Contemporary music
The Concertzender celebrates its fortieth anniversary with a kaleidoscopic season start in the south of the country.
The starting shot of the new concert season sounds and at the same time the Concertzender celebrates its fortieth anniversary. Both the contemporary music series De Link in Tilburg and the Willem Twee Toonzaal in Den Bosch opened the season with a spectacular, often spiritually tinged program. Music to reflect on and to stand still for a moment in an increasingly hectic world full of political squabbling and war violence.
Concert series De Link and party animal De Concertzender joined forces for a special anniversary program on Tuesday 17 September. At the suggestion of Concertzender employee and permanent recording manager Kees van de Wiel, an exciting concert evening was put together in three parts. The kick-off could not have been more beautiful. In the old sacred space of the Tilburg Cenakel, the Hague sound artist Oscar Peters played his self-built organ installation. He has ingeniously brought together organ pipes of different sizes in his impressive installation. In the middle of the installation, Peters stands behind his console, which he uses to control the blowing of the organ pipes. His composition Démarrage begins as a simple, melodic soundscape that evokes memories of the meditative organ playing of composers such as Kali Malone and Ellen Arkbro. Slowly, long, sustained, static sound blocks creep into the composition, which resound through the church space with a rich overtone. Especially in these minimalist sections, Peters creates a completely unique soundscape.
The accordion duo TOEAC (Pieternel Berkers and Renée Bekkers) continues with an extremely varied recital. For this occasion, Tilburg city composer Jacques Palinckx will perform a wonderfully quirky accordion work in world premiere. As an ode to Tilburg (with area code 013), Palinckx has devised his own thirteen-tone system. For TOEAC, Palinckx wrote thirteen thirteen-tone compositions, varying in length from tens of seconds to a handful of minutes. Pleasantly disturbed musical amusements with which Palinckx manages to evoke different moods: from intensely serene to rhythmically dancing. As a listener you are regularly overwhelmed by amazement. Even a quote from Beethoven’s Ninth flashes by. More traditional, melodic accordion playing can be heard in the melancholic, folk-inspired accordion works of Martin Lohse and Benjamin de Murashkin. The biggest surprise of TOEAC’s performance is Il Pezzo Rotto by the recently deceased composer/guitarist Frank Crijns. A warm-blooded, rocking work with an infectious rhythm and genuine, Mediterranean melancholy. The two passionate accordionists accompany their swinging playing with stamping feet, while at the same time seducing the audience with a nice word of Italian.
Passion is also the magic word for the truly excellent Ukrainian pianist Antonii Baryshevskyi. Since the war in his home country, he has lived and worked from his new home base Amsterdam. With an unstoppable drive, this keyboard tyrant throws himself into contemporary repertoire. Baryshevskyi does not make it easy for his listeners and he often expects unconditional surrender to the music. The two-part piano suite Day & Night Hymns by the Bulgarian-Dutch composer Peter Kerkelov unfolds like a mysterious, mystical labyrinth. One moment a firm, slightly derailed improvisation passes by, the next moment it is more like spiritual minimalism. The Polish composer Pawel Szymanski keeps the reins a bit tighter. His Etude #1 from 1986 sounds like a classical piano work unraveled down to the last thread. A bone-dry postmodern exercise that demands the utmost from the performer and the listener. Not every pianist brings such an ironic torture étude to a successful conclusion. Baryshevskyi succeeds. In his delicate playing, Baryshevskyi combines great technical ability with a deep passion for this music. Baryshevskyi is completely in his element during performances of two piano works by fellow countryman Maxim Shalygin. With grand gestures, head held high and flowing hair, Baryshevskyi climbs into these post-minimalist scores. His crystal-clear, nimble playing in the enchanting Au vent sur la pointe des pieds is astonishing. The emotional intensity in Angel is moving. A resounding conclusion to this Concertzender anniversary concert at De Link.
Maxim Shalygin is also central during the concert season opening in the Willem Twee Toonzaal in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. On Saturday 21 September, the Ukrainian composer, who lives in the Netherlands, led the Chamber Orchestra of the North during a heart-warming, atmospheric concert. Their peace concert is a feast for the ears and eyes. Despite the ongoing war misery in Ukraine, Shalygin and other compatriots continue to proclaim their message of peace. Music is then the ultimate unifying and reconciling factor. As soon as you enter the intimate concert hall, the penetrating sound of the air raid siren sounds from the speakers. A sound that goes through the marrow and bone that many Ukrainians hear every day. Large light bulbs on the stage flicker on and off, like candlelight at night. Finally, the orchestra and conductor Maxim Shalygin enter the concert stage. With their backs to the audience, they first listen to a traditional Ukrainian song by singer Maryana Golovchenko who has hidden behind the orchestra. Golovchenko returns regularly during the intense concert, filling the breaks between the works with penetrating songs. A stifling silence then fills the hall, music and poetry make the fear of the uncertain future palpable.
On stage, the orchestra is continuously enveloped in a moody light, as if everyone in the hall is attending a secret concert, hiding from all the disaster in the world.
The opening work by Maxim Shalygin is truly magnificent. He wrote his Drop After Drop in 2022 as a message of peace, but the work has since become a hit. Various ensembles can perform the work, but in this version for string orchestra the impact is unmistakable. As in the best minimal music, the work builds a melody layer by layer, sweeping the listener along in its enchanting magic. At the end, all the musicians pluck softly on their strings. What remains is a rain of pizzicatos that drop by drop return to silence. In his other works, Shalygin opts for the grand romantic gesture. Music full of love and compassion, such as in his sizzling Satarsa (2021), in which swelling strings shoot from low to high. Glissandos and catchy violin solos ensure an uneven course. The road to redemption and solace is not easy, but the fighting spirit stands firm. In Shalygin’s comforting lullaby Lullaby (2011), a beautiful melody is repeated as a hopeful mantra. Only at the end do the strings scream and the melody is transformed into a warning cry.
The concert is mainly composed of the twenty-minute Tristium (2004) by the still somewhat unknown Ukrainian composer Svyatoslav Lunyov. In his work, Lunyov, who operates as a recluse, combines spiritual mysticism with classical drama. His three-part Tristium for string orchestra is one of his best-known works. A moving work that wallows in endless sorrow. At one point, the listener imagines himself in a soothing, warm sound bath, after which poignant string parts force the sad reality on his nose. Leaden mournful music that distantly evokes memories of Arvo Pärt. The light melancholy of fellow countryman Valentin Silvestrov is easier to digest. Chamber Orchestra of the North plays his tender Stille Musik (2002) in which Silvestrov mischievously winks at the great romantic tradition. Lovely music that in all its simplicity calls for reconciliation and reflection.
There is even more beauty to experience at De Link Tilburg and Willem Twee ‘s-Hertogenbosch this season. For example, De Link will soon have Ensemble Klang (Tue. 15 October) and Ensemble Vonk (Tue. 29 October) on the programme. Willem Twee has concerts planned by Lavinia Meijer/Duda Paiva (Wed. 30 October) and Bryce Dessner (Mon. 2 December), among others.
The Concertzender anniversary concert in De Link will be broadcast by the Concertzender at a later date.
Information: www.delink.nl and www.willem-twee.nl
Written by programme maker Mark van de Voort.
Photo Antonii Baryshevskyi taken by Paul Janssen.
