The famous Metropole Orchestra will play the music from the Efteling live. With an extra large line-up of seventy musicians, the orchestra will bring the most famous melodies to life this weekend in the Mainstage in Den Bosch. “When I play the music, it feels like I’m on a roller coaster myself,” says Tilburg cellist Jascha Albracht.
Jascha was born and raised in Tilburg. He used to be a regular guest at the amusement park: “And now that I have a family of my own, we still come a few times a year.”
And of course he pays extra attention to the music from the amusement park. He does have a favorite: “The rousing music of the roller coasters. When I play that with the orchestra, I feel something like: whoe, exciting.” He moves from left to right with his cello, as if he were in the Vogel Rok.
The Metropole Orkest normally has a line-up of fifty orchestra members. But to be able to play the music of the Efteling properly, fourteen extra strings, two extra horns, two bassoons, a percussionist and a tuba have been added.
As a cellist, Jascha has a lot to do during the concert. Spontaneously he uses Ravelijn’s theme: “A melodic and desolate sounding theme, you hear that a lot throughout the piece. And you have rousing pieces.” You immediately recognize the music of the Baron from the exciting melody he plays.
“The music has atmosphere and is very cinematic.”
Yet. The Metropole Orkest works with big names such as Robbie Williams, plays at prestigious biennials, does concerts with the BBC. How good is the music at the Efteling? Jascha: “It is well constructed, it has atmosphere and it is cinematic. So it’s very catchy for the audience. The composers who have written the most, Ruud Bos and René Merkelbach, are truly classy.”
The concert with Efteling music is also a great adventure for conductor Maurice Luttikhuis: “The scope to which we are going to bring this, with extra musicians and a choir, is gigantic.” His favorite is Camille Saint-Saëns’ Danse Macabre: the music from the Haunted Castle. “That requires technical feats from the orchestra. It’s an amazing piece.”
“It takes you back to your childhood.”
It was special for organizer Stijn Ceelen that he could attract the Metropole Orchestra for this concert. He previously organized concerts with film music. For this occasion, he looked for iconic music closer to home. And so he ended up at the amusement park in Kaatsheuvel. “It is part of the Dutch DNA”, he judges. “It stimulates your imagination and takes you back to your childhood as an adult. Especially when you hear it live. That gives a different emotion, it sounds different than via a laptop, CD or in the park.”
The Metropole Orkest will give three performances this weekend in the Mainstage in Den Bosch. Later on, the concert can also be seen in Rotterdam and Antwerp.
