Without Dietrich Buxtehude no Johann Sebastian Bach. But Buxtehude was much more than a precursor and an inspirer. Ton Koopman’s ensemble surrounds his favourite composer with North German contemporaries who were all of them eager to be inspired by the music from south of the Alps. For some of them traveling southward was the thing to do, but Buxtehude himself remained at home, which did however not imply that he was less steeped in the Italianate style. Ton Koopman founded the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra in 1979. During this concert you will hear the chamber music ensemble of this group, the Amsterdam Baroque Solists. Those internationally renowned baroque specialists get together a couple of times annually to develop new programmes. From 2005 to 2010 Koopman recorded the complete oeuvre of Dietrich Buxtehude, to the extent that it has reached us. As president of the International Dietrich Buxtehude Society he is the most eminent specialist. His boundless energy and enthusiasm will once more guarantee a concert of the highest standards.

Performers
Catherine Manson, violin | David Rabinovich, violin | Jaap ter Linden, viol | Mike Fentross, lute | Ton Koopman, harpsichord & artistic direction

29 March, 2012 19:00 -- AMUZ

The Passion story has inspired countless artists for works in which emotions are being torn. The composers of the seicento (the 17th century with reference to Italian art) took advantage of all opportunities of the musical language to make listeners empathize with, for example, the grief of the virgin Mary at the foot of the cross. They experimented exhaustively with chromaticism, daring harmonies and surprising dissonances. Particularly in Rome this expressive style was cherished. Unfortunately, compared with the French repertoire only few Italian lamentations for Holy Week have come down to us. What we know, belongs for the greater part to a manuscript in which besides many anonymous composers the names of Carissimi, Frescobaldi and Marcorelli appear too: composers who railroaded for music the same revolution as Caravaggio for painting. Soprano Maria Cristina Kiehr will enhance this repertoire with her innate musicality and her subtle sense of drama. And the instrumental passages are also in the best hands with the well-versed musicians of Concerto Soave.

Performers
María Cristina Kiehr, soprano | Sylvia Moquet, viol | Mara Galassi, harp | Jean-Marc Aymes, artistic direction

Programme
Works by Giacomo Carissimi, Girolamo Frescobaldi, Michelangelo Rossi, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Giovanni Francesco Marcorelli, e.o.

31 March, 2012 19:00 -- AMUZ

Johann Sebastian Bach wrote five passions, but only two of them have been preserved: the St John Passion and the St Matthew Passion. The latter was clearly considered by Bach as one of his most important compositions, dubbing it as he did the Grosse Passion (great passion). That the work has lost nothing of its impact today, is proven by its worldwide programming, year after year again. Also for Sigiswald Kuijken and La Petite Bande this music is particularly cherished. The ensemble has already performed this work all over the world, recording it twice on CD to boot. Kuijken’s interpretation of the score has been modified through the years though, taking into account the musicological findings of researchers such as Joshua Rifkin and Andrew Parrott. Today he offers a slender St Matthew Passion with a considerably reduced ensemble, the soloists replacing the choir. An intimistic approach that works!

Performers
Gerlinde Sämann, soprano | Marie Kuijken, soprano | Petra Noskaiová, alto | Lucia Napoli, alto | Christoph Genz, tenor & Evangelist | Knut Schoch, tenor | Stephan Genz, bass & Jesus | Jan Vander Crabben, bass | Sigiswald Kuijken, artistic direction

04 April, 2012 19:00 -- AMUZ

Jacobus Clemens non Papa is one of the giants of the so-called ‘post-Josquin generation’. In a career spanning barely twenty years he produced an amazing quantity of polyphonic works. Because of their exceptional quality he was cherished by the religious and political rulers of his age, but precisely his reputation as a successor to Josquin caused him to be overshadowed by his great predeccesor. And as a composer who never left the Low Countries, Clemens never achieved the international fame he deserved. In celebration of his birth approximately 500 years ago, Cappella Pratensis honours this extraordinary composer with a programme that traces the last ten years of his life. The five-part Missa Gaude lux Donatiane, written for St Donas church in Bruges, will be augmented with motets connected to Leuven, Antwerp and ‘s-Hertogenbosch. The concert will be conducted by the eminent American conductor and musicologist Joshua Rifkin.

Performers
Stratton Bull & Joshua Rifkin, artistic direction

14 April, 2012 19:00 -- O.L.V.-Kathedraal

In the first part of MULTIPLE voice/vision researcher Rudi Knoops and Ensemble Explorations combined forces in a joint venture with a view to visualising and analysing Bach’s Musikalisches Opfer through an optical installation. In this second part we take the experiment a step farther, confronting the whole with a brand new composition by the young Fleming Joachim Brackx, who has been commissioned to make a personal reply to Bach’s masterpiece. Again the visitor will be challenged to engage in a search for the proper perspective to optimally experience the baroque – and now also contemporary – sound structures. An interactive game that will introduce you in a persuasive way into the contemporary research concerning polyphony and audiovisual techniques.

Performers
Rudi Knoops, concept & installation | Amaryllis Dieltiens, soprano | Frank Theuns, traverso | Margarete Adorf, violin | Bart Naessens, harpsichord | Roel Dieltiens, cello & artistic direction

Programme
Johann Sebastian Bach: Musikalisches Opfer, BWV 1079 | Joachim Brackx: creatie

15 April, 2012 13:00 -- AMUZ

Saturday 5 May at AMUZ
6 a.m.: taking numbers & breakfast bar
9 a.m.: start presale (exclusively at the AMUZ tickets desk)
10 a.m.: presentation of the new concert season
5 p.m.: end

Our new seasonal brochure is now available. If you’re not in our database, please send an email with your postal adress to tickets@amuz.be and you will receive our free brochure.

05 May, 2012 04:00 -- AMUZ