In Het Lijflied (6+)  you end up in Ina’s body and together you discover the wonderful sound universe that her organs make. You hear typical body sounds such as the bubbling of her stomach, the beating of her heart in love and the simmering of her intestines, but also unknown sounds such as brain waves.

Lucas Wiegerink composed music of these wonderful sounds, which is played by singers and musicians. All this is enriched by the arts of a sound designer. Every organ has its own music. Ina’s stomach makes mechanical music, her heart sings in the romantic nineteenth-century opera style, while her intestines make themselves heard in a spastic language with fits and starts.

Alma Terrasse wrote the libretto for this family opera and is also the director. I wrote Het Lijflied exactly the way I wanted to direct it; with a girl in the lead role, with attention to science, emotions and friendship and all that in a mysterious and magical atmosphere.’ Ina encounters her organs, discovers that she is in love and learns so much about her body and her emotions. “I hope that children in Het Lijflied discover how rich and wonderful their inner world is, in which everything is connected.”

The opera lasts about one hour, without intermission, and is performed in Dutch.

Het Lijflied is a co-production of Opera Zuid, Dutch National Opera and November Music, and is made possible in part by the Fonds Podiumkunsten and Kunstloc Brabant.