In the first minutes of January 1st, in the new year 2011 – right after the fireworks – I watched a programme on tv-channel ARTE – titled ‘Christmas in Vienna’ – and stumbled upon a beautiful singer with a most wonderful voice, a mezzo soprano from Austria that got me hooked. Her name: Elisabeth Kulman. From now on I’m her fan. On YouTube there’s quite a number of videos dedicated to her, check them out. And here’s from the Christmas in Vienna-programme her honest and touching rendition of Caccini’s ‘Ave Maria’.
Tag Archives: 2010
My favourite concert of 2010: Egyptian singer Amal Maher in Amsterdam
Amal Maher, the young diva from Cairo in Amsterdam on the 1st of June 2010. For me it was the concert of the year in The Netherlands. What a priceless present she gave to Holland with her marvellous singing ! I’m glad I filmed this in the Oosterpark ! 🙂
Valentina Lisitsa plays Rachmaninoff #1 in Duisburg & Köln in December 2010
Some stunning playing in this blog by Valentina Lisitsa. Two recordings of the cadenza in Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto #1: first a solotake filmed by me, then another take of this cadenza – filmed by Val’s husband Alexei Kuznetsoff and at that point with the LSO around 🙂 Both takes filmed at Abbey Road Studios, London, September 2009.
In December 2010 Valentina plays the Rachmaninoff piano concerto #1 twice in Germany with the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste: in Duisburg on 9 December and in Köln on 10 December.
An exquisite solotake – filmed by me – of the cadenza in Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.1
And another exquisite take – filmed by Alexei, and now ’rounded’ by the LSO at start and finish 🙂 – of the cadenza in Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.1
German radio WDR3 portrays phenomenal ragasinger Kaushiki Desikan Chakrabarty
On tuesday 23 November 2010 at 23.05 PM German public radiostation WDR3 portrays phenomenal 30-year old (and my favourite) ragasinger Kaushiki Desikan Chakrabarty from Calcutta.
Kaushiki in 2010
Earlier, on 10 November 2010 WDR3 devoted a radio evening on Kaushiki, with a live broadcast of her concert in Bielefeld, a very beautiful performance that was described by renowned ragaspecialist Jan Reichow as “Das außergewöhnlichste, ergreifendste, intelligenteste, fröhlichste, innovativste Konzert Europas”. He’s not exaggerating. Kaushiki has it all and when you hear her live on stage her voice is able to touch your heart and soul deeper than you ever could have imagined… I’m saying this with great conviction as I’m speaking from my own wonderful experiences with hearing Kaushiki live in concert (at the Darbar Festival in 2008 in Leicester, and in 2007 in the Tropentheater in Amsterdam).
Kaushik performing in London in 2005, after she received the BBC3 World Music Award
WDR3 radio provides the following information for the radiobroadcast on 23 November 2010: Kaushiki Desikan Chakraborty gehört zu den großen Talenten der jungen Generation. Im Gegensatz zu früher dürfen Nachwuchskünstler heute schon viel früher ihr Können öffentlich zeigen. Kaushiki ist erst 30 Jahre alt und schon eine anerkannte Sängerin auf den großen Bühnen Indiens. Sie hat eine betörende Stimme und ein für ihr Alter ungewöhnliches technisches Vermögen. Die Pflege der alten Tradition ist ihr erklärtes Ziel. In diesem Sinne ist sie, obwohl jung, eine wertkonservative Künstlerin – mehr noch: sie trägt mit ihrer Haltung zum Überleben des klassischen indischen Geangs bei. Anlässlich ihres Bielefelder WDR-3-Konzerts vor knapp zwei Wochen erzählte Kaushiki unserer Autorin Clair Lüdenbach von ihrer Kunst und aus ihrem Leben.
If you like ragamusic you really should listen on tuesday 23 November at 23.05 PM to this WDR3-radio broadcast devoted to Kaushiki.
