Dates

This production was to be seen in Oct 2021

Location

Tournee, different locations

Running time

1 hour

Tickets

Not available

Een lied voor de maan

Youth opera based on the book by Toon Tellegen (6+)

A Song for the Moon can be seen again in season 2024 - 2025. Check here for more information.

Lonesome mole decides to write a song to cheer up the moon. Grasshopper rehearses the song with his orchestra until they have completely mastered it and, one night, they give a magnificent concert. But why does the moon still look so sad?

Youth opera based on the book by Toon Tellegen (6+)

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.

A Song for the Moon is scheduled again in season 2023/2024. More information and tickets can be found via the link below:

Watch the trailer

Trailer Lied voor de maan

Performance information

Libretto  Mathilde Wantenaar and Willem Bruls based on the book by Toon Tellegen

Stage direction  Béatrice Lachaussée

Set design and costumes  Nele Ellegiers

Video design  Coen Bouman

Lighting design Cor van den Brink

Dramaturgy  Willem Bruls

Music coach  Leonard Evers 

Mole  Vera Fiselier

Field mouse/Moon  Ginette Puylaert

Dormouse/Cricket  Eline Welle

Frog  Jan-Willem Schaafsma

Grasshopper/Earthworm  Berend Eijkhout

Shrew  Mirna Ackers

Orchestra  Nationaal Jeugdorkest (National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands)

School performances

A number of private performances will be given especially to schools. Click here for more information about the school performances.

Commission and co-production of Dutch National Opera, De Munt (Brussel), Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía (Madrid), Opera Zuid (Maastricht)

Sung in Dutch

Lied voor de maan
Lied voor de maan

Sing along with A song for the moon!

Zing mee met Een lied voor de maan!
In the media
Rave reviews

A song for the moon breathes infectious pleasure in everything.

22 March

This co-production with Opera Zuid, among others, deserves to be kept in the repertoire, especially with this cast.

22 March

It is a wonderful show for all ages.

22 March

Animation 'A song for the moon'

a song for the moon
Nationaal Jeugdorkest

NJO National Youth Orchestra

The NJO National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands was founded in 1957 and has been offering a stage to young talented musicians between 18 and 26 for over sixty years. Since 2019, the National Youth Orchestra and the Jeugdorkest Nederland have joined forces as Nationale Jeugdorkesten Nederland. Earlier, the orchestra performed at Dutch National Opera in their productions of Il matrimonio segreto and The Boy who grew too fast. In the season 2021-2022, the National Youth Orchestra will be featured in the youth opera A Song for the Moon.

This production is made possible by the support of

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