirage" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Louis Andriessen: Writing to Vermeer (Audio CD)

Compared to many other Andriessen works, "Writing to Vermeer" holds one's attention well as pure music; the sheer sonic diversity and diminished reliance on deafening ostinati makes it damn near user-friendly. But the music shouldn't have to stand on its own; the bits of text that one can make out from time to time are striking enough to make one wish to understand all of it. But the singers, gifted as they are, simply aren't concerned with putting the text across. How I'd once like to hear an Andriessen piece with "pop" voices; the classic-operatic sound used here is more off-putting and distancing than any dissonance could be.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful piece!, January 26, 2009

By 

Pedro D. Luzko (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Louis Andriessen: Writing to Vermeer (Audio CD)

Powerful piece. I enjoyed the freshness of ideas and the combination of melodic and rhythmic aspects. The citation of medieval themes give the piece a great swing.