From packaging for fish to opera: JacobTV's The News

The news: today it is hot, tomorrow the fish will be wrapped in it. In his video opera The News gives Jacob ter Veldhuis/JacobTV it a second life by putting it in a new context. 'These days, news is infotainment, dipped in sentiment.' Next Friday, the Dutch Travel Opera the premiere at the Wilminkteather in Enschede. Although premiere? This is the fifth version of the 'reality opera', which was first performed in 2011 and then took America and Europe by storm in various guises. But those were concertante, now Xander Straat signs on for a scenic approach. And moreover: 'An opera like this is never finished.'

Early on, Jacob ter Veldhuis (Westerlee, 1951) threw his composing butt against the manger. While studying at the Groningen Conservatory, he played in rock bands and scared his teachers by writing pieces for parakeet. Once graduated, he stayed true to his pop background, for instance, snatches of Jimi Hendrix's howling guitar cut through the harpsichord piece The sighs of Rameau. He acted against the serialism preached in Darmstadt - and also prevalent in the Netherlands - by openly striving for euphony and accessibility - with the first highlight being the magnificent oratorio Paradiso.

In addition to his penchant for beautiful harmonies, minimalist anchored repetition patterns and a love of rousing rhythm, Ter Veldhuis developed a fascination for samples. As early as 1992, for example, he processed in The Laws of Science the voices of Stephen Hawking and Jack Kerouac. At the same time and completely against the spirit of the times, he increasingly drew inspiration from social and political themes: titles such as Postnuclear winter scenario and Gulf War speak for themselves. Gradually, he developed his own style, which led to grooving pieces for musicians and 'boombox' - a ghetto blaster with lyrics from American talk shows or television nominees.

That the strongly visually inclined JacobTV would eventually start incorporating video images was obvious, especially as he collaborated early on with visual artist Kristien Kerstens. Together with Jan Boiten, she also drew in The News for the video material he uses as a starting point for his composition. By repeating, slowing down, speeding up and cutting up statements, he creates a fascinating insight into our media-dominated world. JacobTV not only focuses on what someone says, but also on his or her body language. In this way, he shows how seemingly objective reality is heavily manipulated.

At The News two newsreaders - Dutch mezzo Nora Fischer and American jazz and konnakol singer LOIRE - provide seemingly impassive commentary on a wide variety of scenes. Ranging from a Somali woman recounting the horrors in her homeland, US Secretary of State Rumsfeld denying/admitting to waterboarding, a rocket killing a 12-member family in Gaza, to a speech from the throne in which Queen Beatrix calls on her people to tighten their belts. - 'While she herself rides in a golden carriage', as Americans indignantly lectured JacobTV. [Tweet "Beatrix calls on people to tighten belt, but rides herself in golden carriage"].

JacobTV developed his music, performed by a ten-member Netherlands Wind Ensemble, based on the speech melody of the fragments, which he translated into notation. By zooming in on the original spoken word samples, he tries to fathom people's thoughts and feelings in search of meaning. He emphasises that the music and images should speak for themselves so that the visitor can make his or her own judgement. Yet he acknowledges that The News is essentially about "leaders and the people who bear the brunt of their failures".

- Ai, maybe a bit old news after all?