Deeper layers far in vague project 'The Long Count' by twin brothers Dessner

Two boys beat a guitar with a baseball bat, which was hanging on a rope in the air. Moments before, they also battered the instrument in a strange game of tug-of-war, during which the guitar regularly hit the ground. Both times, shrill, nasty sounds fill the room. The games are played with a deadly serious face, so they seem to be telling something to the visitors. But what actually? That question keeps spinning through your head with almost every theatrical moment in The Long Count. The project by twin brothers Bryce and Aaron Dessner of indie rock band The National sounds rather exciting. For instance, the announcement calls it a multimedia concert, with a song cycle that is supposed to focus on the time before our world began. The musicians created it with video artist Matthew Ritchie and used the Popol Vuh, a historical-mythological text by a Mayan people from Guatemala about those early days, as inspiration. In the show, they aim to make connections between Mayan myth and their own lives.

The average visitor will not be able to pick out that huge chunk of information. It is musically splendid at times, but it is mainly lacking in terms of set-up. For instance, Ritchie's video art is a little too often reminiscent of the famous liquid slides and the entrances of Shara Worden (of My Brightest Diamond) as a masked angel are surprising, to say the least.

Musically, though, it is interesting. The ensemble with strings, percussion and horns plays music with abandon and beautifully combines classical music with pop. For instance, one of the three songs sung by Kelley Deal (of The Breeders) culminates in a musical interlude that thunders to a climax. Also impressive are the contributions of the always wistful-sounding Matt Beringer (singer of TheNational), who only gets to do one song, and of the theatrical Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond), who manages to enchant with her high-pitched voice.

The Dessner brothers themselves play guitar. Technically, they sound great at times, but their lack of charisma doesn't quite fit the theatrical set-up. The elements of The Long Count are simply not well matched and it remains unclear exactly what you are watching. One moment the atmosphere is mystical, the next an incomprehensible act is launched. Thus, the expectations raised are not fulfilled. And although some beautiful pop songs and some wonderful musical interludes certainly don't make it a failed evening, the deeper layers of the show are unfortunately only to be found in the pre-announcement.

Seen: Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, Amsterdam, 1 June. As part of the Holland Festival. www.hollandfestival.nl