On a moonlit night at Antwerp Harbor, Dutch soprano Brigitte Van Hagen seemed like a cloud floating on water. Her avant-garde costume, by designer Victorine Pasman, was made of white nylon umbrella shades, lit by bulbs. Unknown to the audience, Van Hagen stood on a raft piloted by two divers.

Van Hagen sang “Song to the Moon” from Czech composer Antonin Dvorak’s opera, “Rusalka.” Its lyrics were about a water-goblin’s daughter who asked the moon to convey her love to a human, a prince. The last line pleaded, “Moonlight, don’t disappear, disappear.”

By coincidence, a cloud had covered the moon, turning the evening sky from silver to black.

Classically trained Van Hagen has long explored experimental works. She collaborated with the Children of Light, a group of Amsterdam-based visual artists, in a voice-activated light installation at the STRP Biennale 2017, an arts and technology festival in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

The suspended installation was a giant halo of lights that changed colors each time she shifted musical phrases.

“Classical singers don’t improvise. It was a big step for me to loosen up and just follow my instincts,” says Van Hagen.

Friendship

To Manila’s alta de sociedad, the 32-year-old Van Hagen is a sought-after lyric soprano—a category of operatic voice that can sing long phrases of musically connected notes and sustain high notes. Lyric sopranos are cast as dramatic actresses because of their full voices.

When she made her Philippine debut in 2015 at the Peninsula Manila’s Christmas concert, Van Hagen sang arias by Italian composers Gaetano Donizetti and Giuseppe Verdi. She also performed with local soprano Rachel Gerodias and her Korean husband, Park Byeong-in, a baritone.

After the show, banker, real estate broker and socialite Sandie Castro Poblador came up to Van Hagen and hugged her for the breathtaking performance.

Poblador invited her to perform at her residence. At the party, Van Hagen sang traditional Christmas songs and arias from one of her favorite composers, Giacomo Puccini, whom she admires for his soaring melodies.

A guest, soprano and voice coach Fides Cuyugan Asensio, lauded Van Hagen for her warm and expressive vocals. She noted Van Hagen’s extensive training, particularly her master’s degree from the Rotterdam Conservatory.

Van Hagen and Poblador afterward maintained close ties through Facebook. Despite Poblador’s busy schedule of brokering deals and raising funds for charities, among them the Philippine Cancer Society, she made time to send encouraging messages to Van Hagen.

The soprano’s uncle, Manila-based photographer Alex Van Hagen, said Poblador also supported other talented artists.

Despite being high profile, Poblador grew weary of the social scene and started to attend retreats. Last year, she went on a pilgrimage to Lourdes during Holy Week, just before her death.

On April 10, 2018, on a visit to Brussels, Poblador suddenly felt intense stomach pain and was hospitalized. Despite three surgeries and staying in the ICU for several days, she succumbed to cancer. She was 59.

According to family history, her mother and sister both died of pancreatic cancer in their late 50s.

Grief

The younger Van Hagen was overwhelmed with grief when she learned of Poblador’s sudden demise. She vowed to hold a memorial concert when she returned to the Philippines.

Last March 10, Van Hagen performed with Filipino pianist Jourdann Petalver and Dutch bass guitarist Freek Cerutti at businessman David Lim’s residence. Lim and Poblador are Wharton alumni.

The repertoire included Franz Schubert’s “Ständchen,” a song about vulnerability; Richard Strauss’ “September” from “Four Last Songs,” about the calm acceptance of death; and “Ave Maria” by J.S. Bach.

Richard Strauss’ “Allerseelen (All Souls’ Day)” was based on a poem about the day of remembering the departed. Van Hagen hoped that the song was a reminder of how grief can evoke compassion and help to connect with other people.

Miricioiu

Aside from her love for Poblador, Van Hagen cites another “Poblador connection.” In 1981, world-famous Romanian soprano and coach Nelly Miricioiu was on a concert tour in Manila. She fell in love with the country and decided to defect from Romania’s then Communist regime.

Poblador’s father-in-law, an avid opera lover and a lawyer, offered to help her. Honorio Poblador also invited her to stay at his clan’s compound in Mandaluyong, where Miricioiu became part of the family.

Now based in London, Miricioiu, 67, travels to conduct master classes. Van Hagen took advantage of the famous teacher’s visit in Amsterdam. Miricioiu taught her how to sing with a brilliant sound and weave notes and lyrics with nuanced inflection and refinement.

Miricioiu also taught her about internalizing the song or role, demonstrating how intimate details, such as a pause, an expansive breath, or a wink of the eye, could stun the audience.

“The performance may sound beautiful, but it has to mean something,” says Van Hagen.

For operas, Van Hagen prepares by analyzing the script and its context and discovering the inner world of her character. She works with coaches to pronounce French, German, Spanish, Italian, Czech and Russian words correctly to be understood by the audience and to give justice to the music.

Lyric soprano characters tend to be one-dimensional, she says. Refusing to be typecast, Van Hagen favors roles with a dark side, such as Liu in “Turandot.”

Liu’s suicide scene is the climax which gives the singer the breadth to explore intense emotions.

When she returns to the Philippines, Van Hagen hopes to render a Tagalog song—with the proper enunciation—and include it in her repertoire.

“I’d like the Dutch to know about other kinds of music,” she says. —CONTRIBUTED

Brigitte Van Hagen performs at Manila House, March 16, at 6 p.m. The repertoire includes songs and arias by De Falla, Monteverdi and Puccini.