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Lohengrin

The 10 theatre performances you actually wanted to see in 2014, even if you had to leave Amsterdam for half of them

by Henri Drost
27 December 201411 July 2016
3 min read
ACTUAL, MUSIC, OPERA, THEATER

It's raining annual lists and we're merrily joining in. As subjective as anyone, after all, no one sees everything, and opinions on taste can always differ. Of course, also in this list many performances in or from the Randstad, but half of them were not yet shown there. And all genres mixed together. As long as it is theatre. With the only limitation: no repeats, apologies Ring and Lohengrin (DNO), St John Passion (NRO). And no dance, because for that our partner dance audience.

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Forget that swan. But where is Lohengrin? ****

by Henri Drost
18 November 201429 March 2022
4 min read
For members only, OPERA

Those stars at reviews. Now I'd like to know how you got those. Explain.

Good. The first 30 minutes of Wagner's Lohengrin at De Nationale Opera are unforgettable. First the Vorspiel with the curtain closed, played heartbreakingly beautifully by the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra which, under Marc Albrecht's direction, does justice to every nuance. We haven't heard it this impressive and...

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See monumental visual art? Go to the opera!

by Henri Drost
10 November 201411 July 2016
4 min read
VISUAL, OPERA

For fine art, you go to the museum, especially in Amsterdam and especially now that all the museums have reopened. But there is also another option: the opera. There you see visual art that doesn't fit in any museum, not even in the largest room of the Rijksmuseum. Take the Greek sculptor Jannis Kounellis. From today, his work is a...

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Meistersinger @HollandFestival convinces musically only

by Henri Drost
6 June 20138 July 2016
2 min read
Holland Festival, MUSIC, OPERA, SPECIALS

Holland Festival

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.

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Wagner in Düsseldorf: opera jewel or publicity stunt?

by Henri Drost
10 May 201330 March 2022
3 min read
ACTUAL, For members only, MUSIC, OPERA

When both nu.co.uk, BBC news and virtually every German newspaper simultaneously cover an opera, something must be going on. And there is: Nazis! Wagner! Outraged spectators! More than that: doctors had to be called in!

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Iván Fischer sets new Wagner standard

by Henri Drost
13 June 201229 March 2022
4 min read
ACTUAL, For members only, MUSIC, OPERA

That Pierre Audi does not shy away from religious symbolism is well known, but the true miracle with Parsifal by the Netherlands Opera is in the pit. There, in the hands of master conductor Iván Fischer, the Concertgebouw Orchestra sets a new Wagner standard. Despite a gigantic orchestral strength, almost chamber music-like lightness, extraordinarily transparent and, thanks to careful tempo choices, with wonderful dramatic tension. Five hours long.

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Hit in the heart by opening performance by Alain Platel, and then find solace. #hf12

by Wijbrand Schaap
2 June 201213 February 2019
3 min read
Holland Festival, SPECIALS

At two-thirds, the lump shoots in to not go out until the end. It happens at every Alain Platèl performance. Heartfelt sobs from the audience, lots of swallowing around you and the inevitable tears welling up like a natural disaster. To call the Flemish choreographer's work predictable because of this is going too far. What he and his company Les...

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Sculpted Ovation for 'ingenious' conductor Iván Fischer

by one of our members
17 October 201129 March 2022
2 min read
ACTUAL, For members only

"Programmatic ingenuity goes hand in hand with Fischer's ebullient and finely crafted performances". So when someone says that about you, you have earned a prize. So that is what the jury of formerly the Classical Music Prize thought of Iván Fischer, the Hungarian-born conductor who was therefore awarded the 'Ovation' on Monday 17 October 2011. And so then the 'Ovation'...

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Superbly performed opera by Rimsky Korsakoff provisional highlight of changeable opening weekend Gergiev Festival

by one of our members
13 September 201130 March 2022
4 min read
ACTUAL, For members only

"My commitment to the city (Rotterdam) and the orchestra knows no end," Valeri Gergyev spoke on the occasion of the Gergyev Festival taking place in Rotterdam this week. This is good news, as the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the former principal conductor still get along well. And to be backed by this global top-five conductor is...

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Wagner premiere: mangled Lohengrin kind of straight out of Wagner temple in Bayreuth

by Henri Drost
16 August 20118 July 2016
4 min read
MUSIC, OPERA

"Kinder!, macht Neues!, Neues!, und abermals Neues!" wrote Wagner to Franz Lizt. And after the very first Festival, he concluded that next year everything had to be different. Even an entirely new theatre he did not consider out of the question.

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