Opera Ballet Vlaanderen Will Perform BARTÓK/ BEETHOVEN/ SCHÖNBERG
Performances will run 25 September.
Opera Ballet Vlaanderen will present Bartók/Beethoven/Schönberg, a dance program featuring three early choreographies by Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, beginning Sept. 25 at Capitole Gent in Ghent, Belgium. The production will continue in Ghent through Sept. 27 before moving to Opera Antwerpen for performances Oct. 8-16.
The program brings together three works originally created by De Keersmaeker's company Rosas: Quatuor No. 4, set to Béla Bartók's Fourth String Quartet; Grosse Fuge, set to Ludwig van Beethoven's Grosse Fuge, Op. 133; and Verklärte Nacht, set to Arnold Schönberg's Verklärte Nacht. The three choreographies were originally created in 1986, 1992 and 1995, respectively.
The dancers of Opera Ballet Vlaanderen will perform the large-scale versions of the three works, accompanied live by the strings of the Opera Ballet Vlaanderen house orchestra. The full program runs approximately 1 hour and 25 minutes.
De Keersmaeker is credited with the choreography for all three works. Herman Sorgeloos is credited with lighting for Quatuor No. 4, while Jean-Luc Ducourt provides the mise-en-scène for Grosse Fuge. Jan Joris Lamers is credited with set and lighting design for Grosse Fuge, and Rosas is credited with the costumes. Rudy Sabounghi is credited with the costumes for Verklärte Nacht. The production page identifies the performing company as the dancers of Opera Ballet Vlaanderen rather than listing individual dancers by role.
The Ghent performances are scheduled for Sept. 25-27, with the Sept. 25 premiere beginning at 8 p.m. That evening will also include a free book presentation with De Keersmaeker and Opera Ballet Vlaanderen artistic director Jan Vandenhouwe beginning at 6:15 p.m. The presentation, held in Dutch, is available to ticket holders for the premiere and replaces the regular introduction.
The production will then be presented at Opera Antwerpen from Oct. 8-16. Rosas lists the Ghent performances as Sept. 25-27 and the Antwerp performances as Oct. 8-16, 2026. Additional performances are scheduled at Festspielhaus St. Pölten in Austria on Nov. 7.