HAPPENING 26 FEB 2026 | The DoelenEnsemble brings Voices of Angels to De Doelen, pairing Hildegard von Bingen with David Lang’s Death Speaks. If you want a concert that pulls you out of the week and straight into something bigger, this is that kind of night.
Hildegard’s medieval mysticism is the starting point, sung by soprano Diamanto Christoforidou, then braided together with Lang’s modern reflections on mortality, built from texts connected to Franz Schubert’s song cycles.
Medieval and modern voices in one night
This programme works because it does not treat the Middle Ages like a museum label. Hildegard’s lines feel immediate, almost like they were written for a room full of people who still have their phones buzzing in their pockets.
Then the concert pivots into Death Speaks, where death addresses you directly. Side by side, the two worlds land as a single conversation about life, transience, and spirituality.
Hildegard’s visions in song
Hildegard von Bingen (1078–1179) wrote from a life shaped by visions, which she later understood as divine instructions to put her music on paper. In Voices of Angels, that becomes music centred on womanhood, creation, and the harmony between heaven and earth, with Christoforidou giving it a deeply personal, expressive sound.
Death Speaks makes mortality feel close
David Lang’s Death Speaks uses texts drawn from Schubert’s song cycles, with death itself speaking, calmly and clearly, without softening the message. Placed among Hildegard’s “angelic” world, it becomes less of a contrast and more of a second truth: comfort and confrontation, held in the same room, on the same evening.
Practical details
Voices of Angels takes place on Thursday 26 February 2026 at 20:15, in de Doelen, Jurriaanse Hall. Tickets are listed from €11.50 to €42, depending on seating and discount categories.
How to get there
You will find de Doelen right by Schouwburgplein, a short walk from Rotterdam Centraal. If you arrive via the station, head towards Kruisplein and the Schouwburgplein side of the complex, then follow signs to the Jurriaanse Zaal entrance. If you are coming by tram or metro, Rotterdam Centraal is the easy anchor point, and from there it is city-centre walking distance, even on a rainy night.
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