De Standaard: When Jan Decleir speaks the people are silent
"From a history lesson, Het Banket draws an entertaining theatrical reading in which master storyteller Jan Decleir silences the audience from behind his lectern." Journalist Charlotte De Somviele wonders after the performance if Europe would be more resilient today? The atmospheric music by Beethoven and Alain Craens, performed live by the Vlaams Radiokoor and an intimate wind and percussion ensemble, draws you into the story of the beheading of the Count of Egmont.
Gazet van Antwerpen: impressive music theatre
Journalist Ward Bosmans visited Egmont's rehearsal sessions and spoke with director Tristan Versteven about putting artistic puzzle pieces together between musicians and theatre-makers. "On the one hand, the events of those days are interesting to recount because they shaped our history. On the other hand, there is the time of Beethoven and Goethe who wrote music and lyrics about the Count of Egmont as a protest against the arrival of Napoleon. Moreover, the impetus for the 80 Years War and the Iconoclasm was curiously the fact that grain and energy prices were very high then," said director Tristan Versteven in the interview.
