An introduction to contemporary music in ordinary language.
An Ox on the Roof 23: The Ox during COVID-19 #10.
Today marks the twenty-third episode of An Ox on the roof by Thea Derks, inspired by her book Een os op het dak: moderne muziek na 1900 in vogelvlucht. In December 2020, a second pressing was published.
We have been subjected to corona for a year, and the measures keep getting stricter and more unfathomable. CD stores, book stores, theatres, and concert halls all had to be closed the last few months, while candy stores and liquor stores stayed open and football players were allowed to stay out after curfew to play ‘necessary football matches’…
Meanwhile, more and more CDs are released, like All English Music is Greensleeves by Maya Verlaak. You could listen to the title song of that album in episode 21.
Today, we’ll listen to the equally beautiful Song and Dance from 2017.
The Dutch composer Willem Jeths was both unlucky and lucky: in March of 2020, his brand new opera Ritratto was cancelled. Luckily, a video was made, which premiered on March 21. In October, his opera could be performed in front of an audience of 250. Derks was there, and he concluded: Ritratto is a true masterpiece. Now, the CD is realised. Today, we’ll listen to a scene from this CD, featuring the phenomenal soprano Verity Wingate.
In the 2020-2021 season, both the Groot Omroepkoor and the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra celebrated their 75th anniversary. Unfortunately, this couldn’t be celebrated in a spectacular way. Still, both ensembles kept performing – with or without an audience – in the network series AVRO/TROS Vrijdagconcert, NTR Zaterdag Matinee, and Het Zondagochtend Concert. Both ensembles also released an anniversary CD.
Today, we’ll listen to a recording of the Dutch premiere of Eva’s Klage by Lera Auerbach by the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, which was made just before the first lockdown. We’ll also hear music by Eric Whitacre and André Thomas, performed by the Groot Omroepkoor.
The first pressing of the Ox has completely sold out, but through the website boekenbestellen.nl, you’ll receive a copy of the second pressing.
- Maya Verlaak. Song and Dance.
Apartment House. - Willem Jeths. Ritratto scene 5 ‘The two of us together’.
Verity Wingate, soprano. Polly Leech, mezzo-soprano.
Paride Cataldo, tenor. Martin Mkhize, baritone.
Amsterdam Sinfonietta conducted by Geoffrey Paterson. - Lera Auerbach. Eva’s Klage.
Radio Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Karina Canellakis. - Eric Whitacre. Sleep.
Groot Omroepkoor conducted by Benjamin Goodson. - Trad. arr. André Thomas. I’ve just come from the mountain.
Groot Omroepkoor conducted by André Thomas.
Compiled by, presented by, and engineered by Thea Derks.
