Premières aplenty from Mäkelä and RCO
The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra confirmed their commitment to curating music for generations to come with two premieres by the French composer, Guillaume Connesson. A warm glow descended the Concertgebouw as…
Joyce DiDonato makes an emotional debut with the Concertgebouw Orchestra
Joyce DiDonato descended the Concertgebouw stairs to give the Dutch premiere of one her most beloved works, Jake Heggie’s 2015 orchestral version of Camille Claudel: Into the Fire, for her…
Dutch bells take centre stage at the Concertgebouw
Rafael Payare and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal travelled to the Concertgebouw Amsterdam with some very special luggage: a pair of orchestral bells made by the Eijsbouts foundry in the…
Suave and sophisticated: Mäkelä’s Rachmaninoff hits all the right notes
It’s been a busy few weeks for Klaus Mäkelä. First on tour with the Oslo Philharmonic. Then a quick soirée to the UK for the Rite of Spring with the London Symphony Orchestra…
Augustin Hadelich’s Sibelius soars the heights at the Concertgebouw
German-American violinist Augustin Hadelich, who grew up in the foothills of rural Tuscany, is most definitely the man of the moment and is quite rightly earning a reputation as one…
The Vienna Phil blows away the cobwebs at the Concertgebouw
Fresh from two concerts in Lucerne, the Vienna Philharmonic travelled to the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam to perform Strauss' immensely powerful Ein Heldenleben and Mendelssohn's Third Symphony the "Scottish". I had immense…
Noa Wildschut steps in for Esther Yoo at the Concertgebouw
On a night when it seemed the entire Dutch nation was watching the Netherlands vs England in the semi-finals of the European Football Championship, French conductor Alexandre Bloch brought the Orchestre…
A performance of contradictions: Belgian National Orchestra at the Concertgebouw
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…
Schotsheuvel: A great little French bistro in Amsterdam
On the night in question, we were looking for a pre-concert dinner near the Concertgebouw and came across this gem of a place quite by accident. Packed to the rafters,…
Makela’s Concertgebouw Mahler marks the dawn of a new era in Amsterdam
Friday night’s concert in Amsterdam, the first of a series of concerts with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (KCO) and their new Artistic Partner, Klaus Mäkelä conducting Mahler 6, was the hottest…