MUSIC
Old or new, classic or modern, minimal or world. Pop. Tonal and atonal.
Tristan und Isolde at Reisopera, something special happens here
A Brünhilde who does not burst into flames but endures the Götterdämmerung with a baby in her arms, a Senta who does not jump off a cliff but is shot by Erik together with the Holländer. No one really looks surprised anymore. And Isoldes who do not die in the Liebestod are no exception, but Tristan who rises from the dead, as it were, by Isolde's notes reaching into heaven, stands diagonally behind her and sings along soundlessly?
Tristan und Isolde is the ultimate declaration of love
"That sounds different. A bit sad."
I just played F, B, D♯ and G♯. Better known as the Tristan chord. But on guitar. My audience consists of 15 toddlers.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin turns Rotterdam Doelen into a swirling sea of sound
In a letter to Franz Liszt in 1852, Wagner stressed that in his Der fliegende Holländer should be shown as realistically as possible, full of violent waves. One hundred and sixty years later, Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes that advice very much to heart in port city Rotterdam. Nothing about this Holländer ripples, from the first notes it storms, culminating in a third act at hurricane force, with a leading role for the Netherlands Opera choir.
NJO honours Steve Reich
Ever since the establishment of the NJO Summer Academy in 2001, one composer takes centre stage every year, in the current edition it is Steve Reich (1936). During the NJO Music Summer, two hundred music students from fifteen countries will play a good number of compositions by the American grandmaster.
Taking young talent into Europe: what the Reisopera and Ajax have in common
Dutch Symphony Orchestra loses lawsuit and name
We already wrote about the name change of the Orchestra of the East into the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra (NedSym). The Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra (NedPho) was not amused and felt that the Enschede-based orchestra was infringing its trademark and trademark rights and demanded that the orchestra choose a different name. Summary proceedings followed and in April 2012 the court ruled that the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra could only not use the abbreviation NedSO, but did not have to change its name.
Franui provides the most fun Mahler evening in years at @HollandFestival
What to expect from a 'musicabanda' from East Tyrol? Gemütliche folk music? Yodelling? Dance music for weddings and parties? An evening in a beer pub? Either way: definitely not Mahler. But why not, thought the Franui from the village of Innervillgraten. Result: an enervating performance around orchestral songs. We have never heard Mahler like this before.
Desdemona in black and white
Is the kingdom of the dead in the opera Sunken Garden by Michel van der Aa a 3D garden full of brilliant colour, director Peter Sellars chooses in Desdemona by Toni Morrison and Rokia Traoré for sober black and white. On the stage of a sold-out Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ are glass bottles and jars, sometimes lit from below, sometimes from above, with hanging light bulbs like flickering candles. On the left are a number of ngonis (Malian lute) and two koras (Malian harp lute), played by black musicians.
Meistersinger @HollandFestival convinces musically only
Cowardly knight defeats untalented rule fetishist with help from wise cobbler and wins singing contest and the hand of coquettish goldsmith's daughter. Or: boy meets girl on the streets of Nuremberg and decides to enter the local version of Nuremberg's got talent. The judges send him away, but he gets the audience vote. Wagner wouldn't be Wagner, however, if he didn't take about five hours for this story.
Two voices on Sunken Garden @HollandFestival, part 1. Henri Drost: "much more than 3D film opera"
Forget all the fuss about the first ever 3D film opera, forget all the fuss in British newspapers. Michel van der Aa himself sighed in interview that, on reflection, he would have loved to have made the second 3D film opera. And perhaps he had
Blood, sweat and candle wax in Fabre's Wagner vision at @hollandfestival
Future of opera or soporific experience?
Michel van der Aa achieves double
In one year the AKO and Libris prizes? The front pages of newspapers would be full of it, not to mention the dozens of pages in book supplements. Composer Michel van der Aa has to make do with small announcements, tucked away in newspapers, while receiving the Grawemeyer Award and the Mauricio Kagel Music Prize is a never-before-seen double.
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