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Violinist Merel Vercammen and pianist Dina Ivanova's debut album, which includes Mathilde Wantenaar's Sprookjes is ranked number 27 in the Volkskrant's top 40 best albums of 2019.


How often does a new piece manage to become a hit on classical station Radio 4? Merel Vercammen (violin) and Dina Ivanova (piano) succeeded with Mathilde Wantenaar's Sprookjes  on their album Symbiosis. ‘As soon as Vercammen starts playing, you step into another world,’ we wrote. How beautiful that is, when musicians manage to bring out the best in their chosen compositions.




Today, the Association of Theatre and Concert Hall Directors announced the nominations for the VSCD Classical Music Prize. Nominated for the Ovation 2019 - the most impressive stage performance of the past season - are Amsterdam Sinfonietta with Italian pianist Beatrice Rana, the Nederlands Blazers Ensemble with the programme Bach & Sufi and Ralph van Raat with an Andriessen programme.


The jury on Amsterdam Sinfonietta and pianist Beatrice Rana:



‘In April 2019, Amsterdam Sinfonietta performed eight times with Italian pianist Beatrice Rana. The ingenious, effective programme ranged from music for string orchestra by Mathilde Wantenaar through keyboard concertos by Bach to repertoire for solo piano by Bartók. The interplay between orchestra and soloist was wonderful to witness; a great side effect of long tours (and excellent musicians, of course).


With Bach, this led to an expressive, warm-blooded, solid keyboard concerto that never became old-fashioned romantic, however. Rana's bright playing, with - it doesn't seem possible - pearly-steady legato lines, was brilliant. We hope Amsterdam Sinfonietta and Rana will plan a follow-up project in the near future.’




The jury on the Nederlands Blazers Ensemble with the programme Bach & Sufi:



‘Bach & Sufi is an extraordinary production by the Nederlands Blazers Ensemble, combining Eastern and Western (classical) music. The movements blend effortlessly and melt together without losing their identity, extremely surprising. The strength of the Nederlands Blazers Ensemble is its ability to present a coherent programme with Bach & Sufi, not only musically but also in terms of design and setting. Commissioned by the ensemble, the very talented composer Mathilde Wantenaar provided the arrangements and compositions. As always, music is performed at a high level. Special attention to the two instrumentalists Ali Ghamsari (tar and compositions) and David Mackor (theorbo), and to the singers Elisabeth Hetherington and Haleh Seyfizadeh.’

The Rotterdam Philharmonic played American music by John Adams and Steve Reich, but began the concert with a world premiere of its own. The Americans were way off in Mathilde Wantenaar's new work (1993), which she had aptly named Prélude à une nuit américaine. There was more to the piece though, such as the stunning instrumentation art, and it contained the most captivating and consistent music of the evening.


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