Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest plays Prélude à une nuit américaine

Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra at The Concertgebouw. Photo by Melle Meivogel.

On Thursday 29 April, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Markus Poschner will broadcast a concert of music by Wantenaar, Brahms and R. Strauss, recorded at the concert hall. The orchestra opens with a work by Dutch composer Mathilde Wantenaar. In her Prélude à une nuit américaine, she combines jazzy American and sultry impressionist French. But above all, in her own words, it is ‘an unabashedly grand romantic gesture’. Top soloists Kian Soltani and Emmanuel Tjeknavorian bring out the heartwarming beauty of his music in Brahms' Double Concerto. Strauss' symphonic poem on the transition from life to death is in very good hands with Markus Poschner.

Programme

Wantenaar - Prélude à une nuit américaine for orchestra

Brahms - Double concerto

R. Strauss - Tod und Verklärung

Venue - Online

Date - do 29 apr 2021

Time - 20:30

Price - € 7,50 - € 17,50

Click here for more information and tickets for the online concert on Thursday 29 April 2021

Thea Derks was invited to the recording at the concert hall. Read more about it in her article at www.klassiekvannu.nl and/or listen to the podcast.

Read the full article by Thea Derks at www.klassiekvannu.nl here

And/or listen to the podcast Thea Derks - Contemporary Classical here

**** review NRC: ‘Een lied voor de maan’ oozes infectious fun in everything

‘A year later than planned, Wantenaar's family opera ‘A Song for the Moon’ still premiered at the Opera Forward Festival - online. It is a delightful performance for young and old alike.

[...]

The story is vintage Toon Tellegen, funny, slightly wry and unobtrusively wise, with sharply struck characters. Wantenaar also hits the characters sharply: the braller frog with his endless outbursts, the pedantic grasshopper, the nuffy field mouse who squeaks the ‘Queen of the Night’. Wantenaar's music is bright and accessible but never predictable, spiced with a touch of Latin and a pinch of Gershwin. In the rehearsal scene, she indulged in witty quotations: Beethoven's Fifth with a wavering dissonant, the riff from Roy Orbison's ‘Pretty woman’. No wonder the moon shows a smile: A song exudes an infectious joy in everything.’

Read Joep Stapel's full article in the NRC here.

Trouw: Composer Mathilde Wantenaar (27) makes no concessions, even when she writes for children

Mathilde Wantenaar schreef ‘Een lied voor de maan', voor kinderen vanaf 6 jaar. Photo by Maartje Geels.

You really don't need to make concessions when composing for children, Mathilde Wantenaar believes. Her children's opera Een lied voor de maan, based on a story by Toon Tellegen, will premiere on Sunday.

What children's songs did she used to listen to herself? Composer Mathilde Wantenaar (27) has to think about that for a moment. ‘We always had a house full of music. My mother is a singing teacher, my father plays accordion. We mainly made music together, where I would sing, and a bit later play along on my guitar or cello. But children's songs from the past? Oh yes, we sang a lot from the songbook Ja Zuster, Nee Zuster songs by Annie M.G. Schmidt and Harry Bannink.’

The question seems important for someone who has written an opera for children as young as 6. Because isn't it true that as a composer, you then have to immerse yourself in the world of children? Including all those songs?

Read Peter van der Lint's full article in Trouw here.