Dutch violinist, Tjeerd Top is the new leader of the Rotterdam Philharmonic, replacing Igor Gruppman who bid the orchestra a fond farewell in January 2023. Taking a six-month sabbatical from his current post at the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Top will share this role with fellow Dutch violinist, Marieke Blankestijn, founder member and leader of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, who currently splits her time between the Netherlands and the UK.
In a video released to coincide with rehearsals for Rudi Stephan’s Die ersten Menschen, a joint production with Dutch National Opera, Top spoke of “his excitement and pride in starting this new job”. The RPO are equally “thrilled to have him join the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra family and look forward to sharing the stage with him.”
Top, who is well-known to audiences in the Netherlands, has been closely associated with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra since his appointment as co-leader in 2005. A dream come true for a boy who would watch the orchestra on Sunday night TV, and dream of joining the ranks.
Top represents excellence, and as an audience member I am always reassured by his presence on stage. There is little doubt, he will be greatly missed in Amsterdam. When approached for comment, the RCO said: “We regret his departure, but we of course respect Tjeerd’s personal decision and wish him well”.
The life of a professional violinist
In interview with Preludium, Top shared the challenges faced by orchestral violinists, including those sitting in the co-leader’s chair: “a role that should not be underestimated”. He insists that “you must be ready at all times to replace the leader in cases of illness, complete with any solos. In some cases, such as Ein Heldenleben by Richard Strauss, this can amount to half a violin concerto!”
Furthermore, he emphasises the vital importance of listening skills, especially when performing in the generous, cathedral-like acoustics of the Concertgebouw. He talks of playing together “in an active way”. Of really listening and “taking the initiative”. These skills were readily evident on tour with the RCO in 2024, when the strings performed Arnold Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht across Europe and the US. All good preparation for adjusting to his new place of work in De Doelen, Rotterdam.
Top regularly guest leads top orchestras including the WDR Symphony, Bamberger Symphoniker, the Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, and recently guest-led the Rotterdam Philharmonic in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade.
Founded in 1918, the Rotterdam Philharmonic is known lately for its lasting collaborations with amongst others Yannick Nézet-Seguin and Lahav Shani. With recent management changes at the top, this is an exciting time for all. Add to the mix their young Finnish Guest Conductor, Tarmo Peltokoski, who knows what projects they will conjure next.
Who is Tjeerd Top?
But who is Tjeerd Top, this mild-mannered, modest and totally unassuming Dutch gentleman? And how did he become the seasoned violinist we see before us today? I have watched Top from afar in the numerous RCO concerts I have attended and reviewed over the past years. But I was keen to learn more about the man behind the violin and how he rose to the top of his profession. So we chatted last year after a recital in my hometown, one very cold February morning!
Musicians at the RCO are actively encouraged to engage in a musical life outside of the orchestra. Early projects included recordings of Spohr duets with his wife, and active membership of the Vermeer Quartet. However, a recent solo project took things a step further, reaching into areas not usually associated with classical violinists and engagement with audiences all over the Netherlands and beyond.
The early days
Like most violinists, Top started playing quite young. Inspired by his older brother Edward, whose plaintive sounds lulled him to sleep each night as a child, Top initially studied with Qui van Woerdekom in The Hague who armed him with a solid technique (including fingered octaves – more on that later…) and a wonderfully relaxed bow arm. Progressing to the Amsterdam Conservatory, he continued his studies with Alexander Kerr (at that time was leader of the RCO) who helped him to find the flow and the phrasing: to make his playing sing. After a short time spent in a number of Dutch orchestras, Top landed the job as co-leader in the RCO, a post he has held for twenty years.
Playing in the profession for so many years, requires true dedication and Top is acutely aware of the strains orchestral music can have on a musician’s sound. As an antidote, he maintains a daily forty-five minute routine where he essentially “cleanses his sound”.
Keeping fit the Top way!
First, he concentrates on maintaining flexibility in the left hand. And with the bow arm, he uses open-string work to “focus on the sound by relaxing the arm, wrist and shoulder”. Lessons he faithfully passes on to an ever-increasing number of pupils at the Amsterdam Conservatory who can now be found in orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout Holland and beyond.
Childhood memories
Running through all of this, however, were childhood memories of listening to rock guitar music with his brother, Edward. The music of Van Halen, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Metallica and many more, whirled around in his head. Years later, and with many, many orchestral and chamber music performances behind him, Top was convinced that this electric guitar music could be recreated on a violin.
And so, when challenged by a donor ‘”to play something different” for a birthday celebration, the search began for solo violin transcriptions which were “just that little bit different”. Arrangements which would seamlessly combine rock music with classical repertoire. An Adam de Graff arrangement of Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven seemed to fit. “It’s harmonic structure at the beginning is clearly inspired by Bach” and would work nicely in concert alongside works by Paganini, Vivaldi, Philip Glass and Eugène Ysaÿe. Quietly confident, Top started to make his own arrangements of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, Metallica’s Battery, Beatles Helter Skelter, Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ Porcelain and many others.
“But still I hesitated to perform or record. I felt quite ‘fragile’ about it.”
Heading to the recording studio
Upon winning the Prix de Salon in 2017, a RCO initiative to encourage an entrepreneurial spirit in orchestra members, the path ahead became a little clearer. In 2019, he received recording rights from the record companies, so he headed into the studio in the purpose built RCO House to record the album Fragile with Guido Tichelman. And Gutman Records “were brave enough to produce it”.
Initially Queen refused permission for Bohemian Rhapsody to feature on the CD as it coincided with the release of the movie of the same name, but thankfully, permission has now been granted. Sheet music arrangements are also in the offing, so watch this space!
The lower notes (the quavers) are the piano part while Freddie Mercury’s melodic line sits on top. “The bow should just touch the lower accompaniment slightly so the melodic line can remain nice and smooth.” © Tjeerd Top
Top in concert
I was keen to hear for myself how this cross-over world of virtuoso violin and rock music sounded live in concert. So one very cold Sunday morning last February, I went along to hear Tjeerd Top perform his album, live to a church full of dedicated concert-goers, most of whom had not heard his music before, but like me, were curious.
New violin techniques
The ensuing hour of music was a masterclass in violin playing quite unlike anything I have experienced before. Top created a unique sound world, cleverly merging rock and classical repertoire so deftly, that it was hard to define where one ended and the other took over. His technique is phenomenal. In his words, the whole album is quite literally “a search for new techniques and using existing techniques in a totally new way”. Left hand pizzicato while playing a chord… and yes, an abundance of fingered octaves. No wonder he needed to shake his arms at the end of each number to rid himself of all the tension.
Two things stood out
First, the fact he included Fast Ghost, a commission written by his brother Edward who is now a professor of composition at Vancouver, and whose musical tastes all those years ago had inspired his love of rock music.
The second, a very attentive young man sitting in the audience who as soon as the recital finished, made a sharp exit, ready to man the exit and gently encourage interested audience members to purchase a CD. This smart, articulate and engaging young man was Top’s son, standing there on a cold Sunday morning, after rising early to travel across the length of the Netherlands to support his father.
This tells me much about the new leader of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, and I look forward to lots of exciting concerts with Top in the hot seat!
Hear Top in concert on February 14th 2025 in Tarmo’s Tristan: Act II of Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde in De Doelen, Rotterdam
Read more from Clare
Follow Clare Varney on Facebook or Instagram to read more about Music, Food and Culture
