A song for the moon

A song for the moon, a fable about the power of music, is based on the book of the same name by Toon Tellegen. Composer Mathilde Wantenaar adapted the story into a wonderful ‘my first opera’ for young audiences and their parents: with charming characters, mellifluous melodies and many humorous references to the history of music, from opera classics to pop hits. An accessible and multifaceted performance that does exactly what the story is about: it moves you with music.

World of fables

Toon Tellegen’s imaginative fables are admired by young and old in the Netherlands and far beyond. Tellegen creates a unique world of fables with extraordinary situations and exceptional characters. His tales make you reflect, without becoming moralistic. The narrative of A song for the moon tugged at Wantenaar’s heartstrings. ‘The story immediately appealed to my musical imagination. It touches on important themes, such as loneliness, identity, disappointment and friendship. It is also a piece about the power of music and how people can connect.’

Mathilde Wantenaar (1993) has already earned her spurs in the Dutch world of music. She collaborated with Dutch National Opera in composing BOOM! Amsterdam is een opera and she wrote the short chamber opera personar for the first edition of OFF in 2016. Enoa, a European network of opera houses and academies, of which DNO is a member, played an important role in bringing about Een lied voor de maan. It was during an enoa workshop that Wantenaar met the young French director Béatrice Lachaussée and the German scenographer Nele Ellegiers. Their conversations gave birth to the idea for this youth opera.