On 9th – 12th June the beach of Scheveningen will be converted into a festival site where you can enjoy classical music by top musicians and crossovers with pop music, film and dance. Some highlights of Festival Classique 2022 are the premiere of a composition by Aart Strootman by Slagwerk Den Haag, the beach opera La Traviata and a joint concert by Jungle by Night and the Matangi Quartet. Festival Classique is the classical music festival for everyone. It has not been able to take place for two years due to the corona measures, but it will return all the more energetically in 2022.
Festival Classique breaks through the fixed setting of classical music, leaves the concert halls for what they are, builds an iconic festival site in the middle of the beach of Scheveningen and let the sand, the wind and the sun resound in the music. More than twenty productions can be visited at Festival Classique and all concerts are made by and for the four-day festival. From young talents such as Ensemble De Formule and Maya Fridman to the singing ice cream man, yoga on classical music, a sing-song-along around the campfire and an interactive children’s performance. The top ensembles Jungle by Night, a dazzling nine-piece collective of wind and percussion players, and the Matangi Quartet from The Hague will give a joint concert. And between the concerts you can enjoy a snack and drink at the catering pavilion.
Beach Opera La Traviata
After the crowd pullers Carmina Burana (2018) and Aida aan zee (2019), after a two-year delay, it is time for a new compelling and grand opera by the sea: La Traviata. More than 170 amateur singers and top soloists such as Jessey-Joy Spronk and Denzil Delaere tell the tragic story of the impossible love between the young nobleman Alfredo and the courtesan Violetta. Director Sybrand van der Werf makes a contemporary, shortened version of Verdi’s masterpiece for this beach performance.
Nature
Festival Classique is located by the sea and therefore naturally relates to nature, which can also be seen and heard in many productions. The Sea Surround Sound Film focuses on the experiences of the Hague ‘Plastic Soup Surfer’ Merijn Tinga. Slagwerk Den Haag plays new film music, composed by Aart Strootman, about the beauty of nature and the indestructible material plastic. During the festival, visitors can deposit their plastic waste in a community artwork by TrashUre Hunt. The program of Festival Classique 2022 is composed by artistic director Marieke Hopman.
