Concertzender Newsletter

Editorial

Off we go!

In Amsterdam the 2019 edition of the Opera Forward Festival 2019 is still running. In Den Haag everything’s ready for Rewire 2019, from 29th to 31st March. And worldwide everything’s getting ready for Beethoven year 2020. The Concertzender’s fully involved.

editorial Missed an Opera? In ‘the people of the Concertzender’ this month an interview with Luc Nijs, who made the series ‘Opera in the 20th century’ . All about modern opera, chronologically ordered with interesting diversions and explanations. The makers have currently reached 1973, but all episodes can be heard retrospectively on our website.

The Concertzender is focussing a lot this month on Rewire 2019. Curious about the groundbreaking music that will be played there? We’ve got all the programmes with music from the artists performing there sorted and will be presenting special editions of X-Rated, Electronic Frequencies, Space exposure and Contemporary. Go and explore!

There’s also a lot going on in the classical sector. This month we’re starting a new series called Finlandia, with Scandinavian music c. 1900. We’re broadcasting new recordings of Baroque repetoire and the 100e episode of our series about Jordi Savall. And in Concertzender Today clarinetist Michele Mazzini is our guest on Wednesday afternoon. Not a moment to waste: enjoy!

13, 20 and 24 March 2019

Theme: Crosslinks

Genre: Electronic music

Warming up to Rewire 2019

The yearly Rewire festival in Den Haag will take place from Friday 29 to Sunday 31 March. Rewire presents an adventurous programme with contemporary electronic music, neoclassical music, new jazz, experimental pop, sound art and multidisciplinary collaborations. This year the Concertzender will be paying a lot of attention to the festival again.

On Friday 18 January Contemporary Music did a special on Tim Hecker’s early work. On Sunday 3 March Roel Janssen presented a special about the Rewire festival in Space Exposure. You can find the broadcast from Sunday 3 March here.

On Wednesday 13 March at 20:00 you can hear three recordings that were made during the Rewire festival in Den Haag in April 2018. On Wednesday 20 March a second Rewire special will be aired during the Electronic Frequencies programme at 23:00.

And finally, X-Rated will feature a Rewire special at 21:00 on Sunday 24 March, where you will have a chance to win tickets to the festival. Keep a close eye on the Concertzender website, read the programme details and news items about Rewire 2019.

Theme: Classical Music

New Series Finlandia

As of 13 March, the Concertzender will begin a twenty-part series called Finlandia, produced by Cassandra van Agt.

The series will focus on Scandinavian music from the late 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, up until World War One. Because we will start with music by Jean Sibelius, we have chosen the title Finlandia.

every Wednesday (repeat on Friday)

Concertzender Now: solo clarinet

The Italian clarinet player Michele Mazzini is our guest on Wednesday 13 March in the programme Concertzender Now. Michele is following a masters study at the Conservatorium in Amsterdam.

In the programme Michele will be playing three self-composed solo works. There will also be time for two short interviews between these live performances. A number of other students from the Amsterdam Conservatorium have been on the programme before Michele. The producer of classical music at the Conservatorium is Clara Brons. She is a keen supporter of this cooperation with the Concertzender and frequently asks her students in they are interested in a performance for radio. This provides the students with valuable media experience and provides ‘Concertzender Now’ with excellent programmes.

Broadcast
Every Wednesday 15:00 – 17:00 CET with a repeat on Friday 11:00 – 13:00 CET.

Monday 25 March 2019

Theme: Early Music

Jordi Savall times 100 (+1)

On Monday 25 March the Concertzender will be broadcasting episode 100 of our series about Jordi Savall. This series started more than 10 years ago and continues to feature the projects of the Catalan Early Music pioneer, viol master and composer Jordi Savall.

Jordi Savall The series started on 30 October 2008 as part of the programme Entrata, which was produced by Savall specialist Bart Nooij. Initially four episodes were foreseen. It became 100, or more correctly 101 if you also include the Christmas special. In October 2009 we broadcast an episode that we announced as the end of the series, but it became clear that Savall’s music continued to inspire and the series continued. Bart finally decided to stop in 2015 and the series was taken over by Johan Le Fèvre in the summer of 2016.

