Skip to content

MEDIA

'We're done with Zoomen for now'. Holland Festival looks back on 2020 edition with mixed feelings (with sound)

The three of them are back together in the office for the first time since the lockdown on 13 March. The interview, in which director Emily Ansenk, music programmer Jochem Valkenburg and theatre programmer Annemieke Keurentjes take stock of the first - and hopefully only - online edition of the country's most prestigious performing arts festival, takes place a day after the lockdown. There was no... 

Read More "'We're done with Zoomen for now'. Holland Festival looks back on 2020 edition with mixed feelings (with sound)

HOLLAND FESTIVAL ONLINE PROGRAMME 2.0-2.0

From 11 to 21 June, the Holland Festival will present an online programme as close as possible to the core and essence of the original programme, which was cancelled due to the corona crisis. Together with artists from around the world who were due to perform in the 2020 festival, an alternative online programme has been put together. The festival theme, suggested by... 

Read More "HOLLAND FESTIVAL ONLINE PROGRAMME 2.0-2.0
The Encounter, Complicit / Simon McBurney, photo: Alex Aitchison

Why you should listen to Simon McBurney with headphones on between 15 and 22 May

We are fairly bombarded to death with online theatre experiences. Frankly, I avoid them. I always thought theatre was something to be experienced live. Bobbing shoes are terrible, visible consumption when speaking is something I can't stand at the moment and the sound is always mediocre. I want live theatre, and nothing else. Leave TV to the TV makers, they have studied for that. Still... 

Read More "Why you should listen to Simon McBurney with headphones on between 15 and 22 May

Virtual life after death does have a price tag in Amazon Prime's Upload

With amazement, I become aware of the 'sacrificing your elderly fellow man' attitude of many here in the Netherlands. Dor wood. Not money, but the love for it is the root of evil. Right now, I wish a virtual heaven were possible - so that those who have lost someone and may not be able to say goodbye to them either... 

Read More "Virtual life after death does have a price tag in Amazon Prime's Upload

This Was The News is more enjoyable without an audience than Sunday with Lubach

We must continue to get through the already theatre-less weekends this spring and summer without Sunday with Lubach and This Was The News. Their season is over. The latter remained witty without an audience, Lubach in my opinion did not. How did that happen? Five weeks ago, when the shows first recorded it without an audience, it was noticeable that Sunday with... 

Read More "This Was The News is more enjoyable without an audience than Sunday with Lubach

Coronapodcast (15): Buy local, buy more and get on your bike. Bookseller Lot Douze and writer Jeroen Thijssen on reading in Corana time

Lot Douze delivers to your home. By bicycle. With her bookshop Over Het Water, she focuses very specifically on her neighbourhood, Amsterdam Noord. Now that everyone has to stay at home as much as possible because of the corona situation, she experiences an increase in demand. Online, customers in Amsterdam Noord now also know how to find her well. Because of her customer focus, she has a... 

Read More "Coronapodcast (15): Buy local, buy more and get on your bike. Bookseller Lot Douze and writer Jeroen Thijssen on reading in Corana time

Podcast in times of Corona (10) - 'Rutte's hands should be in a box' (The Secret Arm of Hilversum speaks)

Machteld Kooij sees at least three or four people she has trained pass by every night on the news or the big talk shows. She calls herself The Secret Weapon of Hilversum and now there is also a book: The Monster with the Golden Eyes. We all have to deal with it from time to time: stage fright. And Machteld Kooij has excellent tips ... 

Read More "Podcast in times of Corona (10) - 'Rutte's hands should be in a box' (The Secret Arm of Hilversum speaks)

Podcast in times of Corona (9): Cinedans goes online, but for the festival feel we have to wait until next year.

We spoke to Andreas Hannes about the cancellation of Cinedans 2020. As a programmer, how do you deal with cancelling a festival you've spent a whole year working on? How do you still retain some of the sense of community that is so important to a festival when you are only online? For now, the festival will not go into the existing... 

Read More "Podcast in times of Corona (9): Cinedans goes online, but for the festival feel we have to wait until next year.

'You missed nothing about your father'

In Verstoten Vaders, Elena Lindemans impressively highlights a huge, tucked-away social problem: of many tens of thousands of children who have to let go of one of their parents after a divorce. Elena: 'While making 'Wife Beats Husband' - a film about men who are victims of domestic violence - I came into contact with fathers who are abandoning their children - almost... 

