Skip to content

Amsterdam

Andriessen's The Matter opens World Minimal Music Festival

Wednesday 5 April kicks off the fifth edition of the biennial World Minimal Music Festival. For five days, the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ will be filled with hypnotic rhythms, trance-inducing melodies and conjuring drones. Alongside well-known works by pioneers such as La Monte Young and Terry Riley are new compositions by Kate Moore and Bryce Dessner. There will also be performances by the Master... 

'William III is the greatest statesman the Netherlands has produced.' (Podcast)

Machiel Bosman is a historian and writes history disguised as literature. His book Elisabeth de Flines was nominated for the AKO Literature Prize and the Libris History Prize in 2008. This book De Roofkoning, prins Willem III en de invasie van Engeland was also nominated for the Libris History Prize. In this podcast, a conversation with the author who gave us... 

Van Huntington tot Babylon: de 7 boeken die je in april zeker wilt lezen

Babylon Yasmina Reza Met haar roman Babylon won Yasmina Reza de prix Renaudot, na de prix Goncourt de belangrijkste literaire prijs van Frankrijk. Hoofdpersoon is de 62-jarige Elisabeth Jauze. Elisabeth is octrooirechercheur bij het Instituut Pasteur en leidt een bedaard leven met haar echtgenoot Pierre. In tegenstelling tot haar zus Jeanne, die sinds scheiding in seksuele avonturen verzeild raakt die… 

The Britten Youth String Orchestra is 10 years old. Conductor Loes Visser: 'I'm still learning every day'

Already during her studies, Loes Visser (1959) formed the Alpha Chamber Orchestra. In 1990, she initiated the Adamello Ensemble and, seventeen years later, she founded the Britten Youth String Orchestra, with which she is now celebrating its second anniversary. What drives her and what are her best experiences? Chamber orchestra "I founded the Alpha Chamber Orchestra because there was a need",... 

Opera The New Prince: pretentious bombast

It is not easy to visit an opera presented as a stunning piece of contemporary social criticism without fear. Especially when it evokes such totally different reactions. Some call The New Prince 'an opera on the vein of our own time' (Mischa Spel, NRC), while others give it 'a fat fail' (Erik Voermans, Het Parool). Another needs more... 

Bach's St John Passion as musical theatre: it can be done

Initiated by Pierre Audi in 2016, the Opera Forward Festival questions the future of musical theatre. The 13-day festival offers (young) creators and singers a chance to explore new avenues. For the second edition, Audi himself directed And You Must Suffer, a music-theatrical version of Bach's St John Passion. This production by Muziektheater Transparant and the early music ensemble B'Roque experienced its Tuesday 28 March... 

De Passie – niet voor lijdzame volgers

Saai hoor, al die films, reclames en youtube-filmpjes waarin altijd maar weer naar dezelfde (achtergrond)muziek gegrepen wordt. Bij een verstilde scène of zielige docu krijgt de kijker Pärt voorgeschoteld. Spannend klinkt zo,  en als het noodlot toeslaat hoor je dit. Gewoontedieren Ach, ook film-docu-& TV-makers zijn net gewone mensen en grijpen graag naar hetzelfde. Dommage! Want er is zoveel meer… 

Bruce Nauman on vinyl: like being hit in the neck with a baseball bat

Bruce Nauman is considered one of the most influential artists of the moment. He creates work that crosses genre boundaries - as well as breaking down with them - in an exploration of body, language and performance that has now spanned 50 years. Nauman expresses his often provocative and invariably innovative ideas in a multitude of media and materials. As a result, his work is... 

Composer Brechtje: 'The musicians are the core of the universe'

'Thanks to a radio presenter, my grandfather found an entrance to classical music. With my new piece, I am in turn paving a path to him.' On Thursday 30 March, Elements by Brechtje (1993) will have its world premiere in the fifth episode of An Evening of Today at the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ. In this series by the Nieuw Ensemble, conservatory students are given ample opportunity.... 

Joop Oonk turns her neighbourhood into a stage

Joop Oonk (27) creates dance performances with the Misiconi Dance Company, but not of a standard kind. She also calls it inclusion dance. Dancing with wheelchairs, for example, and then doing it in public spaces. Time for a chat with this extraordinary choreographer. Fortunately, you don't have to be an art barbarian not to know the word inclusion dance. Joop Oonk choreographer, artistic director... 

Ascent, Fiona Tan, video artwork of cinematic allure

Fiona Tan delivers a feature-length video artwork with Ascent

The video artwork 'Ascent' is one of Fiona Tan's most recent works. Ascent is a feature-length video artwork: 1 hour and 17 minutes[ref]A work resulting from a special commission from the Izu Photo Museum in Japan[/ref]. You may already be familiar with this artist's work[ref]The now 50-year-old Fiona Tan is "no ordinary Indian girl", born in Pekan... 

