Oud of nieuw, klassiek of modern, minimaal of wereld. Pop. Tonaal en atonaal.
Since 2012, Yoram Ish-Hurwitz has organised the Oranjewoud Festival in Friesland every summer. In doing so, the equally enterprising and adventurous pianist makes nature an inseparable part of the musical experience. From Wednesday 1 to Monday 5 June, he once again surprises his audience with concerts at special locations. Spread across the area, over 120 top Dutch and international musicians will play the most beautiful...
Each month, in the (Un)heard series, I present extraordinary sounds that do not go unnoticed and unsung. In this episode: Plan Kruutntoone, Horse Lords, Luc Ferrari, Anemone Tube, Jaap Vink and Kraftwerk in 3D. Plan Kruutntoone - What Do the Hands (LP on esc.rec.) "woke up again. xenakis is nothing like it. shoving myself and stuff in search of safety. how...
We are real Holland Festival specialists by now. We go and see performances beforehand, interview makers, actors and walk around the halls, in the foyers, just about every day. We hear a lot, we see a lot and we share it here. Cultural journalism as it should be, in short. Cultural journalism that should also be there. And it totally succeeds if you take out a subscription. Then you get...
What does it mean for a dancer with an intense career when she decides to choreograph as well? March saw the premiere of Battle Abbey, Heather Ware's first full-length choreography in collaboration with Swedish cellist Jakob Korányi. Heather Ware, a dancer with LeineRoebana since 2003, embarked on the path to creating her own choreography without a plan....
'Stop it. The fewer awards people give each other, the better.' Ingmar Heytze, poet, is clear: 'Within every conceivable genre, there are already big enough prizes. If you ask me, they should restrict that Nobel Prize to science from now on.' So on the final evening of the International Literature Festival in Utrecht (ILFU) next Saturday, it will be all about those...
It is dark. Basses thump. An intoxicatingly sweet female perfume hangs in the air, a child cries. AquaSonic has just started, and already I want to leave. What possesses a musician to go head-to-head? Our Danish correspondent went to find out. AquaSonic is an ode to water, played by Between Music, a collective of five Danish musicians. They make...
For new music, the primal performance is often also immediately the last time a piece is played. The scores await the archive or dusty drawer; recordings are nowhere to be found. David Dramm searches for these gems of stilted notes. He presents them in the Holland Festival's Orphanage: three evenings of forgotten compositions from the rich...
Wondrous story: Utrecht had a famous jazz club between 1957 and 1967. It was founded - including egg cartons on the vault - by jazz-loving teenagers. Not only the fine fleur of Dutch jazz performed there, but also many an international big name. As part of Utrecht's Cultural Sundays, last Sunday (23 April), a wharf cellar on the...
Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) is often accused of driving audiences out of the hall with his drive for innovation. After all, his twelve-tone system swept away the foundations of tonality, which had offered listeners a safe haven for centuries. Deprived of its foothold, it would have turned its back on contemporary music forever. Nonsense, because not only did Schoenberg write fantastic works, but also...
In Poland, her name appears on street signs and school buildings, and statues of her stand in public parks. Grażyna Bacewicz (1909-1969) was the first Polish woman to achieve international success as a composer. Her work can even be found on one of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra's CD anthologies. Yet she is still virtually unknown here in the country. Unjustly so, as she wrote...
On Tuesday 12 April 2017, Finnish pioneer of avant-garde electronic music Mika Vainio passed away. He was 53 years old. According to Finnish media, Vainio died in an accident while on holiday in France. Shock Mika Vainio is considered a shining example and inspiration. Many artists from the electronic music world are therefore stunned and reacted on social media in disbelief....
In this period before Easter, Johann Sebastian Bach's Passions seem almost inescapable. But the alternatives are on the rise. Last week, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Groot Omroepkoor presented two highly successful new Passions. Alternative passion Tomorrow bring the AVROTROS Friday Concert Deus Passus by German composer Wolfgang Rihm. It will be performed by the Groot Omroepkoor and the Radio Philharmonic ...
A tip for Good Friday. Viola player Saskia Meijs first made the necessary mileage in the 'classical' classical music world. She decided to leave it and look for a less formal and convention-laden career. Solo and with her group the Barockpuppies, she now undertakes the nicest things, at beautiful locations such as Frankendael and the Concertgemaal. Blessed...