Read More "'You missed nothing about your father'

What the stream; bring on those dramatic disaster movies!

Hollywood loves disaster movies and frankly, so do I. It's sort of a 'guilty pleasure' of mine. Generally, it is the visual aspect that attracts me the most: the eruption of a volcano, an earthquake tearing the world apart - as a resident of Groningen, I did adjust my opinion somewhat about the entertainment value of earthquakes - or... 

Read More "What the stream; bring on those dramatic disaster movies!

What do we do with conferences? Two day speakers on their work in a contact-poor world. 

'Like asking after a play or a concert which seats they had in the auditorium.' According to Gerrit Heijkoop, it is not interesting to know what software you can use to share knowledge online, or organise video chats. 'You can go to Facebook, to YouTube, and then there are all kinds of programmes. If you want to communicate, it goes... 

Read More "What do we do with conferences? Two day speakers on their work in a contact-poor world. 

Divided loyalties, racism and a split house in HBO's The Plot Against America

I had the chance to attend the 500th anniversary - it took place at the beautiful Teatro La Fenice - of the first Jewish ghetto during my visit to Venice in 2016. One of the speakers was historian Simon Schama. During his lecture, I was given a brief history of Jewish suffering in Italy. According to... 

Read More "Divided loyalties, racism and a split house in HBO's The Plot Against America

'Millions still watch the BBC' (Lessons from Manchester, episode 1)

Travelling makes you a better person. Everyone thinks so, and it is a great favour to be able to travel. A privilege to be able to do it. If you go to England by train, the last few minutes before you disappear under the Channel at Calais, you see more and more fences appearing. And we are not talking about the average... 

Read More "'Millions still watch the BBC' (Lessons from Manchester, episode 1)

A quarter of what they are entitled to! (How Public Broadcasting condemns musicians to beggary)

When I tried to explain to secondary school students the other day how little the orchestra members who perform the musical surprise act at the Eurovision Song Contest were paid, they looked at me in bewilderment. After all, it was more than you earn as a 16-year-old as a stock boy at the average grocery store. So what was really the problem? So now let's do some other maths, thanks to the... 

Read More "A quarter of what they are entitled to! (How Public Broadcasting condemns musicians to beggary)

Matthijs goes to Saturday night. That, of course, is the end of VPRO's Mondo (update: or not?).

Fascinating front-page news and headliners for all talk shows: Matthijs van Nieuwkerk quits DWDD after 15 years. Obviously a disaster of national proportions. The book industry proclaims the end of the world, bands can no longer break through, and the successor to De Correspondent can never again meet its crowdfunding target in six minutes. An institution disappears, and everyone panics. Who... 

Read More "Matthijs goes to Saturday night. That, of course, is the end of VPRO's Mondo (update: or not?).

Song festival-gate update: fee for spectacle orchestra even lower

Those who want to be musicians have to bleed. Earlier, we reported that the highlight of the Dutch edition of the Eurovision Song Contest was going to be performed by professional musicians and conservatoire students who would receive 100 euros a day for it. Outrageously little, when you know that full days of work were going to be involved anyway, for eight days. Well: it's even worse than... 

Read More "Song festival-gate update: fee for spectacle orchestra even lower

The self-employed are to blame for everything. Now also for the downfall of regional arts journalism.

In April 2020, the Persgroep, now DPG Media because it smells better internationally, will stop regional art supplements in its newspapers. No more art reports and interviews, hardly any reviews. Local bookshops will lose their stage in all Dutch regions, as the publisher of Volkskrant, Trouw and AD has a regional monopoly. The message, brought by a reporter from the Eindhovens Dagblad, struck... 

Read More "The self-employed are to blame for everything. Now also for the downfall of regional arts journalism.

Eurovision Song Contest had the Metropole Orchestra, but chose students.

Where is the Metropole Orchestra? A unique orchestra, the only one in the world that can pull off the complete repertoire from classical to pop and jazz? The orchestra that used to accompany the Dutch acts at the Song Festival when everything was still live? The orchestra, which as recently as December was on tour with our new Song Contest candidate,... 

