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The five shows you must see in September

Nederlandse Reisopera, Madama Butterfly (opera), 3 september t/m 10 oktober Nederlandse sopranen zijn net voetballers. Ze vliegen de halve wereld rond, maar zijn slechts zelden in eigen land te zien. Neem nou Annemarie Kremer, in Duitsland genomineerd als ‘Sängerin des Jahres’. De Nederlandse Reisopera brengt haar door heel Nederland in de rol waarmee ze wereldfaam verwierf: de titelrol van Madama… 

Albanië-special (3): moderne Albanese kunst zie je hier alleen underground

Olson Lamaj runt met drie vrienden een galerie: van hun eigen geld en in hun vrije tijd. Ze moeten wel want het is de enige manier om jonge, hedendaagse Albanese kunstenaars een kans te geven. Lamaj studeerde fotografie in Milaan en beeldende kunst in Florence en verdient nu zijn geld als grafisch ontwerper. Hij staat mij na werktijd te woord… 

passions humaines, guy cassiers, photo Kurt van der Elst

Hidden lusts of Belgians lead to great art on #HF15

2014 was the year of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, award-winning stage adaptation by Ivo van Hove. This year, that performance has been outstripped by 'Passions Humaines', written by Erwin Mortier, magisterially designed by Guy Cassiers. Again at the Holland Festival, confirming its place as a stage for the great debate on art. Two plays in which architecture, artistry and... 

Gorky Theatre tramples on Nibelungen

Der Untergang der Nibelungen - The Beauty of Revenge at Berlin's Maxim Gorki Theatre on Wednesday, 10 June, with its duration of 2.5 hours - without intermission - did quite an assault on the sitting flesh. Granted, Wagner spared four complete operas for his version of the medieval Nibelungenlied and director Peter Jackson devoted three full-length films to the also... 

Advertising column Three Sisters

Chekhov's helpless, poetic creatures - three actresses on Three Sisters

Three Sisters by Chekhov directed by Theu Boermans is back with the Nationale Toneel. Two and a half years after its original performance, the play will play nine times exclusively at the Royal Theatre in The Hague. There is news about all three "sisters". Anniek Pheifer (Masja), Ariane Schluter (Olga) and Sallie Harmsen (Irina) talk about their careers and about Chekhov.... 

Jens Hillje of the Gorki Theatre Berlin (Photo Wijbrand Schaap)

Play 'Nibelungen' debunks modern Europe at Holland Festival

Berlin's Gorki Theatre won a prize this year: it was named the best theatre in the German language area by the German-language press. The company won the award partly because it employs many actors of immigrant origin. With its performance Der Untergang der Nibelungen, which can be seen in this year's Holland Festival, the group also thematises the... 

The Impact of Art, fierce conclusion to three-day conference

How can you write about a three-day conference, part of which took place behind closed doors, the closing night of which looks very neat on vimeo, but where the tension in the room was palpable? With a completely open attitude and not much more background than an average newspaper reader, but with a firm belief in the power of the arts,... 

John Engels 80 jaar: onvermoeibaar achter de drumkit

Alleen wie in een afgesloten hutje op de hei woont, zal het ontgaan zijn dat jazzdrummer John Engels binnenkort 80 jaar wordt. Hij was te gast in televisieprogramma’s als VPRO Vrije Geluiden en de speciale jazzeditie van De Wereld Draait Door, en wordt op zijn verjaardag 13 mei geëerd met een feestconcert in het Bimhuis. Tevens verscheen de kleinschalige biografie… 

Christian Hornsleth makes debut in Amsterdam

Hornsleth in Amsterdam: 'If they don't get the joke, fuck them.'

Christian von Hornsleth is exhibiting in Amsterdam, and there was an immediate small riot. An organisation that raises money against trafficking in women no longer wanted to receive a contribution from the proceeds of his exhibition in Amsterdam, because the artist, whose conceptual work often features porn images, would actually be an advocate of prostitution. Something Hornsleth himself vehemently denies. The... 

Amsterdams theaterduo dubbel genomineerd voor Britse prijzen

Komen Ivo en Jan in dit indrukwekkende rijtje? Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Joan Littlewood, John Gielgud, Alec Guinness, Peggy Ashcroft, Harold Pinter, Peter Hall, Judi Dench, Alan Bennett, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Alan Ayckbourn, Maggie Smith, Gillian Lynne en Michael Frayn. Allemaal grote namen van het Britse theater. Internationale beroemdheden, die allemaal een Olivier uitgereikt hebben gekregen, zeg maar de Britse… 

Signs of Life: fotografische ode aan bermmonumenten

Bermmonumenten maken het onverwachts en gewelddadig toeslaan van de dood zichtbaar. Meestal langs de openbare weg maar soms ook op meer afgelegen plekken. De Amersfoortse fotograaf Jeroen Hansen fotografeerde er de afgelopen jaren honderden, met het onlangs verschenen fotoboek Signs of Life als resultaat. Een bosje bloemen vastgebonden op een ingedeukte vangrail. Kaarsen, foto´s of een teddybeertje bij een scherpe… 

De diepste zielenroerselen van de late Rembrandt

Late Rembrandt in het Rijksmuseum. Dat betekent vooral veel mensen. Lange rijen bewonderaars, die weten dat ze hoog niveau (gaan) zien. Topniveau. En daarvoor wil iedereen wel wachten. De pr-machine heeft zijn werk gedaan en nu is het aansluiten in de lange rij en vervolgens schuifelen langs de vele blikken, rake lijnen en penseelstreken. Rembrandt (1606-1669) legde in zijn talloze… 

Carrots, potatoes and a dash of lard on Writers Unlimited

How do you get back home mentally after a war? David van Reybrouck in conversation with Stefan Hertmans and Ian Buruma Carrots, potatoes, maybe some celery and a dash of lard, this was the monotonous winter diet of the underclass in rural Flanders in the late nineteenth century. But, outlines professor and guest speaker Louise O. Fresco in her opening column, these days it is the... 

