Being creative on demand? That's impossible, you would think. Yet it is the reality for composers and artists who work on commission. Mathilde Wantenaar (1993) therefore got acute choice stress when the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra asked her for a new piece. She was just working on a commission from De Nationale Opera. 'I felt like a rabbit in the headlights, totally paralysed. But I just couldn't turn down such a beautiful offer.' On 11 October, Prélude à une nuit américaine will premiere in Rotterdam, a day later it will be heard in the AVROTROSVrijdagconcert in Utrecht.
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Mathilde Wantenaar | Composer
The lonely mole decides to write a song to cheer up the moon. The grasshopper rehearses with his orchestra until they have completely mastered the song, and one night they give a beautiful concert. But why does the moon look so sad afterwards...?
The young composer Mathilde Wantenaar (1993) has already earned her spurs in the Dutch music scene. She is no stranger to De Nationale Opera either. For instance, she collaborated as a composer on the participation project BOOM! | Amsterdam is an opera. For the first edition of OFF in 2016, she wrote the short chamber opera personar. Now she is venturing into her first larger opera: A Song for the Moon, written especially for a young audience.
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