November 2010: Poolse componist Gorecki overleden
Afgelopen vrijdag, 12 november 2010, overleed de Poolse componist Gorecki op 76-jarige leeftijd. Zijn 3e symfonie is een mijlpaal in zijn werk en in de muziekgeschiedenis. Uniek qua uitstraling en reikwijdte.
Valentina Lisitsa 14 Nov. 2010 in Vrije Geluiden on dutch national television
On November 14th, 2010, VPRO television’s sunday morning music programme Vrije Geluiden features classical pianist Valentina Lisitsa. I was at the set in the BIMhuis in Amsterdam and before and after the shooting of her playing and interview I took a few pictures that I present in my YouTubevideo above, a video on my YouTubechannel. In my video I combined my photos of Valentina with her playing of the Rachmaninoff/Warenberg Concerto’s second movement theme, a recording that was also made in Amsterdam, in May 2010. In Vrije Geluiden Valentina plays other not to be missed music by Rachmaninoff: Prelude Op.32,no.5, Etude Tableau Op.39, No.6 and Prelude Op.32, no.12. So don’t miss VPRO’s Vrije Geluiden on 14 November 2010, featuring Valentina Lisitsa, Nederland 1, 10.30 AM (dutch time). Extra information for non-dutch people: Vrije Geluiden is Holland’s weekly tv show for ‘serious music’, featuring the best artists and all kinds of great music in the realms of jazz, classical and world music. The recordings – so, also Valentina’s performance and interview – will be published not long after the broadcast on the website of Vrije Geluiden and on Vrije Geluiden’s YouTubechannel.
WDR3 live-radiobroadcast ragaconcert Kaushiki 10 November 2010 in Bielefeld
Her voice and music are breathtaking and soultouching and of a heartbreaking beauty, to put it mildly.
Kaushiki sings raag Multani in Amsterdam, 2007
In the past couple of years I’ve tried to tell about Kaushiki’s extraordinary musical powers in some of my writings on the web etc , in my programme Gharana and in this radioprogramme. Phenomenal Patiala ragasinger Kaushiki Chakrabarty from Calcutta performs in Bielefeld (Germany) on Wednesday 10 November and this concert will be broadcasted live on WDR3 Radio, starting at 8.05 PM.
Kaushiki sings ‘Yaad Piya Ki Aaye’ in Amsterdam, 2007
I like the way WDR Radio has tried to put in words the qualities of Kaushiki: “Die Sängerin Kaushiki aus Kolkata hat eine phänomenale Stimme und die stupende Fähigkeit, jede Nuance der großen traditionellen Form- und Melodiemodelle perfekt umzusetzen, von expressiven Wendungen, die ins herz treffen, bis zu Läufen und Koloraturen, die mit atemberaubender Geschwindigkeit ablaufen.” A very true, good description.
If you happen to like ragamusic the WDR-radiotransmission is not-to-be-missed!
Kaushiki performs a bhajan in bhairavi, concert in Amsterdam, 2007
Wereldmineralen 4 Nov. 2010 : great tracks from new world music releases
For Concertzender‘s broadcast on thursday 4th of November 2010 at 19.00 PM I’ve produced (including all mixing and editing) another edition of world music programme Wereldmineralen. You can listen via cable in many areas of Holland or otherwise via internet worldwide and after broadcast you can listen on demand via this page.
Natacha Atlas at Roots Open Air 2009 in Amsterdam (photo by Pieter de Rooij)
Souad Massi at Roots Open Air 2009 in Amsterdam (photo by Pieter de Rooij)
The programme features recent album releases: If the rains come first by American singer/songwriter Somi, African Revolution by reggaesinger Tiken Jah Fakoly from Ivory Coast, Sinta Wullur‘s gamelan-raga project Indi Go with dutch ensemble Multifoon, Mounqaliba by Belgian-British Middle East-singer Natacha Atlas, Jamm by Cheikh Lo from Senegal and O Houria by Algerian singer Souad Massi. A not to be missed selection of these albums’ best tracks!
