Niko Koers renewed Amsterdam on Beethoven

Advertorial On 12 April 2013, urban renovator 'in retirement' Niko Koers and pianist Herman Rouw will present a unique combination book and CD about Beethoven and what it tells us about the city. The presentation will take place at De Waalse Kerk and will consist of a performance of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, a work that few live will be performed, by pianist Herman Rouw and the reading of the essay 'Beethoven and the City' by Niko Koers himself.

The Diabelli Variations are considered the Mount Everest for pianists. Herman Rouw spent years studying this work, which Beethoven wrote in 1820 at the invitation of the Viennese music publisher Diabelli. But even more than a challenge to play and interpret, the pieces are a lesson in listening.

Koers has spent his whole life working in urban renewal. As he watched De Pijp transform into Amsterdam's Quartier Latin and witnessed how the Bijlmer blossomed thanks to patient pioneering work, he listened to music: Beethoven's Diabelli Variations. For forty years, he lived with these 33 variations on a waltz by Diabelli and came to know all about them. Never did he make a conscious connection with his work. Until he once cycled down a wrong street in Paris and suddenly saw a familiar place with different eyes.

"Imagery such as "the city as machine," "as body," or "as living room" falls hopelessly short. This unannounced concentration on one place in the city showed that there are endless dimensions to understanding it. I had to get to know the complexity of the place with its physical characteristics, its place in the system, but also with its personal histories, dreams and relationships, and all at the same time."

Because Koers thinks in spatial images when dealing with music, he recognises connections between how we experience a city like Amsterdam, Paris or Vienna, and how we experience music. The two undoubtedly influence each other, so the question is how much Beethoven actually ended up in Amsterdam thanks to Niko Koers.

"I think the most important thing is that listening with knowledge eventually teaches you to read better. Also to read the city better."

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Recital and lecture

BEETHOVEN & STAD, Piano recital by Herman Rouw: BEETHOVEN - 33 Diabelli Variations and lecture by Niko Koers.

12 April 2013, 20:15, Waalse Kerk, Walenpleintje (Oudezijds Achterburgwal) 159, Amsterdam

Admission €12.50. Tickets via aahoogteiling@upcmail.nl or three-quarters of an hour before the start at the church.

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CD+Essay

CD included in book, BEETHOVEN & STAD / BEETHOVEN & CITIES, essay in Dutch and English by Niko Koers and CD with Beethoven's 33 Diabelli Variations, played by Herman Rouw, recorded in February 2013.

ISBN 978-90-820059-1-2, Price €17.50, available to order at aahoogteiling@upcmail.eu

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