The musician and composer Jordi Savall (1942) began his career in a church choir. He studied cello at the conservatorium in Barcelona and quickly became interested in Early Music. He subsequently studied viola da gamba in Brussel with Wieland Kuijken and also in Basel with August Weinzinger, who he succeded as a teacher there in 1973. In 1974 he started the ensemble Hespèrion XX (nu XXI). In 1987 he returned to Barcelona and established the vocal ensemble La Capella Reial de Catalunya. His repertoire continued to expand and in 1989 he also started the orchestra Le Concert des Nations.

Theme: Classical Music

Composer of the month: Berlioz

March 2019 features a composer who passed away exactly 150 years ago: Hector Berlioz.

The composer was already controversial during his lifetime (1803-1869) and that has not changed since his death. His music is an intriguing mix of friendliness and stubborness, of cohesion and unpredictability and with major innovations in the use of sound, harmony and lyricism. Copland called Berlioz a flawed Beethoven and it is these flaws that are so fascinating with him. He was the personification of all the clichés about the romantic artist: the combination of a madman and a genius.

Broadcast
Wednesday 13 March 9:00 – 10:00 CET.

Sunday 17 March 2019

Theme: Early Music

Sound the Trumpet, Strike the Viol!

In March, programme maker Kees Koudstaal will be featuring more new Early Music releases in his programme Sound the Trumpet, Strike the Viol!

Lira da braccio He explains: Since 2016 I have been producing a new episode of the programme Sound the Trumpet, Strike the Viol every two weeks! I am the owner of an independent internet CD store that is specialised in Early Music and I am therefore often one of the first to hear about interesting new releases. I get a kick out of presenting these new releases on the Concertzender. The reactions to my programmes show that they are also appreciated by listeners. This provides the stimulus to spend a whole day each fortnight sharing my latest discoveries with the listeners of the Concertzender.

The first episode in March (which was broadcast on Sunday 3 March) included music from Wacław z Szamotuł, Antonio Ripa and Thomas Haigh. A search of the Concertzender website suggests that these were composers who had not previously been broadcast.

Theme: Classical Music

Beethoven 2020

The Concertzender during Beethoven year 2020.

In a series of weekly programmes starting in January 2020 and continuing throughout the year, the Concertzender will be broadcasting the complete works of Ludwig van Beethoven. A number of experts will also be providing their comments about the works.

Beethoven 2020 At the moment, the production team is busy with the preparations for the series. The overview of all the works is complete and the next step is to include the duration of each of the works. An initial list of the experts that will be invited to contribute to the programmes has also been made.

The programmes will be broadcast on weekdays but the time of the broadcasts has not yet been determined. The series will not be presenting the works in a chronological order, instead they will be grouped by genre.

Production and editing: Aukelien van Hoytema and Robbert Jan de Neeve.

We will keep you informed about developments!

every Tuesday

Theme: Opera

The people behind the Concertzender: Luc Nijs

Luc Nijs and his team work together to shed light on the evolution of 20the century opera. Going at it year by year, they started in 1900 and now, some 120 episodes underway, treat the year 1973. Taken together, the episodes provide a fascinating glimpse into the world of contemporary opera, and the way in which opera interacted with historical events and social changes.

Luc, how did you come into contact with Opera?
As a child I followed the music culture class at the music academy . Education in music, theatre, dance and art in Flanders runs in parallel with the lower and middle school, but is organised separately. It brought me into contact with every form of classical music. With my passion for language, theatre and music I rapidly chose opera as my favourite form of music.

Which is your favourite opera?
I love a lot of operas, but each one for different reasons. If I had to pick one it would be the ‘Dialogues des Carmélites’ by Francis Poulenc, from 1957. It’s not such a well-known opera, although it was performed in 2015 and 2017. The plot is about a convent of Carmelite nuns in Compiègne. During the Terror of the French Revolution they refused to agree to the ‘constitution civile du clergé’, which involved the closure of many cloister communities. Because of their loyalty to their covenant with God they were guillotined.

Prize CD

Our last month prize question was: Who did Brahms write his Alto Rhapsody for ? The answer: the piece was written as a wedding present for the daughter of Robert & Clara Schumann: Julie Schumann.

The winner is: G.F. van Medevoort from Bakhuizen.

This month’s question:
Pierre de la Rue (Van Straten) worked at the court chapel of Philip the Beautiful. After Philip’s death who took over the chapel? Prize: a signed copy of the cd Pierre de la Rue. Missa Cum jocunditante. Cappella Pratensis led by Stratton Bull, issued by Challenge Classics CC 72710.

Send your answer to prijsvraag@concertzender.nl before 1 april.