Playlist:
Titel: Enganjyani
Tijdsduur: 05’19
Uitvoerende: Somi
Componist: Somi, David Gilmore, Michele Locatelli
Album: If The Rains Come First
Label en Jaar: Obliq Sound 823889910921 ; P en C 2010
Titel: Maybe Then
Tijdsduur: 06’08
Uitvoerende: Somi
Componist: Somi, Herve Sambe
Album: If The Rains Come First
Label en Jaar: Obliq Sound 823889910921 ; P en C 2010
Titel: African Revolution
Tijdsduur: 04’11
Uitvoerende: Tiken Jah Fakoly
Componist: Tiken Jah Fakoly, Jonathan Quarmby,Thomas Naim
Album: African Revolution
Label en Jaar: Wrasse Records Wrass275 ; P en C 2010
Titel: Je Ne Veux Pas Ton Pouvoir
Tijdsduur: 03’23
Uitvoerende: Tiken Jah Fakoly
Componist: Tiken Jah Fakoly, Jeanne Cherhal
Album: African Revolution
Label en Jaar: Wrasse Records Wrass275 ; P en C 2010
Titel: Laisse Moi M’Exprimer
Tijdsduur: 02’46
Uitvoerende: Tiken Jah Fakoly
Componist: Tiken Jah Fakoly, Mr. Toma
Album: African Revolution
Label en Jaar: Wrasse Records Wrass275 ; P en C 2010
Titel: Transformaties #2
Tijdsduur: 06’26
Uitvoerende: Ensemble Multifoon
Componist: Sinta Wullur
Album: Indi Go
Label en Jaar: PAN Records PAN 9902 ; P en C 2010
Titel: Transformaties #3
Tijdsduur: 04’13
Uitvoerende: Ensemble Multifoon
Componist: Sinta Wullur
Album: Indi Go
Label en Jaar: PAN Records PAN 9902 ; P en C 2010
Titel: River Man
Tijdsduur: 05’38
Uitvoerende: Natacha Atlas
Componist: Nick Drake ; Arr.by S. Bishai
Album: Mounqaliba
Label en Jaar: World Village WVF479048 ; P en C 2010
Titel: Mounqaliba
Tijdsduur: 03’38
Uitvoerende: Natacha Atlas
Componist: Natacha Atlas, S. Bishai
Album: Mounqaliba
Label en Jaar: World Village WVF479048 ; P en C 2010
Titel: La Nuit Est Sur La Ville
Tijdsduur: 03’35
Uitvoerende: Natacha Atlas
Componist: Francoise Hardy ; Arr. By S. Bishai
Album: Mounqaliba
Label en Jaar: World Village WVF479048 ; P en C 2010
Titel: Bourama
Tijdsduur: 04’24
Uitvoerende: Cheikh Lo
Componist: Cheikh Lo
Album: Jamm
Label en Jaar: World Circuit WCD084 ; P en C 2010
Titel: Ne Parti Pas
Tijdsduur: 04’08
Uitvoerende: Cheikh Lo
Componist: Cheikh Lo
Album: Jamm
Label en Jaar: World Circuit WCD084 ; P en C 2010
Titel: All Remains To Be Done
Tijdsduur: 04’52
Uitvoerende: Souad Massi
Componist: Souad Massi
Album: O Houria
Label en Jaar: Universal Music 517 ; P en C 2010
Titel: Let Me Be In Peace (one take version)
Tijdsduur: 02’56
Uitvoerende: Souad Massi, feat. Paul Weller
Componist: Souad Massi
Album: O Houria
Label en Jaar: Universal Music 517 ; P en C 2010
Imaginative gamelan salute to John Lennon (born 70 yrs ago, 9 Oct. 1940)
It’s John Lennon’s 70th birthday today… so here’s an ‘imaginative’ ‘gamelan salute’ to John Lennon, in the first minute of this video that I shot on October 15th, 2008, at Radio Netherlands.
Op Concertzender nieuw programma gregoriaanse muziek: ‘Bonum Est’
Op de Concertzender: ‘Bonum est’, een programma over het gregoriaans, samengesteld door Geert Maessen. Vanaf zondag 14 november 2010, elke zondag van 17:00 tot 18:00 uur
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