Read More "Eurovision Song Contest had the Metropole Orchestra, but chose students.

What is the remplaçanten-cao and why is it so bad that the NPO applies it to the Eurovision Song Contest?

[update: they get even less, see post below] We received confusing news last weekend. The occasion was the festive announcement by the organisers of the Eurovision Song Contest that a special symphonic happening would take place at the final in Rotterdam. Invited were third-year and master students from Rotterdam Conservatoire, part of Codarts, as well as young professional musicians. For the performances... 

Read More "What is the remplaçanten-cao and why is it so bad that the NPO applies it to the Eurovision Song Contest?

(update: Song Contest response and nuanced message) Playing with the Eurovision Song Contest Orchestra? From 100 euros per day

In the first version of this post, we assumed 100 euros for 8 days. We turned out to be misinformed. The application of the remplaçants' collective agreement, mentioned in the explanation by the Song Festival, gives a bit more leeway, although its hourly and daily rates are still controversial. But 1,000 euros for eight days is now apparently the going rate.... 

Read More "(update: Song Contest response and nuanced message) Playing with the Eurovision Song Contest Orchestra? From 100 euros per day

Netflix's The Witcher is having an identity crisis. But if you make it to episode five, you'll want to know how it ends.

With much fanfare, Netflix's The Witcher was announced. Except for some comments about Superman in a white wig, there was and is a lot of interest in the film adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski's fantasy book series. Successor to Game of Thrones. With the way that one ended? No thanks! I'm not familiar with the books or the games myself, but Netflix's description... 

Read More "Netflix's The Witcher is having an identity crisis. But if you make it to episode five, you'll want to know how it ends.

The masked truth in HBO's Watchmen

At a time when comic book movies, superheroes and alternative dystopian realities reign supreme, I feared the worst when HBO announced Damon Lindelof's Watchmen. Not having extensive knowledge of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' comic book Watchmen myself, I found the 2009 film a disappointment. Lindelof is the man behind the infamous series Lost. Where with Lost, the viewer... 

Read More "The masked truth in HBO's Watchmen

Walking Through The Walls: unique VR experience at the edge of the abyss, where dragons live.

Virtual Reality is taking off. On Friday 11 October at 15:00, you can experience the world premiere of the chilling Walking through the Walls, a totally immersive work made for the Oculus Go and MEZE AUDIO headset, together the most complete portable VR set available. The event takes place at Mediamatic in Amsterdam, in collaboration with Stichting... 

Read More "Walking Through The Walls: unique VR experience at the edge of the abyss, where dragons live.

Zeitgeist and chance cannot be captured by an algorithm. Why a robot should not replace the music programmer.

Last Wednesday, 2 October, at the annual congress of the Vereniging Nederlandse Poppodia en Festivals in Tivoli/Vredenburg, I saw an interesting presentation by Jonas Kiesekoms, research coordinator at PXL-Music in Hasselt, Belgium, and musician. The question is now classic: can a robot replace the music programmer? With his research group, Kiesekoms is working on several applications that use data science to improve ticket sales for concerts,... 

Read More "Zeitgeist and chance cannot be captured by an algorithm. Why a robot should not replace the music programmer.

Small Membership
175€ / 12 Months
Subscribe
Especially for organisations with a turnover or grant of less than 250,000 per year.
No annoying banners
A premium newsletter
5 trial newsletter subscriptions
All our podcasts
Have your say on our policies
Insight into finances
Exclusive archives
Posting press releases yourself
Own mastodon account on our instance
More details in the confirmation email!
Most Popular
Cultural Membership
360€ / Year
Subscribe
For cultural organisations
No annoying banners
A premium newsletter
10 trial newsletter subscriptions
All our podcasts
Participate
Insight into finances
Exclusive archives
Posting press releases yourself
Own mastodon account on our instance
Collaboration
In the confirmation e-mail you will find the details for press release forwarding
Private Membership
50€ / Year
Subscribe
For natural persons and self-employed persons.
No annoying banners
A premium newsletter
All our podcasts
Have your say on our policies
Insight into finances
Exclusive archives
Own mastodon account on our instance
en_GBEnglish (UK)
nl_NLNederlands fr_FRFrançais en_GBEnglish (UK)