Ajax
Peter Sellars, American National Theater
Archive 1987
In 1987 the Holland Festival celebrated its 40th anniversary. One of the special guests was Leonard Bernstein, who conducted Mahler’s Fourth and Schubert’s Fifth symphonies. He had also been present at the very first festival in 1948. But he was not the only major name: Peter Sellars directed Ajax, in which the protagonist of Sophocles’ drama had become an American general.
William Forsythe presented a full-length choreography, and two evenings were devoted to composer György Kurtág as part of the cultural exchange between the Netherlands and Hungary.
Also on the programme were so-called country presentations in the context of Amsterdam as Cultural Capital, works by contemporary American composers such as Reich, Cage, Nancarrow and Feldman, an international puppet theatre festival, two productions by the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz, and performances from Bantu-speaking Africa and from India.
