Reviews

Reviews October 2009

01.11.2009

La voce femminile

By Jeanine Kramer, Leeuwarder Courant, 10 October 2009

“The visionary Hildegard von Bingen (1098 – 1179) was one of the first female composers. The attractive sounds of her music form a framework for the commissioned works of three contemporary female composers in the programme entitled ‘La voce femminile’, with which the (mixed voice) Nederlands Kamerkoor is touring in France and The Netherlands.

This contrast between extremely old and brand new (2009, world première) could not be greater, but it works fantastically. We heard Eternity approaching at a slow pace from the back of the church, and this wonderful angelic singing reached us from every angle. […] 

The modest Norwegian conductor Grete Pedersen used her decisive conducting to create a fine balance between the excellent male and female singers of the NKK in her ‘women’s programme’.”

Tenso Days

“Bright, clear singing during Tenso Days.”

De Telegraaf, Frederike Berntsen, 19 October 2009

“In Jolivet’s ode to love, the stirring text (his own) forms a powerful unity with the richness of the sound language. Conducted by Risto Joost from Estonia, the members of the Nederlands Kamerkoor spoke this language as if the work had been composed for them. Resolutely and with a certain pointedness they interwove the sober and voluptuous passages.
This same vocal clarity worked wonders in Messiaen’s vehement ‘rechants’, in which the robust solos sounded superb.” […]

By Jochem Valkenburg, NRC Handelsblad, 17 October 2009

The emancipation of the choir was undoubtedly one of the most interesting musical developments of the previous century. [...] Amongst other things it was evident in a performance of Olivier Messiaen’s Cinq rechants (1948), performed with elation and strong rhythm by the Nederlands Kamerkoor. The relatively unknown Epithalame (1953) by the unjustly unknown Frenchman André Jolivet (1905-1974) came as a pleasant surprise. His self-written text is not of a high quality, but the choir was able to glory in the music, with rhythmically growling basses, piercing female voices and well-balanced chords.” […]

By Tom Ruijfrok, De Gelderlander, 21 October 2009

“[…] The performance of both works (Cinq Rechants by Messiaen and Epithalame by Jolivet), conducted by the young Estonian conductor Risto Joost, was in any case as clean as a whistle; once again one was struck not only by the high degree of blend in the always refined choral sound, but also by the tremendous quality of the individual voices.” […]

By Ellen Segeren, http:// cultureelpersbureau.nl/

“ […] The Tenso Days, in which the crème de la crème of European chamber choirs participate, took place this year in Amsterdam, organized by the two leading Dutch chamber choirs. Both choirs had chosen to share the concert on the first evening. Even though the choirs have their separate fields of operation, it is almost impossible to avoid any comparison at all. This rendered them vulnerable, which may most certainly be described as noble.
The very young Estonian conductor Risto Joost piloted the Nederlands Kamerkoor through a selection from the unofficial canon of 20th and 21st-century choral music, consisting largely of French works. The Cinq Rechants by Olivier Messiaen sounded clear and accurate in the not exactly obvious intervals. It was also a good opportunity to hear several choir members in solos, such as a beautiful passage sung by mezzo-soprano Helena van Heel. It was a relief at this point – and in fact throughout the evening – that the text was being projected alongside the choir, resulting in an absence of annoying page turning. This meant that van Heel’s final note, dying away to pianissimo, took on all the emotional charge it merited. […]”