Zu Frieden und Freuden: Collegium Vocale Gent mit Händel in Antwerpen

By Jens Klier, 27 February 2026

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Reviewed at De Singel: Blue Hall, Antwerp on 26 February 2026

Handel, Ode for St Cecilia's Day, HWV 76

Handel, Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne, HWV 74

Handel, Alceste, HWV 45

Manon Lamaison, Soprano

Alex Potter, Countertenor

Guy Cutting, Tenor

Collegium Vocale Gent

Sébastien Daucé, Conductor

The dark side of Arcadia: Collegium Vocale Gent at Musikfest Berlin

Elena Luporini, 27th August

At this year's Musikfest Berlin, the Collegium Vocale Gent and Philippe Herreweghe perform a programme inspired by Arcadia, in what could might as well be a pastoral concept album.

****1

Philippe Herreweghe conducts an energetic Mozart Requiem in Antwerp

Edward Sava-Segal, 7th May

Despite distancing, the members of Collegium Vocale Gent filled the Queen Elisabeth Hall with an impressively cohesive sound, transparent and powerful at the same time.

****1

Herreweghe achieves purity and unity in Bach's Mass in B minor

Nahoko Gotoh, 14th June

There are multiple ways of approaching Bach's Mass in B minor, from the one-to-a-part advocated by Joshua Rifkin to a more conventional large choral approach, and everything in between.

****1

A near miss in Mozart's Requiem

Dominic Lowe, 26th August

Although Ács Ákos gave an excellent performance of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, Iván Fischer's innovative Requiem didn't quite work.

***11

Haydn's Creation not quite a Big Bang at Holland Festival

Nicolas Nguyen, 13th June

At the Holland Festival, the performance of Haydn’s Die Schöpfung with film images by Julian Rosefeldt does not quite unfold as the spectacle it promises on paper.

**111

Funeral Anthem proves an inspired opener for the Oslo International Church Music Festival

Travis Mason, 4th March

A stunning performance of virtuosic ensemble singing by Collegium Vocale Gent to open the 16th Oslo International Church Music Festival

****1

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Jens Klier

Vor seinem Rechtswissenschafts-Studium in Bayreuth und Bonn widmete sich Jens Klier seit frühester Kindheit musikalisch der Violine (Repertoire vom 17. bis 20. Jahrhundert). Während er zudem mit Gesang und dem Leben im Orchesterbetrieb groß wurde, entwickelte sich ein besonderes Interesse an der sogenannten 'Historischen Aufführungspraxis' und authentischen Instrumenten. Diese Leidenschaft hält sich hartnäckig, sodass er sie mit Vorliebe für das Barocke anstatt mit Finger und Bogen nun in Form der Musikkritik zu Gehör bringt. U.a. Telemann-Fan, Liebhaber J. S. Bachs Genies und Entdecker neuerer, seltenerer 'Alter Musik'.