Beethoven and Lowlands is not the most logical combination. Yet everyone went crazy when NNO played Beethoven’s Ninth in the Alpha tent, which was far too small for the massive crowd. It leaves you wanting more and more will come.
Marcel Mandos, artistic boss of the North Netherlands Orchestra, does not have to think long when he is asked during a dinner in Amsterdam by Eric van Eerdenburg, director of Lowlands, whether NNO will participate once more at Lowlands this year. There is not even a second of doubt.
“Everyone was in ecstasy”
Marcel: “2023 was a very good year for NNO. We have become a top orchestra thanks to hard work, great ambition and, above all, great musicians. Our opera ‘Das Wunder der Heliane’ has been jubilantly received with glowing reviews in the NRC, Dagblad van het Noorden and de Volkskrant. But Lowlands was perhaps the most beautiful.”
“It was a kind of mushroom trip,” the artistic boss looks back on the performance. “Unprecedented what classical music can achieve. Everyone knows Beethoven’s Ninth of course, it was the European anthem, the anthem of the Champions League, was played at the fall of the wall and is featured in many advertisements. It is a monument, but we did not expect this. It was hypnotic. Everyone was in ecstasy, singing along or screaming. Insane.”
NNO comes with a new set for Lowlands 2024
Marcel is not alone in this view. The videos of the performance have gone viral and speak for themselves. In addition, the show ended up in 33rd place among the best acts at European festivals. NNO wants to at least reach that level once more with a new set in 2024. “We are going to make it a great party once more.”
This will happen on Saturday, August 17 in the Alpha tent, just like last year around 1:30 PM.
