HELL is a full-length recital for a soprano and a pianist, based on the medieval poet Dante Alighieri’s ‘Divina Commedia’ describing his journey through a dreamed afterlife.

Tarenskeen recently found in his archives a very damaged score containing Renaissance-style songs, also with texts from the ‘Divina Commedia’, which he once wrote for theatre. With difficulty, he deciphered the remains and assembled them into a viable whole, integrating the missing passages, cracks and stains into the new score.

It is music that feverishly tries to “remember” the original, and step by step makes the audience part of the reconstruction of a lost manuscript. Inspired partly by the peerless Javanese soprano Bernadeta Astari, a great talent whose roots he shares, he incorporated some remnants of old Javanese musical styles into the new score.

Working closely with director Paul Koek, he sought to bring a richer perspective to the ‘recital’ genre. Starting from a recital position, the singer close to her accompanist, she gradually detaches herself to finally end up far from him, entering the realm of performance, where she resolutely distances herself from ‘De Liedkunst’.

The result is an exciting interplay, a battle between the two performers, life and death, heaven and hell. As you gradually fail to realise what is above and below, the performance becomes increasingly physical. The translations projected on the back wall, as well as drawings by the composer, manage to add extra power to the soprano’s sometimes heartbreaking attempts to describe the unthinkable.
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Texts; ‘Divina Commedia’, Dante Alighieri, 1322
Music; Boudewijn Tarenskeen, 2022
Soprano; Bernadeta Astari
Pianist; Gerard Bouwhuis
Directed by Paul Koek
Costume; Patricia Lim

Duration; 65 minutes An impression of HELL can be found on www.boudewijntarenskeen.com