Just two months before its world premiere, work is progressing quickly on Van der Aa’s new 3D chamber opera, Blank Out. Building on the technical innovation of Sunken Garden, Blank Out combines live action and 3D video to explore the nature of memory and the effects of trauma.
In December the 3D segments, featuring baritone Roderick Williams, who also appeared in Sunken Garden, were filmed in the studio and the Friesland countryside in the north Netherlands. The choral parts featuring the Nederlands Kamerkoor that make up a large part of the opera’s electronic soundtrack have also been recorded. In February rehearsals begin with the Swedish soprano Miah Persson, who appears on stage as a lone woman dealing with a disturbing event in her past.
Blank Out will be performed on 20, 21 and 25 March 2016 as part of Dutch National Opera’s Opera Forward Festival, and tickets are available via either the Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ website or the Dutch National Opera website.