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Rossini

Ligeti festival - tribute to adventurous and idiosyncratic composer

Hungarian composer György Ligeti (1923-2006) suffered under several dictatorships; the Nazis killed his father and brother during World War II, and after the War the communists forced him to write sweet 'folk music'. After the 1956 Hungarian uprising, he fled to Vienna and then to Cologne. In the West, he unpopularised into an idiosyncratic composer, who already... 

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... 

Kian Soltani is the Great Discovery of the Cello Biennale 2016

Every morning Maarten Mostert, spiritual father and artistic director of the Cello Biennale Amsterdam, is squeezing oranges at half past seven in the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ. The early birds among cello lovers then flock to the place to be for a free croissant with orange juice, followed by a top-notch performance of one of Bach's six Cello Suites in the Bach... 

The 10 theatre performances you wish you had seen in 2015

Although the supply has been declining for years, there are still more new shows than a person can see. So nobody sees everything, everybody misses a lot, which was the case in 2014. But these performances no one would have wanted to miss, even if two of them were not even seen in a theatre. And no dance, for that our partner was dance audiences this year too. #1... 

Joseph Calleja shines in Concertgebouw

For the second time, tenor Joseph Calleja performed at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam on Monday night 22 June, accompanied by the Gelders Orchestra conducted by Frederic Chaslin. A native of Malta, Calleja (b. 1978) is a world-renowned top singer. His timbre evokes memories of the finest voices of yesteryear: the controlled vibrato of Jussi Björling and the crystal-clear, powerful pitch of... 

Flnr: Koen van Impe, Clara Cleymans and Waas Gramser of Comp Marius in Rotterdam, Figaro. Photo: Wijbrand Schaap

Brilliant actors in smooth comedy at Europe's biggest hangout

Europe's biggest hangout. That's the best way to describe the roof of that half-sunken car park in the heart of Rotterdam. Transformed fifteen years ago into the impression of a ship's deck, that 'Schouwburgplein' is now mostly owned by groups of skaters, vagrants, street urchins and other metropolitan troublemakers. Visitors to the Schouwburg usually rush without looking around too much to the... 

The five shows you must see in May

Nederlandse Reisopera, Gluck: Orphée et Eurydice (opera), 1 May to 6 June Dazzling debut by director Floris Visser at the Nederlandse Reisopera. Rather than showing a centuries-old opera about an even much older myth, he exposes the core of Gluck's opera. It results in a heartbreaking performance about mourning and the inability to accept that your loved one is no longer there.... 

Copyright: Erik Bindervoet

The five theatrical performances you want to see in January 2015, and you already have to head back to the province

After the annual lists, the recommendations for the new year. All dailies participate in it. Problem: much is not yet known. Festivals and companies present their programmes sometime in February, March. So we cannot yet give the tips for the whole of 2015. But we do have the tips for the coming month, in chronological order, because ranking performances we still have to... 

Figaro and The Fonz on a scooter in entertaining choreography for set pieces

It is the turnout of the evening: riding around on a scooter, barber Figaro gets involved in a crazy adventure in which Count Almaviva wants to snatch the beautiful Rosina from the hands of her guardian Doctor Bartolo. Three Bertas, meanwhile, literally tear Basilio's clothes off in an ingenious dance in front of three sets in which the action moves at lightning speed from inside to outside and... 

Hold on. Three Bertas?

Yep, director Laurence Dale dares to make Rossini '...

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Figaro! Figaro! Figaro! Reisopera on tour with Rossini's masterpiece on order

'Give me a shopping list and I will set it to music,' the Italian composer Gioacchino Rossini is said to have said. Perhaps apocryphal, but fitting for the man who composed faster than musicians could rehearse his scores. Where Wagner needed a lifetime for 14 operas, Rossini wrote triple that. In barely fifteen years.

Along with Bellini and Donizitti, Rossini is the master of bel canto opera, and these three composers wrote in more or less the...

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Reisopera 2.0 presents itself and blows dust off gala

With a real gala, the Reisopera 2.0 presents itself. And immediately strips the gala of its stuffy image. With thanks to the Nederlands Blazers Ensemble.

Because opera gala? Well, we hoist ourselves into our tux, exchange pleasantries, mean or otherwise, in the lobby with the other invited guests, and are presented with an hour and a half of excerpts from operas, sung by soloists in the neatest attire.

This is how it goes at most major opera houses. Milan, New York, Berlin - the gala with which the ...

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Only in final scene does Guillaume Tell bathe in golden sunlight

After more than four hours, it happens: emotion. Free Switzerland is bathed in golden sunlight and the chorus swells over the most beautiful orchestral sounds Rossini composed. Unworldly sounds, which have little to do with the best-known sounds from Guillaume Tell - the canter from the overture.

A lot may have happened in the previous four hours, but even the famous scene in which Tell has to shoot an apple off his infant son's head is not a dramatic highlight.

H...

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