Things we do for members and partners.
Platonov, Theater Utrecht's latest show, premiered on 2 March and is an instant hit: rave reviews in all major newspapers. Artistic director and director Thibaud Delpeut bases his version of this archetypal Chekhov play on the translation made by actor Jacob Derwig in 2000 for 't Barre Land. This equally legendary play fitted...
Wolf is Kristien Hemmerechts' first novel since her non-fiction book about breast cancer, and it is about rage. What it's like to be furious, the Belgian writer knows all about that. "When I had breast cancer, I experienced intense feelings of aggression." Why is it that some people who have experienced trauma or tragedy can give it a place,...
Late last year, the organisers of an alumni evening for research master's students asked me to defend a thesis from my current position as a cultural leader. It had to be about my position as a literary scholar by telling them about my professional path since graduation. I could frame this article hopefully and hopeful and elaborate on the competences that the...
On Tuesday 13 March, the Opera Forward Festival opens with Hans Werner Henze's Das Floss der Medusa. This 1968 oratorio fits seamlessly with the third edition's theme of Fate and Conscience. It was inspired by a true story from 1816, when the French frigate Méduse ran aground on the African coast. Those on board were left to their fate;...
Joel Fried, artistic director of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra visibly startled for a moment. I asked him if there is really only one female composer scheduled in the 2018-19 season. Indeed, during the presentation on Monday 26 February at the Concertgebouw, I only heard the name of Lotta Wennäkoski. Indeed the Finn appears to be the only one to defend the honour of composing women....
Although Estonia is almost 4,000 square kilometres larger than the Netherlands, it has barely more inhabitants than the province of Utrecht. For centuries, superpowers such as Denmark, Germany, Russia, Sweden and Poland disputed rule over this country on the Baltic Sea. Indeed, its geographical location made it an important link between East and West. It was not until 1918 that a state of its own was declared, but...
The Faal Festival at Utrecht's festival palace TivoliVredenburg, taking place on 3 March, is unique in many ways. Never before have so many famous people been willing to come and talk about their failures. Apparently, there is a big audience for it, in these times when quick success is actually mandatory. In the run-up to the festival, I spoke to Remko van der...
With Utoya 22.July, Norwegian filmmaker Erik Poppe reconstructs as respectfully as possible the assassination attempt by Anders Breivik on youngsters at a labour party summer camp. A striking Berlinale title.
It all starts at Orange College, of course. A fictional school with very real problems. For Sadettin Kırmızıyüz, the place where he commissions the opening part of Metropolis, a series that should eventually count four episodes. It is one of Het Nationale Theater's biggest projects over the next four years, in close cooperation with Kırmızıyüz's own company:...
We're sitting in the opera house; We're waiting for the curtain to arise With wonders for our eyes; We're feeling pretty gay, [...] A feeling of expectancy, A certain kind of ecstasy, Expectancy and ecstasy... Sh's's's's. "Curtain!" With the above words, Charles Ives sang of the excitement of a child going to the opera for the first time. A similar enthusiasm shows...
This post has been updated following a response from VVD The Hague. Yesterday I wrote: But so that was misunderstood. Today the VVD called. A transcript of the conversation can be found below: With Frans Schuyt fraction chairman The Hague VVD. I think two things have been mixed up. You have the programme in the budget, Culture and Library, of 102 million,...
Museum Gouda will soon show the exhibition Faith, Harmony and Silence by master painter Henk Helmantel. In 2008, he was named artist of the year. At the same time, there are major exhibitions by Helmantel in Gorssel and in Taiwan. His paintings are characterised by a gossamer texture, careful composition and sophisticated lighting. As subjects, he often chooses still lifes and tranquil...
Jonas Smulders is among the ten most promising young actors in Europe this year, the so-called Shooting Stars. At the Berlin Film Festival, he talks about his first steps and his ambition to direct.
Yoga and mindfulness at work are popular, but there is a new trend in 'workplace wellness': dancing at work! On 17 May, Dance to the People is organising the Dance@Work conference in Utrecht. During this event, dance professionals will show business how dance contributes to the well-being of managers and their teams. With this initiative,...
The Culture Council wants it. Everyone wants it. And Utrecht wants it too, of course. A physical sector institute, where in a corner an old PC is humming with the total digital archive of Dutch theatre, and music, of course. Plus a library. With real books, scripts, photos. In 2012, the building was divested and the memory could...
Berlinale 2018 opens with Isle of Dogs, a new stop-motion animation by Wes Anderson. An open letter signed by over 70 German filmmakers raises discussion about the future of the festival as director Dieter Kosslick steps down in 2019.
Fanny Mendelssohn (1805-1847) was the four-year older sister of Felix Mendelssohn. They both received a solid musical education, with her surpassing him in virtuosity at the piano. Her relationship with Felix was intense, but also suffocating. At his hands, Fanny Mendelssohn failed to build an independent career as a composer. To this day
On 25 January 2018, the Musical Awards were presented with, as we are used to, many translated reruns and calibrated repertoire. Also notable was the appreciation for new Dutch work. Many a writer will have been cheering on the sofa when 'Was Getekend, Annie M.G. Schmidt' won the awards. Does that bode well for the future? Can today's (small)...
Is the prevailing flu wave raising the feverish temperature of contemporary art? From today, 8 February, you can come and take the temperature of the current state of contemporary art in person at a positively moody Art Rotterdam. From 8 to 11 February 2018 at the Van Nelle Fabriek in Rotterdam. It is a broad-based art fair where...
The neat couple next to me, in the front row at the Holland Festival press conference, hadn't counted on it for a moment. Four members of the Nederlands Kamerkoor starting to undress one by one down to their pecker-sized nakie. A giggle, a small cough, but hey, this is the Holland Festival, they said to each other. So too...
I want to travel with you. Taking you to the beach. Imagine sitting on the beach, as the sun's rays warm you, listening to the sound of the surf, with rising and falling waves. You sniff the salty scent. A bird flies by. The sun casts its rays on the clear blue water. A big wave slams down on the...
The book may be called 'Black', but the stories collected in it make it clear that there are as many shades of black, as white and everything in between. We, and by that I mean myself and my largely white network, just need to look more closely. And listen. Take Olave Nduwanje's story, titled Imana Ikurinde (God save you), in the middle of the book. The...
The previous cultural exploration among playwrights gives cause for further exploration. From the earlier article, we take away that further privatisation only partially captures public money and objectives. See also from elevation ideals to efficiency thinking. We also take away that a public as all-important leads to one-sided popular culture, entertainment and false competition with the free circuit. It all has very little...
At the first opportunity, he abandons her. He leads a debauched life, marries another and ends up in the madhouse. Yet Anne Truelove continues to love Tom Rakewell, the protagonist in The Rake's Progress. The National Opera will present its fourth production of Stravinsky's opera from 1 February, in collaboration with Aix-en-Provence. There, last July, the...
In my work, I entice people to come into contact with art. And especially art with a big K. The art that is often marketed as 'difficult' or, in an attempt to get rid of its negative image, as 'vulnerable'. Liberal politicians would perhaps say art that 'doesn't act normal'. It is the kind of...
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