Music

Simon McBurney’s Magic Flute makes a triumphant return to Dutch National Opera

2 January 2024Music

Where to start when discussing Simon McBurney’s 2012 production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, now in its third Dutch National Opera reincarnation in Amsterdam after travelling all around the world to great…

Francis van Broekhuizen and Elenora Hu bring a splash of glamour to Phion’s Callas celebration

24 November 2023Music

In this the centenary year of her birth, such is the fascination with Maria Callas that organisations all around are hosting their own tributes to one of the most famous…

Gustavo Dudamel and the Berliner Philharmoniker raise the roof with a spellbinding Mahler 5

3 November 2023Music

On a cold, wet and unseasonably wintry October evening, the Berliner Philharmoniker's performance of Mahler's Fifth Symphony with Gustavo Dudamel was truly special. What a way to celebrate the 60th…

Inside the Rehearsal Room with Klaus Mäkelä and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

16 October 2023Culture, Music

'That's where the magic happens!' Klaus Mäkelä, the twenty-seven-year-old Finnish conductor is very much the man of the moment. Much has been written about Mäkelä's training and how he crafted…

The story behind Nederlandse Reisopera’s latest production: Korngold’s Das Wunder der Heliane

29 September 2023Music

Nederlandse Reisopera's latest production of Korngold’s Das Wunder der Heliane will be the first staged production of this opera in The Netherlands despite the work receiving its premiere nearly 100 years ago.…

Kahchun Wong and Mees Vos have the audience on the edge of their seats

26 September 2023Music

Friday night's programme of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 and the Strauss Horn Concerto No. 2 with Mees Vos, solo horn player of the Phion Orchestra, was a clever choice for…

The definition of love: Mäkelä conducts Mahler 3 at the Concertgebouw

21 September 2023Music

Klaus Mäkelä and Jennifer Johnston forge a meeting of minds with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam Just over a year ago, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra gave their first concert with Klaus…

Deliciously Evil Hadestown is a Triumph

14 August 2023Culture, Music

Hadestown, the winner of 8 Tony Awards® including Best Musical and the Grammy Award® for Best Musical Theatre Album, is a triumph. Such is the strength of the cast, that…

A performance of contradictions: Belgian National Orchestra at the Concertgebouw

30 July 2023Music

Performances at the Concertgebouw hold a certain cachet especially amongst conductors; a fact not lost on the conductor Antony Hermus, who took just that extra moment to bask in the glory…

Youth Music the Dutch way with Razvan Stoica

26 July 2023Culture, Music

Both my daughters play in the local youth orchestra, Symfonia Jong Twente which celebrated its 50th anniversary last weekend by inviting back past members to join in a celebratory concert at the…