Topicality overtaken by past (film tip)

In late 2006, I got to know Dutch filmmaker Sander Francken. I had watched his film Dealing and wheeling in small arms for the Groene Amsterdammer. Afterwards, I sought him out in his workspace for an interview. I remember that conversation well: sharper than many other interviews. After all, the worst thing that can happen to you is a swarm of PR people who... 

Concertgebouw Orchestra & Concertgebouw 2017-18: searching for connection

Both the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the also Royal Concertgebouw seem to be focusing on connection next season. Between young and old, between east and west, between left and right, between culture and press. 'Great that you all came,' says Jan Raes after the presentation of the 2017-18 season. 'The press is under pressure, as is culture,' continues 

Art is not an exam you can fail. Art is a way of seeing

Op Art (optical art) is less well known than Pop Art. Until you see the works in question. There may be no Op Art stars of Andy Warhol status, but their creations directly resonate with images you know from art history. On Saturday 25 February, a major exhibition[hints]In collaboration with the Louisiana Museum in Denmark[/hints] opened at the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam about these... 

How I found love for opera in Sexyland. (And how you can too) #0FF17

A prelaunch of the Opera Forward Festival OFF [hints]From 18 to 31 March at De Nationale Opera (formerly the Muziektheater/Stopera)[/hints], among other venues, was organised last night at Amsterdam's new society Sexyland. I was impressed. Pretty surprising. Opera Nopera Disclaimer: the author of this one is not an opera director. The last two operas I saw were both by Philip Glass (the true... 

No cause for gloating at the end of the North Sea Jazz Club

It was announced today that the North Sea Jazz Club at Amsterdam's Westergasfabriek grounds is bankrupt. This is never good news, for anyone. Not even for those sourpusses who like to complain about North Sea Jazz, the club's namesake. Five years ago, it was big news: the Rotterdam-based North Sea Jazz Festival was going to open a club in Amsterdam. That was... 

Are we still capable of having a real opinion?

I read the biography of Jacob Israel De Haan, Onrust, by Jan Fontijn. Writer and director Gerardjan Rijnders based Salaam Jerusalem on this biography. It is this play, performed by De Nieuw Amsterdam, that really makes me realise how urgent it is to let such an almost forgotten figure as De Haan speak. Jacob Israel De Haan overturned taboos, fought... 

Sex, aureoles and the art of Rebecca Linders

Rebecca Linders idolises sex. She places aureoles over sex situations in her new series of drawings, Icon Nection. Sex icons, in other words. This is how she sanctifies intimacy. Linders: 'I had to learn to see sex as sacred.' What does sex have to do with icons? 'Sex had always been off limits for me. Something you don't do, that you don't talk about. I come from a... 

Pixvae: hot-blooded fusion between French metal and Colombian Currulao

Last summer, French-Colombian collective Pixvae was the sensation of the Haarlemmer Houtfestival. Their debut was recently released through the prestigious French label Buda Musique. This week there are two Dutch shows. You can't start a day better than with Pixvae's first CD. Eight pieces only, but the energy that oozes from it is irresistible. The music of... 

Photographer Ed van der Elsken liked to colour outside the lines

If he could have, photographer Ed van der Elsken would have preferred to have a camera built into his head, to capture the world twenty-four hours a day. What he did manage to make are countless beautiful photographs, films and books. The Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam shows his rich legacy at the major exhibition The camera in love. He was... 

What I learned from Jan Wolff, the late director of Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ

During the big January cleaning in my private museum, I rediscovered the book released in 2007, on the occasion of the Music Building on the IJ, which opened two years earlier. I had forgotten that it came with a CD with four pieces on it. The fourth piece is a recording of the opening speech given by Jan Wolff [hints]former director IJsbreker, more than twenty... 

Conductor Alan Gilbert makes Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra shine

Alan Gilbert conducted the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra for the fifth time on Wednesday 8 February. Until the end of this season, he is chief of the New York Philharmonic, exuberantly expressing his love for contemporary music. He proved to be the ideal conductor to premiere Joey Roukens' new work, aptly leading the musicians through the exhilarating... 

15 February: CCD Award ceremony 2017

On 15 February 2017, the 2017 CCD Award ceremony will take place in De Melkweg. Jury chair Mariëtte Hamer will pronounce the redeeming word and tell who will win the €5,000 prize. It is a dazzling programme with unique performances by the five nominees. From rap to film, from song to dance, everything will be in... 

Small Cultural Membership
175 / 12 Months
For turnover less than 250,000 per year.
Posting press releases yourself
Cultural Membership
360 / Year
For cultural organisations
Posting press releases yourself
Collaboration
Private Membership
50 / Year
For natural persons and self-employed persons.
Exclusive archives
Own mastodon account on our instance
en_GBEnglish (UK)