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Wolfgang Rihm links suffering Christ to Holocaust in 'Deus Passus' - podcast

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 ... 

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The Matthew according to Henk

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... 

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Heike Matthiesen opts for lyrical music on CD 'Guitar Ladies'

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 talent and became one of the master students of renowned Spanish guitarist Pepe Romero. Al... 

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Andriessen's The Matter opens World Minimal Music Festival

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... 

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Three kilos of Raster-Noton over then, with three options in advance for tomorrow

German record label Raster-Noton is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The anniversary is celebrated with showcases at several festivals and with a three-kilo catalogue. These are records to go with the records, not a boxset of musical highlights. A very special approach, from a very special label. Sound and image A label that releases a substantial catalogue is not an everyday phenomenon. One is... 

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Rewire 2017 in 10 shots: Festival for radicalism with a smile

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... 

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The Britten Youth String Orchestra is 10 years old. Conductor Loes Visser: 'I'm still learning every day'

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",... 

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The Passion - not for idle followers

Boring, all those films, commercials and youtube videos that always use the same (background) music. In a hushed scene or pathetic documentary, the viewer is served Pärt. Exciting sounds like this, and when disaster strikes you hear this. Ordinary people Ah, even film-docu-& TV-makers are like ordinary people and like to reach for the same thing. Dommage! Because there is so much more... 

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Adventure in The Hague: 5 reasons to go to Rewire (sultry madness is 1 of them)

Rewire is once again just around the corner. From 31 March to 2 April, the festival takes place in the city centre of The Hague. The young festival does so with a choice of colours and flavours, (just) outside the mainstream. So: where adventure and the great unknown are actually perks - diametrically opposed to Guus Meeuwis on the main stage.... 

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Composer Brechtje: 'The musicians are the core of the universe'

'Thanks to a radio presenter, my grandfather found an entrance to classical music. With my new piece, I, in turn, am 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.... 

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Finds inside (Misha Mengelberg 1935 - 2017)

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 drivel can be cosy, or moving. Under circumstances, meaningfulness may be possible, but it will not... 

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Concertgebouw Orchestra & Concertgebouw 2017-18: searching for connection

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 

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No cause for gloating at the end of the North Sea Jazz Club

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... 

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Why I love the Hildegard von Bingen & Galina Ustvolskaya combo

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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Han de Vries: delving through four centuries of oboe music

It will happen to you. At 70, they honour you with a CD box set, five years later you are offered a compilation twice the size. It happened to Dutch oboist Han de Vries (The Hague, 1941), who celebrated his 75th birthday last August. In 2011, his former student Peter Bree collected the radio recordings on nine CDs, this time he filled a... 

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Eef van Breen for President (why politicians should not miss this concert)

Shimmering. Wondrous, ferocious. Poetic, powerful. Creative and humorous. Musical. Engaging. Layered. Spirited. A few days after my concert visit, words like these keep bubbling to the surface. And even though the Eef van Breen Group (EvBG) with Chapman for President is a typical case of 'especially go there', 'hear for yourself' and 'cannot be described', I'll make an effort. In the beginning My... 

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Pixvae: hot-blooded fusion between French metal and Colombian Currulao

Last summer, French-Colombian collective Pixvae was the sensation of the Haarlemmer Houtfestival. Their debut was recently released through the prestigious French label Buda Musique. This week there are two Dutch shows. You can't start a day better than with Pixvae's first CD. Eight pieces only, but the energy that oozes from it is irresistible. The music of... 

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What I learned from Jan Wolff, the late director of Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ

During the big January cleaning in my private museum, I rediscovered the book released in 2007, on the occasion of the Music Building on the IJ, which opened two years earlier. I had forgotten that it came with a CD with four pieces on it. The fourth piece is a recording of the opening speech given by Jan Wolff [hints]former director IJsbreker, more than twenty... 

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7 reasons why you should invest in Holland Festival 2017 #hf17

Ruth Mackenzie has achieved an enormous amount in the short time she has been boss of Holland Festival. I've experienced the festival now since the late 1990s and watched it evolve from something very personal and sometimes obscure (under Ivo van Hove), to an ethereal feast of sizzling aesthetics (with Pierre Audi), to what it... 

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Conductor Alan Gilbert makes Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra shine

Alan Gilbert conducted the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra for the fifth time on Wednesday 8 February. He is chief of the New York Philharmonic until the end of this season, exuberantly expressing his love for contemporary music. He proved to be the ideal conductor to premiere Joey Roukens' new work, aptly leading the musicians through the exhilarating... 

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Hymn to St. Cecilia by Britten: state dangerous (c)ode?

On Friday 10 February in Utrecht, the Nederlands Kamerkoor will kick off its concert series Sacred and Profane, based on Benjamin Britten's choral work of the same name. The programme also includes his popular cycle Hymn to St Cecilia, which he composed during World War II. The score was confiscated by the US Customs Service in 1942 because it allegedly contained codes that were dangerous to the state. The American fear of a... 

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Criss-crossing America with Richard Rijnvos

Richard Rijnvos (1964) has been house composer of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra since 2011. This has so far resulted in two new pieces: Antarctique, the final movement of his cycle Grand Atlas (2011) and fuoco e fumo from the series la Serenissima (2013). On Thursday 2 and Friday 3 February, conductor Gustavo Gimeno leads the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in its third commissioned work, Amérique du Nord. The... 

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Guess who is Utrechter of the year: exciting festival in line with FC and Daphne

Johan Gijsen has been elected Utrechter of the Year. The organiser of the Le Guess Who? Festival succeeds FC Utrecht owner Frans van Seumeren (2015) and athlete Dafne Schippers (2014). The election for Utrechter van het Jaar was held by the AD Utrechts Nieuwsblad. Six columnists selected ten nominees who could be voted for. Gijsen founded Le Guess Who? in 2007.... 

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Richard Rijnvos world premiere at Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ: 'Art-loving audience very capable of critical listening'

What is a 'companion piece'? On Thursday 12 January, the quirky Ives Ensemble answers this question at a concert in the Thursday night series at the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ in Amsterdam. Especially for this, Richard Rijnvos composed his Riflesso sull'arco, a 'companion piece' to Swinging Music by Kazimierz Serocki. I asked Rijnvos three questions. What typifies you as a composer? Let me start with... 

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My 2016, and why it scared me to death. (A list)

Five art experiences will always stick to this bizarre year for me. And one thing really scared me. Whether the worst is now behind us? At least the most extraordinary is still on view until 5 February 2017. A chronological overview of what was unbelievable, unthinkable, inconceivable, unbelievable and perhaps untrue. Much of it, by the way, will be in 2017... 

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