In 2016 veroveren wij Duitsland, als het aan Bart Moeyaert ligt

Hij had een TED-training gehad. Dat kan niet anders. Bart Moeyaert, dichter, schrijver en meervoudig prijswinnaar, wrong  zich soms letterlijk in talrijke bochten om het Nederlandse letterengilde warm te maken voor zijn plannen voor 2016. In dat jaar is, voor het eerst sinds lange tijd, Nederland namelijk weer gastheer op de Frankfurter Buchmesse, de Art Basel van de literaire wereld.… 

Giya Kantsheli: 'I never wanted to compose Georgian music'

Georgian composer Giya Kantsjeli (Tbilisi, 1935) composes archaic-sounding, expressive works with slow progression, tremendous tension and heartbreaking melancholy. Characterised by fierce dynamic contrasts, his music often suddenly switches from an almost inaudible pianissimo to an oorsplitting fortissimo. On 23 February, Vredenburg's broadcasting series The Friday presents his monumental Styx for viola, choir and orchestra.... 

Carceri, Peter Zuur

Visual artist Peter Zuur: sieges in a bird's eye view

,,I put discomfort in my artworks. I get that feeling when I walk through the city and see all those big buildings. The postmodern architecture with its megalomaniac mentality, and its decay, those depress me." From 29 November to 4 January, visual artist Peter Zuur is one of the exhibitors at the Pulchri Graphic Biennial, The Hague. Notably, his works... 

Rademaker_Marine

De Wereld Draait Door with 'the best Dutch dancer in the world'

When De Wereld Draait Door shows live ballet on air, there must be something going on. And indeed, dancer Marijn Rademaker announces that he has been appointed principal with the Dutch National Ballet. That's no mean feat. He is considered "the best Dutch ballet dancer in the world today".

2600 visitors for Supernova, couldn't be better? A tough issue in 7 scenes

Scene 1 - Expectations The main hall of film theatre 't Hoogt was filled with people from the film sector on Wednesday afternoon at the invitation of the Film Fund. The subject of the meeting is the chronically low attendance of more artistic Dutch films. This has been the case for a long time, by the way, and not only in the Netherlands. Should new avenues be explored? Should expectations be... 

Joop Daalmeijer Marathon (7): 'If the knowledge is lost, so is the heritage.'

Wijbrand Schaap: 'Just one more point. Then we're almost through.' Joop Daalmeijer: 'Continue quietly, we have until half past five.' Wijbrand Schaap: 'We have a problem with real estate. A lot of inner cities are empty. Shop premises are empty, downtown office buildings are unrentable. What do the municipalities say? Put artists in them. Cost nothing, because for free rent they do... 

Joop Daalmeijer Marathon (5) "All balls on Amsterdam", I'm not into that at all.

Wijbrand Schaap: 'Now on the role of cities. One of the reactions on our site is about the role of the randstad in cultural policy. Melle Daamen puts the primacy in the randstad, and goes further than the council in this.' Joop Daalmeijer: 'The council has no position yet.' Wijbrand Schaap: 'But there is something in the Culture Outlook. Cities form... 

'Grandiose' opening Theatre Festival doesn't quite take away the pain

"Grand opening, right?" Jeffrey Meulman, the man who as director of the ailing Theatre Festival gave the word "inspired" a new dimension, was delighted. It was Thursday night, September 4, 2014. Shortly before, I had seriously considered jumping from the 1st balcony of the Stadsschouwburg, rather than applauding Tauerbach, the opening performance of The Theatre Festival. It is... 

The future is not fixed. 7 solutions to the arts crisis.

By Melle Daamen 'What do you want then?' was a question I received quite often in response to my articles last year in NRC, in which I expressed my concerns about the state of the arts in the Netherlands and especially its future. I argued for a fundamental debate from within the arts sector itself, focusing on the future, including... 

Melle Daamen op @cultuurpers: 6 redenen waarom het kunstdebat in Nederland zo moeizaam is.

Twee artikelen publiceerde ik vorig jaar in NRC Handelsblad. Het eerste (6 juli 2013) was kritisch over het overheidsbeleid. Daar kwam weinig reactie op. Het tweede artikel (7 december 2013) was kritisch over de kunstensector: die moet zelf scherpe keuzes maken. Dat zorgde wel voor veel beroering, hoewel ik ervan overtuigd ben dat veel collega’s het met de inhoud grotendeels eens… 

For the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Germany begins just beyond the A10 ring road

There is a world outside Amsterdam. There is culture there too. High-quality even. And of course, Amsterdammers know that too. After all, that whole world comes to Amsterdam every year for the Holland Festival, and if it were up to the director of the Amsterdam Stadsschouwburg Melle Daamen, a lot more would come from abroad. Ballet, for example. Our national... 

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