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...
It may be our friend or foe, but it is a basic necessity of life for every human being: light. Yet we know very little about it, journalist Gemma Venhuizen realised, although for several years she has noticed sometimes sharp differences in her state of mind. For articles, she sometimes travels to countries where it barely gets dark, discovering the euphoria that the abundance...
Auke Hulst (1975) grew up more or less unaccompanied by adults with a brother and two sisters in the hamlet of Denmark in Groningen, on top of the Slochteren gas bubble. His childhood in a Pippi Longstocking house in a forest was the model for his third novel Children of the Rugged Land (2012). And I Remember Titus Broederland is his...
Writers Unlimited could hardly have chosen a more appropriate theme for this year's literary festival Winternachten: Is this the real life? That question will be on many a mind when the new president of the United States is inaugurated on Friday. Fortunately, some eighty writers who do have something meaningful to say about the state of...
Dissatisfied with the city's art policy, visual artists are leaving Amersfoort. Not physically, but with their work. In the coming year, they will exhibit together in numerous places in the Netherlands. They largely leave their own hometown behind. They have little faith in the municipality's newly developed cultural vision. Why? You can read about that below. And also that their own...
In The Horseman, a father lets his daughter from the city go into hiding with her grandfather who lives in the countryside. The girl has a loverboy-like relationship with the leader of a dangerous criminal gang. With his granddaughter's forced stay, not only two generations collide, but also past and present, city and country, man and nature. The only connecting...
Museums should be places where everyone feels welcome, argues art editor and curator-in-training Roxy Jongewaard. An argument for public and free museums: "A museum for everyone who can pay 17.50 in entrance fees is not a museum for everyone." In the coming year, I get to live out a personal dream: I will work as a curator in a major Dutch museum....
Gerard de Kleijn is leaving on 1 February after six years as director at Museum Gouda. The flamboyant, eloquent and erudite director leaves behind a financially and artistically healthy Museum for his successor Marc de Beyer. De Kleijn made the museum more accessible to Gouda residents and art lovers from outside the historic city. In 2016, the museum attracted around 40,000...
Writer Marcel Möring got off to a flying start in literature, with his award-winning novels Mendel's Legacy (1990), Het grote verlangen (1992) and In Babylon (1997). But when Dis, the first part of a trilogy, was published in 2006, literary critics made mincemeat of him. The second part Louteringsberg was also mostly poorly received. Today, Dis appears...
A usually reliable source reports that the winner of the New Year's Eve lottery wants to dedicate a significant part of her prize to culture. In this way, she wants to undo the cuts made by Rutte I. Six million will go directly to the Dutch Travel Opera. Another four million is earmarked for a new integral performance of Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen. Also scheduled is a revival of Tristan und Isolde...
Bart Rutten becomes the new artistic director of Utrecht's Centraal Museum Bart Who? Bart quite an important figure. Bart Rutten was the man behind some great blockbusters at Amsterdam's Stedelijk Museum. That he is going to Utrecht after Malevich and Matisse says a lot about the good work of his predecessor Edwin Jacobs. It says even more...
The Dutch film industry announced its annual figures. 2016 was a top year, measured by the once again increased number of cinema visitors. The best-attended film was Bridget Jones's Baby. But the market share of Dutch films dipped to an all-time low.
On Saturday 14 January 2017 at 4.30pm, Splendor will present Splendor Parade 2017 at CASCO Amsterdam. During this afternoon, Splendor members and non-members alike can marvel at the diverse group of Splendor musicians and their musical friends, who will showcase and perform in a wide variety of ways. Splendor is taking it even bigger this year with its own SplendOpeRa: prepared...
His two internationally successful novels Oorlog en terpentijn (War and turpentine) and De bekeerlinge (The convert) take Stefan Hertmans around the world. But the social side of life it clashes with his desire for solitude. Six life questions to Flemish author Stefan Hertmans. 'When I am alone, I find myself.' 1. What is your recurring dream? 'For fifty years, I have had to...
The Council for Culture is the statutory advisory body to the government and parliament in the field of culture and media. The council is independent and advises, solicited and unsolicited, on current policy issues and subsidy applications. The council aims to make opinions with vision and boldness; opinions that make a difference and contribute to a rich cultural life. In accordance with Article 11, third...
Every year in early January, a beautifully printed booklet falls through my letterbox. This tradition of Kopper Monday has almost been lost. Only some small printing companies still send their relations a Kopper edition. What exactly is it, and why is it so special? Copper Monday is the first Monday after Epiphany (6 January). Traditionally a holiday for the guilds. The...
It is easier than ever to produce and distribute your own videos. Every minute, more than 300 hours of videos are uploaded to YouTube. Is this gigantic amount still manageable? No. The video platform has become too big to continue to exist smoothly. By Nuno Blijboom There is no better source for cat videos, bullying vloggers and gaming youngsters
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....
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...
It's quite unfortunate. Ruth Mackenzie is moving into even higher realms. She has made the past two editions of the Holland Festival considerably more refreshed and modern, and so it stands out. Paris beckons. Ruth Mackenzie has been nominated by Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris, as Directrice Artistique (artistic director) of Théâtre du Châtelet, effective 2019. This means Ruth Mackenzie will direct the festival's...
The five nominees for the CCD Award 2017 are Hamlet by ZEP Theater Productions, Festival Mundial, Ongekend Bijzonder Festival 2016, Project Old Skool by Stichting Gebouw 52 and the Van Abbemuseum. The public can cast their votes from now until 18 January 2017 via this link. The jury will take the public vote into consideration. The prize of €5,000 will be...
Towards the end of the year, we are inundated with lists. The best CDs, the best books, the performances you shouldn't have missed, etcetera. In this sea of choices from reviewers and other opinion makers, one post stands out, from opera critic Olivier Keegel. He started a veritable petition to prevent Karlheinz Stockhausen's 'Aus Licht' from being performed in June 2019,...
In The Hague, they think it's a waste of money. Let them. Here are seven performances that were more than worth 'that sin'. Mona, Ariadne, Mariken, but also breathtaking circus theatre, a secret marriage, genre-transcending satire and the greatest set ever. Mona, NTJong (youth theatre/drama) 1. It is the biggest pitfall of the age indication in theatre performances. Put 6+ and you...
Tjeerd Posthuma: 'Millennials, people of my generation, can handle disappointments very badly. I wanted to write a book about a little boy who had a lot going on in his life and was already coping badly with setbacks at a fairly young age. That idea evolved into the perspective of his older sister, who is jealous of her little brother but who herself is not so...
We Had Love, We Had Guns by Christine Otten is about black resistance fighter Robert F. Williams, who fought for black equality. In the theatre adaptation of the same name, white actors - including Huub van der Lubbe - play black characters and vice versa. Double talk about personal sacrifice, skin colour and connection. Idlewild It is a remarkable coincidence. America is taking...
English (UK) 
Nederlands 
Français