Diary of One Who Disappeared

Ivo van Hove directs Ed Lyon and Marie Hamard in Leoš Janáček 's The Diary of One who Disappeared. Annelies Van Parys composes an answer to this intriguing tale about detachment. 

The Diary of One Who Disappeared can best be described as an intimate self-portrait. In this melancholy tale of the village boy Janik, who leaves everything behind to follow a gypsy girl, Leoš Janáček (1854-1928) saw his feelings for his muse Kamila Stösslová mirrored. Will Janik’s longing for passion free him from a stifling environment? Or will he throw away his whole existence for an illusion? Written in the period in which his relationship with the much younger Kamila was creating a furore, Janáček’s poetry becomes a mix of cruelty and tenderness. His passion for his new love, and the poetry of the folk language, piano and voice, inspired him to create a song cycle in 22 scenes. The unique nature of the score lies in its minimalistic nature: there is no dramatic treatment, mise-en-scène or orchestra. Ivo van Hove directs the leading singers Ed Lyon and Marie Hamard. Taking her fascination with the voice as her starting point, Annelies Van Parys is composing a new piece as an answer to this gripping tale about detachment.

Credits

• Composition • Leoš Janáček
• New composition • Annelies Van Parys
• Direction • Ivo van Hove
• Scenography | Lighting design • Jan Versweyveld
• Costume design • An D'Huys
• Dramaturgy • Krystian Lada
• Mezzo sopranos • Marie Hamard / Raphaële Green [22.04]
• Actor • Hugo Koolschijn
• Piano • Lada Valesova
• Choir • MM Solists Ensemble of La Monnaie / Trees Bekwé / Hanna Al bender [22.04] / Isabelle Jacques / Raphaële Green
• Tenors • Peter Gijsbertsen / Ed Lyon (13 + 16/03)