Author Archives: theaderks

Monique Krüs: ‘The story always comes first’

Posted on August 13, 2018

Monique Krüs (1959) gathered fame as a soprano excelling in ultra-modern repertoire, then started composing and has since taken up conducting as well. ‘Everything I do is about communication, I want to move people, tell a story.’ This summer she … Continue reading →

Posted in news | Tagged Anne & Zef, Corto Maltese, Gloria ad Iside, God's Videotheque, her Lover and his Head, his Wife, Monique Krüs, Opera Spanga, The Tsar | Leave a comment

Lessons in Love and Violence: smouldering music fails to animate icy drama

Posted on June 29, 2018

‘Love is poison’, Mortimer tells the king in the first scene of Lessons in Love and Violence. The military adviser denounces his relationship with Gaveston, on whom he heaps favours while his subjects are starving. ‘Don’t bore me with the … Continue reading →

Posted in music, review | Tagged Barbara Hannigan, George Benjamin, Gyula Orendt, Lessons in Love and Violenc, Martin Crimp, Peter Hoare, Samuel Boden, Stéphane Degout | Leave a comment

George Benjamin on Lessons in Love & Violence: ‘Martin Crimp wrings music from me’ #HF18

Posted on June 16, 2018

The world premiere of George Benjamin’s opera Lessons in Love & Violence unleashed a true flood of 4 and 5 star reviews. Martin Crimp wrote the libretto, as he had done for Benjamin’s earlier operas Into the Little Hill and … Continue reading →

Posted in music, news | Tagged Dutch National Opera, George Benjamin, Katie Mitchell, Lessons in Love and Violence, Martin Crimp | 1 Comment

Maya Fridman: Prokofiev’s Fiery Angel with hardrock attitude

Posted on June 12, 2018

The Russian-Dutch Maya Fridman (Moscow, 1989) plays classical and contemporary music as well as rock, jazz, folk and flamenco. Communication with the audience is her most important goal, so why limit herself to a particular style or genre? The website … Continue reading →

Posted in music, review | Tagged Artem Belogurov, Gaudeamus Music Week, Maxim Shalygin, Maya Fridman, Sergei Prokofiev, The Fiery Angel, Tomoko Mukaiyama | Leave a comment

Help de os aan een dak: crowdfunding introductie op moderne muziek

Posted on June 8, 2018

Beste lezer. Ik voltooide onlangs Een os op het dak: moderne muziek na 1900 in vogelvlucht. Het is een beknopte inleiding op moderne muziek van na 1900 en zo goed als af. Enkel nog wat laatste puntjes op de i … Continue reading →

Posted in music, news | Tagged Arnold Schönberg, Arvo Pärt, Charles Ives, Claude Debussy, Een os op het dak: moderne muziek in vogelvlucht, Guus Glass, Igor Stravinsky, Michel van der Aa, Thea Derks | Leave a comment

Hans Abrahamsen’s Three Pieces for Orchestra: ‘Extremely charming and expressive’

Posted on May 28, 2018

The music of the Danish composer Hans Abrahamsen (1952) is highly poetic and often has a strong visual expressiveness. He paints with a fine brush; his work sounds transparent like a watercolour. – As e.g. in the highly successful fairytale-like … Continue reading →

Posted in music, news | Tagged Berliner Philharmoniker, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Hans Abrahamsen, Sir Simon Rattle, Three Pieces for Orchestra | Leave a comment

Gavin Bryars: ‘I look upon Billy the Kid with some compassion’

Posted on May 16, 2018

In Calamity/Billy the French Théâtre de la Croix-Rousse & the Belgian Muziektheater Transparant combine two mythical heroes of the Wild West. Starting point of this double bill was Ben Johnston’s song cycle Calamity Jane to her Daughter, to which Gavin … Continue reading →

Posted in music, news | Tagged Bertrand Belin, Billy the Kid, Calamity Jane, Calamity/Billy, Claron McFadden, Gavin Bryars, Gérard Lecointe, Jean Lacornerie, Les Percussions Clavier de Lyon, Muziektheater Transparant, Operadagen Rotterdam, Théâtre de la Croix-Rousse | Leave a comment

Karina Canellakis on women in music: ‘Just go ahead & do it!’

Posted on May 14, 2018

Her father was a conductor, yet it didn’t occur to her to follow in his footsteps. Karina Canellakis (New York, 1982) became a professional violinist, studying with Ida Kavafian at the Curtis Institute. She made a career in chamber music, … Continue reading →

Posted in music, news, women composers | Tagged Alan Gibert, AVROTROSVrijdagconcert, Berliner Philharmoniker, Dallas Symphony Orhestra, Jaap van Zweden, Karina Canellakis, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Radio4, Simon Rattle | 2 Comments

La clemenza di Tito: exhilarating performance by Teodor Currentzis & musicAeterna

Posted on May 8, 2018

Classical music matters again. At least judging from the protests against the Stockhausen retrospective Aus Licht and the fierce polemics about the interventions of opera directors. Thus La clemenza Di Tito by Teodor Currentzis and Peter Sellars caused controversy even … Continue reading →

Posted in music, review | Tagged Ekaterina Scherbachenko, Florian Schuele, Janai Brugger, Jeanine De Bique, musicAeterna, Paula Murrihy, Russell Thomas, Sir Willard White, Teodor Currentzis | 3 Comments

Teodor Currentzis: Music to die for

Posted on May 5, 2018

He is praised and reviled for his idiosyncratic approach to classical masterpieces. According to Teodor Currentzis (1972) this is ‘a myth, I only do what the composer wants’. On Monday 7 May he will make his debut at Dutch National … Continue reading →

Posted in music, news | Tagged Dutch National Opera, La clemenza di Tito, Mozart, Peter Sellars, Teodor Currentzis | 4 Comments