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Speaking truth to power: Jaap van Zweden conducts Shostakovich in Antwerp

Jaap van Zweden
© Vincent Callot/Antwerp Symphony Orchestra
Jaap van Zweden and Kirill Gerstein
© Vincent Callot/Antwerp Symphony Orchestra
By Eleanor Knight, 24 April 2023
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“the opening unison theme was a direct hit to the solar plexus”
Reviewed at Queen Elisabeth Hall, Antwerp on 21 April 2023
Programme
Mozart, Piano Concerto no. 17 in G major, K453
Shostakovich, Symphony no. 7 in C major, "Leningrad" Op.60
Performers
Antwerp Symphony Orchestra
Jaap van Zweden, Conductor
Kirill Gerstein, Piano
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Philippe Herreweghe conducts Marie-Elisabeth Hecker in Schumann’s Cello Concerto in this fine programme in the Concertgebouw Brugge. 
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Brilliant Szymanowski from Christian Tetzlaff and the Antwerp SO
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Christian Tetzlaff conjures brilliant colour and ecstatic passion from Szymanowski's First Violin concerto in Ghent.
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Elder and Elgar: riveting Enigma Variations from Sir Mark in Antwerp
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Mezzo-soprano Stephanie d'Oustrac also met the dramatic and musical challenges of Berlioz's Les Nuits d’été.
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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
Jaap van Zweden welcomed back in Antwerp
Zoltán Szabó, 12th February
The Dutch conductor returns to his old orchestra for a concert stream of Beethoven, with Nicholas Angelich, and Tchaikovsky. 
****1
All-Russian Sunday matinee double bill from Elim Chan in Antwerp
Marc Haegeman, 2nd February

Interrupted melody in Vondráček’s Rachmaninov's Third Piano Concerto, but magnificent playing from Chan and the Antwerp Symphony.

***11
More reviews...
Read reviews of
Antwerp Symphony OrchestraDmitri ShostakovichJaap van ZwedenKirill GersteinPiano Concerto no. 17 in G major, K453Symphony no. 7 in C major, "Leningrad" Op.60Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
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Eleanor Knight
Eleanor Knight

Eleanor is a writer and librettist. Her work has appeared in all kinds of places from the Royal Opera House to the foot tunnels beneath the Elephant and Castle roundabout, and she has written arts reviews and features for British papers and magazines. Having begun her working life in theatre, she switched to publishing and later taught creative writing at the University of Brighton and Birkbeck. Currently based in the Netherlands, she teaches at the University of Utrecht. Eleanor plays violin and sings, though not usually at the same time, and has recently taken up speed-skating.