Theatrical and many. Cream sauce, pungency, clouds of froth,let's call it lyricism. For over two hours on Saturday 17 January, TivoliVredenburg's Great Hall was a warm bath, courtesy of the Residentie Orkest. And Rufus Wainwright. And soprano Danielle de Niese. Oh, yes. Also Carice van Houten, who stood out1 as singer of the more1 as singer of the lake casual pop repertoire. Shakespeare was there too. What a world.
Wainwright, singer-songwriter of some unforgettable pop songs and now two operas, toured the Netherlands this weekend with a dream team of sorts. The occasion was his adaptations of Shakespeare sonnets, this time passing by five of those poems in which the British bard made gender confusion parlous in Elizabethan England, more than four hundred years ago.
Epiphany
If so, the presence of Carice van Houten is certainly desirable. After all, once upon a time, before she became a global star, she played the gender-diverse double role Viola/Cesario in Shakespeare's Epiphany at the Theatre Company. She did so in much the same outfit as this evening: nice black suit, hefty brooch, and still dazzling, perhaps thanks to the ‘certain age’ she has now reached, according to a slightly bullying Wainwright.
The first half of the evening belonged to Carice and Danielle de Niese, with Carice reciting the translations of the Shakespeare sonnets, and De Niese singing them with her wonderfully expressive presence. The orchestra sounded as Rufus Wainwright liked to hear from behind the soundstage: full, plenty and nice and fat. His orchestral works are excellent entry material for people who are usually a bit wary of classical music. Plenty of strings, a viola where menacing heaviness is needed, horns for the violence and the double basses and cellos for the doom. It works.
Going to a town
After the break in this full-length programme, the packed stage was the domain of Rufus Wainwright himself. Some of his pop songs were given a classical boost, and there was a fascinating song in which the voices of De Niese, Wainwright and Van Houten complemented each other beautifully. En passant, the Canadian singer announced that his next album would be another pop record.
And then it was time for the encores. Wainwright's classic ‘Going to a town’ was given a rarely impressive performance. This song, once written as a lament, was given an extra angry charge this evening, to which Wainwright did not want to spend too many words: the message came through loud enough.
Time for a more upbeat ending, he said. That came with a beautiful version of ‘Hallelujah’, in which the three voices once again complemented each other beautifully. Danielle De Niese's heavenly sound even made it seem as if Jeff Buckley was participating posthumously.
Higher plan
That's what you get with a performance in which more than 60 people on a stage push each other to the next level. Nice to see how, at the final applause, pop culture briefly tangled with the discipline of the classical orchestra: Rufus Wainwright urged the musicians to bow as well. This caused visible confusion. Such spontaneity is only possible if the conductor indicates it. Fortunately, the latter arrived just in time to manage the orchestral identity crisis.
It was a beautiful moment: touching, but also hopeful. Someday, pop and classical will also become more intimate in manners. Rufus Wainwright is the perfect master of ceremonies for that.
- An earlier version still stated that Van Houten debuted here, but she released a first album back in 2012, playing as support act for Rufus Wainwright (https://www.nu.nl/overig/2967101/carice-van-houten-schittert-als-voorprogramma-rufus-wainwright.html) ︎
Nederlands 
English (UK) 
Français 