The opening concert will bring together angelic voices, rare instruments, medieval manuscripts and a pearl of Flemish Gothic painting.

In 2017, Oltremontano Antwerpen became the ensemble in residence at the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten in Antwerp. This enabled its artistic director, Wim Becu, to follow the progress of the restoration of Hans Memling’s triptych “God the Father with Singing and Music-Making Angels”. The painting was originally part of a magnificent altarpiece that Memling painted for the Santa María la Real Monastery in Nájera, Spain. Unfortunately, the other panels have not survived...

The painter’s extraordinary precision inspired Wim Becu to initiate the reconstruction of all the instruments depicted. With the help of several leading specialists, exact copies were made of the psaltery, tromba marina, lute, Medieval trumpets (buisine, clareta, trompette des ménestrels), shawm, organetto, harp, and fiddle. However, the central instrument of the painting remains the human voice, which best elevates the human soul and leads it to the gates of heaven...