Video on demand: De MaterieNew production

De Materie is Dutch composer Louis Andriessen’s four-part meditation on the meeting of mind and matter. Each part stands alone, with a central figure: a 17th-century philosopher, who argues that all matter is made of indivisible atoms; the mystic Hadewijch of Antwerp, seized by a vision of God; the painter Piet Mondrian, who also happened to dance the boogie-woogie; and Marie Curie, researching radioactivity despite the loss of her husband Pierre.

Commissioned by the Holland Festival and De Nederlandse Opera, De Materie was completed in 1988 and first staged by Robert Wilson a year later. Andriessen wrote it on his own terms: no opera chorus, no standard orchestra, but a tenor, a soprano, two speakers, eight voices and a large ensemble thick with percussion and saxophones. Here Bach and Stravinsky meet Steve Reich, boogie-woogie and disco. Avant-garde at the time, with music that swings. For conductor Bas Wiegers, Hadewijch’s visions are the most beautiful notes Andriessen ever wrote. Opera Ballet Vlaanderen’s production is conducted by Bas Wiegers with the company orchestra and the Brussels contemporary music ensemble, Ictus. Phia Ménard directs and designs a scenography that moves with the piece, and KOR’SIA created the choreography of the Mondrian movement.

Recorded on 24.09.2026