German guitarist Heike Matthiesen (1969) was brought up on music. She was taken to the opera from an early age and from the age of four was taught piano by her mother, a concert pianist. It wasn't until she was eighteen that she decided to study guitar. She proved to be a natural and became one of the master students of renowned Spanish guitarist Pepe Romero. Al...
Wednesday 5 April kicks off the fifth edition of the biennial World Minimal Music Festival. For five days, the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ will be filled with hypnotic rhythms, trance-inducing melodies and conjuring drones. Alongside well-known works by pioneers such as La Monte Young and Terry Riley are new compositions by Kate Moore and Bryce Dessner. There will also be performances by the Master...
Het Duitse platenlabel Raster-Noton bestaat twintig jaar. De verjaardag wordt gevierd met showcases op meerdere festivals en met een drie kilo zware catalogus. Plaatjes voor bij de plaatjes dus en géén boxset met de muzikale hoogtepunten. Een bijzondere aanpak, van een hoogst bijzonder label. Geluid én beeld Een label dat een forse catalogus uitbrengt, dat is geen alledaags verschijnsel. Een…
Do it. Make it. Don't care about others. Don't think about the consequences. Then sit on the blisters for a while, they will heal again. Starving for a while for art is not bad either. So choose your own path and enjoy every step. Above all: live in the here and now, all the time. History becomes...
Already during her studies, Loes Visser (1959) formed the Alpha Chamber Orchestra. In 1990, she initiated the Adamello Ensemble and, seventeen years later, she founded the Britten Youth String Orchestra, with which she is now celebrating its second anniversary. What drives her and what are her best experiences? Chamber orchestra "I founded the Alpha Chamber Orchestra because there was a need",...
Saai hoor, al die films, reclames en youtube-filmpjes waarin altijd maar weer naar dezelfde (achtergrond)muziek gegrepen wordt. Bij een verstilde scène of zielige docu krijgt de kijker Pärt voorgeschoteld. Spannend klinkt zo, en als het noodlot toeslaat hoor je dit. Gewoontedieren Ach, ook film-docu-& TV-makers zijn net gewone mensen en grijpen graag naar hetzelfde. Dommage! Want er is zoveel meer…
Rewire staat weer voor de deur. Van 31 maart tot en met 2 april speelt het festival zich af in de binnenstad van Den Haag. Het jonge festival doet dat met een keur aan kleuren en smaken, (net) buiten de mainstream. Dus: daar waar avontuur en het grote ongewisse juist pré’s vormen – diametraal tegenover Guus Meeuwis op het hoofdpodium.…
'Thanks to a radio presenter, my grandfather found an entrance to classical music. With my new piece, I am in turn paving a path to him.' On Thursday 30 March, Elements by Brechtje (1993) will have its world premiere in the fifth episode of An Evening of Today at the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ. In this series by the Nieuw Ensemble, conservatory students are given ample opportunity....
There is sound; a notion of impotence; a programme without a head or tail; there is power, chatter, compassion; there is nothing but also a vista, blurred image full of action and opposition. Moreover, the language seems a bit overwrought here and there. Of course, incoherent babble can be cosy, or moving. Under circumstances, meaningfulness may be possible, but it will not...
Both the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the also Royal Concertgebouw seem to be focusing on connection next season. Between young and old, between east and west, between left and right, between culture and press. 'Great that you all came,' says Jan Raes after the presentation of the 2017-18 season. 'The press is under pressure, as is culture,' continues
It was announced today that the North Sea Jazz Club at Amsterdam's Westergasfabriek grounds is bankrupt. This is never good news, for anyone. Not even for those sourpusses who like to complain about North Sea Jazz, the club's namesake. Five years ago, it was big news: the Rotterdam-based North Sea Jazz Festival was going to open a club in Amsterdam. That was...
Almost a millennium separates nun Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) from Russian composer Galina Ustvolskaya (1919-2006). The former created heavenly chants, the latter hammered on a coffin. Yet on Thursday 23 February, they are together at a concert by the Flemish ensembles Het Collectief and Psallentes at the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ. Two reasons why I think that is a wonderful combo...
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