Live, Video: Kritiken zu klassischen Konzerten, Opern, Ballett und Tanz finden | Concertgebouw: Recital Hall

Dutch virtuoso Lucie Horsch plays Baroque recorder – just not how we usually expect it.

The Quatuor Ébène deliver striking clarity and deep musical understanding in performances of Mozart, Debussy and Brahms. 

Basé dans le Colorado, le quatuor hongrois effectuait deux concerts à Amsterdam lors de sa tournée européenne. Il s’installait donc les 9 et 11 février dans la Klein Zaal circulaire du Concergebouw pour un concert intimiste.

Soprano Elizabeth Watts brought tonal richness and energy to an evening of French song with texts by Théophile Gautier, but her expressive arsenal was diminished by a bout of flu.

In an eclectic program  by Karina Gauvin and pianist Maciej Pikuski at the Concertgebouw’s recital hall, Debussy’s Forgotten Songs stand out.

In an engrossing all-Heine song and poetry recital, baritone Florian Boesch and actor Thomas Quasthoff probed the amorous Sorrows of Young Heinrich. 

Soprano Lisa Larsson and pianist Roland Pöntinen dispelled the midwinter gloom with a heavy dose of Scandinavian Romanticism and the Dutch première of Rolf Martinsson's Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson.

In a thoroughly riveting recital at the Concertgebouw, soprano Anna Prohaska probes Ophelia’s psyche through songs from the nineteenth century onwards.

Lustrous-voiced soprano Omo Bello and pianist Clément Mao-Takacs delight their Amsterdam audience with a tasteful programme of Italian songs. 

Canadian tenor Michael Schade confirmed his undisputed Mozartian credentials and brought vivid intensity to songs by Strauss at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Jennifer Larmore’s eclectic song recital themed around love and longing was uneven, but the heartfelt American songs left one craving for more.

Soprano Anna Lucia Richter sings Schubert and Wolf with tonal beauty and eloquent intensity, sensitively and unerringly accompanied by Gerold Huber.

Milos Karadaglić, one of the world's leading guitarists, entertains an enthusiastic Amsterdam audience in a programme of Bach and Spanish favourites. 

Etienne Abelin and others make music visible with the Music Animation Machine.

A mixed experience with harpsichordist Noriko Amano and dancer Shusaku Takeachi at the Concertgebouw.

In Amsterdam, the Canadian soprano Karina Gauvin, accompanied by pianist Maciej Pikulski, delighted the Concertgebouw audience with a varied program of English and French songs.

Gwyneth Wentink created a fascinating and atmospheric final performance in the AAA Festival at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.

Vocal ensemble graindelavoix give an electrifying account of 15th century Cypriot music at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam.

In Amsterdam, the Italian opera singer Luca Pisaroni proves he is an outstanding interpreter of Lieder by Liszt.

The Concertgebouw has been celebrating its 125th anniversary throughout 2013. On the darkest, rainiest Sunday evening in months, the Combattimento Consort Amsterdam defied the oncoming winter with a joyous, exuberant performance, one of a series of special celebratory concerts for this jubilee year.

The Combattimento Consort Amsterdam gave a robust concert of Baroque repertoire last weekend in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. Presenting an ambitious program of concerti grossi by George Frideric Handel and one particularly humorous organ concerto by the little-known English composer John Stanley, this fine ensemble drew a stark contrast to what we usually expect in the Baroque field today.

Chamber music recitals are usually more intimate and personal than big orchestral performances. Generally, this is a very pleasant thing as it there is less distance – literally and figuratively – between the musicians and the audience. Now when the chamber musicians include Pekka Kuusisto, it isn’t just a pleasant thing, it’s a fantastic thing.

Simeon ten Holt’s Canto Ostinato is an extraordinary piece of music. It leaves a lot of room for interpretation – the musicians decide what sections they play, and how long they spend playing each section. The sections contain repeat signs, but the musicians decide how often to repeat. As such, every performance is different and you never know exactly what to expect.

The Small Hall of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam has had some very exciting chamber music programs this season. Tonight’s concert involved one of the most promising young cellists on the scene, Jakob Koranyi, and pianist Simon Crawford-Phillips. They played a diverse program featuring solo cello pieces by Ligeti and Esa-Pekka Salonen, and cello sonatas by Brahms and Shostakovich.

Ingolf Dahl’s Concerto à tre is a three-movement piece (but played without breaks) for clarinet, cello and violin. Although it was a very fluid piece, there were many different elements within the music. The violin often played a classical-sounding melody, whereas the rhythm, drive and repetition of the piece at times reminded me of the American minimalists.