Dante’s hell-journey of the Divine Comedy viewed from the Old Javanese tradition? That’s possible! Especially in the fantasy world of the Dutch composer Boudewijn Tarenskeen, who previously shed new light on classics such as the St. Matthew Passion and the Winter Journey. Tarenskeen has already worked with singer Wende, actress Hadewych Minis, Cello Octet Amsterdam and the Netherlands Wind Ensemble. Several of his works have previously been heard with great success on November Music.

In his performance Hell, Tarenskeen joins forces with the versatile soprano Bernadeta Astari and power pianist Gerard Bouwhuis. Both Astari and composer Tarenskeen have roots in Indonesia. Hell culminates in a theatrical recital for soprano and piano, based on Dante’s famous text, in which he describes his journey through hell, purgatory and heaven in 14,000 verses. It is poetry that burns with the desire to understand the universe, and results in a manic account of a poet walking through his dreamed afterlife. In his new work, Tarenskeen passionately brings together his love for medieval Italian poetry, Italian bel canto and the Indonesian music tradition.

The performance is a part of the November Music Festival.