Louis andriessen - writing to vermeer exhibit
Louis Andriessen in conversation about his new opera, Writing to Vermeer, being premiered in Amsterdam on 1 December...
The whole, minute work consists of imaginary letters written by the three women to Vermeer during the spring of Nothing, in essence, happens.
Writing to Vermeer
Writing to Vermeer is an opera in six scenes composed by Louis Andriessen with incidental electronic music by Michel van der Aa. The English-language libretto, inspired by the paintings of Johannes Vermeer, was written by Peter Greenaway.
Saskia Boddeke directed the premiere production at the Dutch National Opera on 1 December 1999.[1]
Background and performance history
Writing to Vermeer was Andriessen's third collaboration with British film director and screenwriter Peter Greenaway.
Set in the Delft household of the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer in May 1672, Writing to Vermeer is composed for three women singers (two sopranos and a mezzo-soprano) each of whom writes six letters to Vermeer in his absence.
Several of Vermeer's paintings portray women writing or reading letters, including Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid, The Love Letter, and A Lady Writing a Letter. Andriessen said of his decision to accept Greenaway's proposal f
