Rudolf Hunnik is a cultural journalist, trainer and film programmer. For more information visit www.diversityathome.nl
It is not an everyday topic: where were you when the Bijlmer disaster occurred? But this disaster, of 4 October 1992, is discussed every year, especially by eyewitnesses. For me, it is a grim memory that comes back every year. And now for the 30th time. 'The Bijlmer disaster is the name given to the air disaster that took place on Sunday evening, 4 October 1992. A...
Some 25 years ago, 10 musicians got together in Innervillgraten. A hamlet in East Tyrol, to play funeral marches. A band formed: Franui. By making quirky arrangements of music such as by Schubert and Mahler, Franui gained international success. At the 2017 Holland Festival, they will perform a programme of music about life and impermanence. In collaboration with baritone Florian...
Among classical music-loving audiences, the two young pianists Lucas (1993) and Arthur (1996) Jussen need little introduction. For many years, the talented piano brothers have been filling halls like the Concertgebouw with four-handed or otherwise, interpretations of classics such as Beethoven, Mozart and Schubert. With the avant-garde piece Mantra by Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928-2007), to be performed as part of the Holland Festival,...
We have to perform, from an early age. If you don't go along with that, you will be left out. It is the thrust of Alban Berg's opera Wozzeck, now to be seen at De Nationale Opera directed by Krzystof Warlikowski. The Polish theatre innovator has turned one of the most dramatic operas in music history into a fascinating musical...
Nine-year-old Amira Willighagen was when she won the TV talent show 'Holland's got talent' in 2013 with opera arias. Her Puccini aria 'O mio babbino caro' still attracts millions of viewers on YouTube. What makes Amira so immensely popular? Is it her singing skills or is it her adorable childlike appearance? In Huizen, a village in the Gooi region, she gave a concert with...
Huge passenger trunks, like those at the airport, are stacked crosswise on the stage in the Amsterdam Forest. This immense rendition forms the backdrop of Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare in the Amsterdam Bostheater's performance. Director Ingejan Ligthart Schenk stages Shakespeare's classic modern, with acrobatics by the Tent Circustheater group and musical input by De Veenfabriek.
Enemy of the People is the summer performance of Theatre group Suburbia, directed by Albert Lubbers. The play taps into current events of corrupt bankers, environmental scandals and government officials covering up whistleblowing issues. This strong performance is sharp in tone, polemical and with vicious humour. Better than in previous Suburbia performances, the familiar dynamic acting fits nicely into the theatrical space. This time, that space is the big open barn at Stadslandgoed de Kemphaan.
Full of religious inspiration, Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) wrote the oratorio Die Schöpfung, his famous musical ode to the Biblical creation story. Berlin-based artist Julian Rosefeldt (b 1965) reflects on Haydn's masterpiece with an aesthetic film that shows how humans bend the world to their will. During the Holland Festival this film was screened at a live performance of the music by Collegium Vocale Gent and baroque orchestra B'Rock led by conductor René Jacobs. Got Die Schöpfung an extra charge by this film, which largely consists of people in white suits walking around sandy landscapes?
In every stage performance, film, or concert, there is a scene that particularly touches you. In the documentary I want to be happy (2016) about the life of actress and cabaret performer Fien de La Mar (1898-1965) also contains such a moment, a musical scene of unforgettable poignancy.
Sexual abuse, alienation and the emptiness of existence are the ingredients of Motel Mist by Thai debutant Prabda Yoon. A #IFFR Tiger Award worthy film. In tightly directed storylines, Yoon gently critiques Thailand's social and political climate. For instance, Motel Mist refers to the well-known paedophile sex tourism. Moreover, Yoon makes an attempt to capture the emptiness and alienation...
Festival director Bero Beyer found it difficult to choose eight films to nominate for the Hivos Tiger Award. After all, what makes a film special? According to Beyer, Elisabeth Subrin's film drama A Woman, a Part evokes a sense of nostalgia and is also outspoken, bold and above all human. The #IFFR check by Culture Press is that A Woman, a...
Every stage show, film, or concert has a scene that touches you. A moment that evokes emotion, amazement, or perhaps disgust. Even in director Sam Mendes' James Bond film Spectre, there is such a moment that stays with you. It concerns the excerpt in which classical music, namely the aria Cum dederit from Antonio Vivaldi's Nisi Dominus RV 608,...
Debby Petter's performance 'Bed & Breakfast' at Theatre Achterom in Hilversum had just ended. Director Gerlofke Hekelaar addressed the audience, as it had been the very last performance. After 45 years, the Achterom Theatre Foundation will cease to exist. Another theatre going under due to cuts in the cultural sector. But is lack of money the only...
During the Seven Bridges Festival, from 29 September to 4 October, you could enjoy chamber music concerts in beautiful historic buildings in Amsterdam. One concert, on 1 October, we highlight. Compositions by Haydn and Beethoven resounded in Museum Geelvinck Hinlopen. This included a straining Haydn sonata on pianoforte grand piano and sparkling 'Volksliederen' by Van Beethoven by the expressive soprano Katharine...
It was world news in 1997. In one of the first building sites of Vinex district Leidsche Rijn, archaeologists found remains of a Roman boundary line, walls of forts, a cargo ship and all kinds of utensils. Digging it up and building houses was no longer an option. In 2007, it was decided to build a cultural park: a castellum. A modern version of a Roman fort bringing together various functions....
Three days of classical music among the trees and cows. Festival Wonderfeel presented a unique classical music festival last weekend from 24 to 26 July, under the smoke of 's-Graveland. Top musicians from home and abroad gave dozens of concerts. Lectures were given and, as befits a festival, there was also plenty to eat, drink and...
Cabaret artist Marjolijn van Kooten (43) has an anxiety disorder. With her book 'Schijtluis', she wants to break a taboo: if you suffer from an anxiety disorder, you should not be ashamed of it. Van Kooten writes extensively about her fears in 'Schijtluis'. It makes for a quirky and disconcerting book. Schijtluis is a diary. Openly and honestly, Van Kooten describes...
For the second time, tenor Joseph Calleja performed at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam on Monday night 22 June, accompanied by the Gelders Orchestra conducted by Frederic Chaslin. A native of Malta, Calleja (b. 1978) is a world-renowned top singer. His timbre evokes memories of the finest voices of yesteryear: the controlled vibrato of Jussi Björling and the crystal-clear, powerful pitch of...
Theatre group Vis à Vis, based at Almere Strand since 2007, has been around for 25 years. In all these years, the group has mainly created accessible, successful open-air theatre performances such as PICNIC, Silo 8 and HaRT. Visual comedies with lots of spectacle, where solid themes are treated in a light-hearted way. EXIT is their anniversary performance. A dozen questions to Arjan Anker, artistic director of Vis à Vis:...
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