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Cellist Maya Fridman: 'The best thing about making music is communicating with my audience.'

Cellist Maya Fridman was born in Moscow in 1989, where she emerged as a child prodigy. Even while still studying at Schnittke College, she won first prize at the International Festival of Slavic Music. In 2010, she came to the Netherlands, where six years later she graduated Cum Laude from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. Fridman naturally places contemporary... 

Debussy's music blossoms subtly and powerfully between Lidy Blijdorp and Julien Brocal

To have an Ode to Debussy begin with one of his last compositions is a fine choice. Cellist Lidy Blijdorp and pianist Julien Brocal perform this programme to mark the centenary of the composer's death. Last strength Debussy suffered from cancer for the last six years of his life. This disease made his life unbearably hard. Yet three years later he... 

'Stadium' at @hollandfestival: Meet the hardcore supporter core of Racing Club de Lens. But then for real.

Fifty-three 'ultras' from a football club in an art theatre. That might be asking for trouble. Especially if they were the hard core of, say, Ajax, FC Den Haag or FC Utrecht. But this is France. There are no hooligans in France. The 'ultra's' of Racing Club de Lens, for example: they are bound to throw a punch somewhere, but in... 

Number of film festivals down 20 per cent last year. Amsterdam still leading with 47 film festivals.

Where can you indulge as a film lover in the Netherlands? With 54 festival editions in 2017, North Holland appears to be the province where you can enjoy film festivals most often. Amsterdam takes the crown with a whopping 47 film festival editions, according to a study by the Hogeschool van Amsterdam (HvA). Lecturer Harry van Vliet of the Crossmedia lectureship of the HvA faculty,... 

Theatre from the sofa: from the South Bank of the Thames to Broadway in one evening.

For many a theatre lover, watching from the bench will be swearing in church. The atmosphere in the theatre and direct contact is missing. Totally true, and yet the advantages of sitting comfortably, watching when you want, subtitles and the on-demand W.C. break are also worth something. While enjoying a fireside chat, you're not looking at the back of anyone's head.... 

Stef Aerts directs 3D show JR at @hollandfestival: 'To go from 700 pages of real literature to a manageable stage text doesn't just happen.'

Listen to an atmospheric impression and the full interview with Stef Aerts here. Children have the ability to turn adults' worlds upside down. Eleven-year-old JR is really getting into it. On a school trip, he learns how the stock market works and then turns it to his will. In doing so, unhampered by a prefrontal cortex, that part of the brain... 

Live art is much more exciting than video and motivated goalies dive right. Learn this at The Evening of Herd Behaviour in Utrecht

The separation between the Netherlands and Belgium was due to an opera at the Brussels Monnaie Theatre in 1830. During a certain song in the opera De Stomme van Portici, the flame flared and the opera-goers ran out of the hall like an angry mob to chase Den 'Ollander out of town. Such behaviour turns out to be more logical than you... 

'I just wanted to show that comfort is a beautiful thing.' Esther Gerritsen, in her new novel Faith and Conscience, explores

With her new novel, Esther Gerritsen takes a surprising path. De trooster is more serious in tone than we have come to expect from her in recent years. "In the past, I would not have dared to do this, write about religion and then also without it being very funny." Uncanny "Beautiful isn't it, the cover? Esther Gerritsen is delighted with the cover 

Martine Dekker (Cinedans): 'The new generation does not respect the demarcation between the arts at all. That's very fun and interesting for a festival like Cinedans.'

Cinedans has been around since 2003. Back then, it was a single evening, part of Amsterdam's Julidans festival. Pretty soon, it grew into something bigger. According to Martine Dekker, involved with the festival since the 2011 edition, this was due to the overwhelming supply of dance films: 'From the second edition, filmmakers were invited to submit films,... 

'The current museum loan system leads to decisions based on prejudice rather than fact.'

Museums often manage more art objects than they can display. What they cannot display in the museum galleries they keep safely in the depot. Collections with motley collections of objects from different periods are a growing problem for museums. Marketers stress the need for focus, a clear story and strong branding. Objects that no longer fit the new vision... 

Peter Brook: everything in the universe can be extraordinary.

In the early 1990s, I am sitting in a small auditorium at The National Theatre in London. Before the performance starts, someone on stage asks if you want to greet the visitors next to you. This immediately creates a different, more intimate dynamic in the auditorium. On a tight stage with only a few props are four actors and an Arab musician. Yoshi Oida... 

Between nappy and dishes - the (in)visibility of female composers

Amsterdam, 8 March 2018. Today is Women's Day, no one can fail to notice. The media are brimming with articles about women's unequal pay and their still limited representation in prestigious positions. Whether in politics, business, academia or the arts. Perhaps the most conservative is the classical music world. There, the female composer has yet to... 

Season 2018-19: Concertgebouw picks up women's hand that Concertgebouw Orchestra leaves behind

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.... 

Baltic souls by Cappella Amsterdam: Estonia 100 years independent/not independent

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... 

Dutch Reisopera 2018-19: We're waiting for the curtain to rise!

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... 

Utrecht rules: Make Tivoli Oudegracht the venue for the reborn Performing Arts Sector Institute

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... 

Culture Council wants review of system, but cautious 'Theatre Sector Opinion' is licence for arbitrariness by House of Representatives

Today, the Culture Council comes out with one of the weaker advices in its existence. The Netherlands' highest cultural advisory body showed vision, leadership and boldness earlier this season with the 'Verkenning' and the 'Sectoradvies Muziek'. The exploration called for a reversal of subsidy flows, with urban regions taking the initiative. In the advice for the music sector, it broke... 

Art Rotterdam 2018, Anne de Vries

Art Rotterdam 2018: Measures the feverish temperature of contemporary art

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... 

Publiciteitsbeeld Gesualdo. Foto: Sofie Knijff

At the Holland Festival, Mackenzie is opening the doors to a new avant-garde among the audience.

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... 

Narrative concert on Shostakovich: here you can hear how much humanity, character and creative spirit communism tried to kill.

The greater the resistance to be overcome, the greater the achievement. This wry wisdom is expressed in the Russian narrative concert 'Living under a tyrant'. Cellist Lidy Blijdorp adds another beautiful, personal and original episode to her Cello 020 series with this programme around the life story of composer Shostakovich. She performs in this concert together with... 

'Black' is unique collection of 'Afropean' literature: 'African-Dutch authors are directly compared to black American writers.'

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... 

Playwrights and cultural exploration (2) Sophie Kassies: 'A pool of plays that don't find an audience is an erosion of the profession'

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... 

ITA is a hopeless name for an art house. But there is no alternative for Amsterdam's city theatre

Toneelgroep Amsterdam and Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam will continue together as 'Internationa(a)l Theater Amsterdam' (ITA). Not to be confused with the just-removed Internationaal Danstheater Amsterdam. I find the name 'ITA' rather chilly. Maybe as cold as Toneelgroep, but at least that still contained the word 'group'. That has something cosy about it. ITA is something like ING. Great ambition and no roots. For a moment... 

#Grammy for Barbara Hannigan & Ludwig Orchestra, Reinbert de Leeuw misses out

Expectations were high. Both Reinbert de Leeuw and Barbara Hannigan had been nominated for a 2018 Grammy Award. Hannigan was shortlisted for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album, for her recordings of music by Berg, Gershwin & Berio. De Leeuw competed in the Best Classical Compendium category with his compilation of all conducted choral and ensemble pieces by György Kurtág. Hannigan... 

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