PROGRAMME
conductor Matthew Halls
soprano Christiane Karg
baritone Thomas Oliemans
chorus Netherlands Chamber Choir
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Symphony No. 3 in F major, op. 90 (1883)
• Allegro con brio
• Andante
• Poco allegretto
• Allegro - Un poco sostenuto
intermission
Maxim Shalygin (1985) Canto Inferno (2024) for Soprano, Mixed Choir and Orchestra
Gabriel Fauré 1845-1924 Requiem, op. 48 (1887-1900) for Soprano, Baritone, Mixed Choir and Orchestra
• Introït et Kyrie
• Offertoire
• Sanctus
• Pie Jesu
• Agnus Dei
• Libera me
• In Paradisum
Concert end at around 22.15/16.15
Most recent performances by our orchestra:
Brahms Symphony No. 3: Oct 2018, conductor Antonello Manacorda
Shalygin Canto inferno: May 2025, conductor Lahav Shani
Fauré Requiem: Aug 2007, conductor Philippe Herreweghe
Cover: Photo Miha Rekar (Unsplash)
One hour before the start of the concert, Pepijn Meeuws will give an introduction (in Dutch) to the programme, admission €7,50. Tickets are available at the hall, payment by debit card. The introduction is free for Vrienden.
Blaník. Omslagillustratie door Antonín König voor de eerste uitgave van Smetana’s partituur (1894) Richard-Strauss-Institut
blooded.Butinthefourthmovement,as if feelingembarrassedforhispreviousdisplayof emotion,heseemstotake astepback.Where otherromanticsseemedtopullthelistenerinto amaelstromofemotions,Brahmspreserveda cool head. His ThirdSymphonymaywell have allowedthepublictogetclose enoughtobe involved,butBrahmsclosely guardedhisown privatespace.
Comforting counterbalance
TheUkrainian-Dutch composer Maxim Shalygin came to the Netherlandsin 2010 to study composition inTheHague.WhenRussia firstinvadedUkraine,thecomposercouldn’t bringhimselftowriteasinglenoteofmusic duetohisrageatthebrutal realityofthe situation.Sincethenhehascomposedmostly comfortingmusicto offeracounterbalance totheterribleeventsplayingoutthroughout theworld. ForCantoInfernoherelied ona text fromAmericanpoetRobertFrost, writtenin 1920.Frostuses theforcesofnatureinhispoem FireandIcetosymbolise human drives:desire andhatred.Hearrivesatthecynicalconclusion thatmankindisitselfperfectlycapableof bringingabouttheend oftheworld.
Wherewordsfallshort,Shalygin communicatesthroughamulti-colouredsound pallet. InCantoInfernothechoir begins witha glissandoandcomfortingmelody.Suppressed angerseemstorisetothesurface asthevoices swell.We hearaverysoft,repetitivehighnote likeabeating heart.Thisheartbeat swellsinto analarmbell,andsoprano voiceandchoir firetheirwords ofwarning tothe listener. The musicreachesaclimax,andthenabruptly stops.Theglissando andopening melody make averysoftreturn,likethelightfrom astar that haslongsincedied,oradeparted lovedone whoremainsbyone’sside.
Gentle requiem
GabrielFauré,along-timeorganist,wasopen toinnovationandapioneerofimpressionism. HebecamedirectoroftheParis Conservatoire, wherehecountedMauriceRavelamongst his students.Hecomposed asignificantbodyof work-musicdramas,pianomusic,andpieces forchamberandsymphonyorchestrasthat displayedaseriousandlyricalnature-butis todaymostly knownastheaffablecomposer oftheRequiem.Itsbeautiful archingmelodies, reminiscentofGregorianchant, givethis gentlefuneralmassgreatappealandanaura of timelessness.
Wagner’s supporters seized the opportunity to underline their rejection of Brahms’s music by greeting it with boos and whistles
Thesevenmovements forma largearc around thecentral PieJesu,originallysungby aboy soprano–alonelyinnocentvoiceprayingto hissaviourforeternalrestin long,tenderand movingmusicalphrases.Itisprecededby the sereneSanctuswithits beautiful soloviolin playingincantilenastyleand followedby thegently comforting AgnusDei.Thedarker shading ofthe Offertoireand the Liberame bringtomindtheLast Judgment,althoughin anot-so-threateningway,duetotheirsubdued characterisations.Especiallyduetothe baritonesolosthatpleadforrestand salvation. Thearchof thewholeworkspans fromthe opening,darker IntroitandKyrietotheradiant, almostweightlessclosingmoments oftheIn Paradisum:‘Maythechoir ofangels receiveyou there,andalongsideLazarus,once abeggar, mayyou findeternalrest.’
ClemensRomijn (Brahms en Fauré) and Carine Alders (Shalygin)
Thomas Oliemans • baritone
Born: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Education: Amsterdam Conservatory with Margreet Honig; lessons with Robert Holl, Elio Battaglia, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Breakthrough: 2002, debut in Henze’s
Pollicino with Dutch Touring Opera
Subsequently: Opera with Dutch National Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Salzburger Festspiele, Metropolitan Opera, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Festival d’Aixen-Provence; solo appearances with Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Freiburger Barockorchester, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, song recitals in Oxford, Cambridge, Vienna, Zurich, London, New York, Tokyo, Paris
Special projects: curator Delft Chamber Music Festival 2019, jury member International Vocal Competition ’s-Hertogenbosch, masterclasses Opera
Studio DNO and Academia Reina Sofia
Madrid
Debut Rotterdam Philharmonic: 2012
Netherlands Chamber Choir • chorus
Founded: 1937, by Felix de Nobel
Current conductor: Peter Dijkstra
Chorus members: core of 16 professional singers
Repertoire: choral music from early medieval to contemporary
Performed at: Lincoln Center NewYork, Konzerthaus Wenen, Hong Kong Arts Festival, Adelaide Arts Festival, Festival Oude Muziek, Klara Festival a.o.
Commissions: Van der Aa, Andriessen, Auerbach, Badings, Benjamin, Birtwistle, Escher, Goebaidoelina, Heppener, Kagel, De Leeuw, MacMillan, Martin, Muhly, Poulenc, Roukens, Shaw, Wenjing a.o.
Special projects: NKK NXT (training programme for young professionals), Singing Days (with amateur choirs), YARA (with young people aged 12 to 16), collaborations with actors, dancers, VJ’s and poets, individuals from the field of healthcare, education and science
Debut Rotterdam Philharmonic: 1973
