© Nic Limper
The National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands (NJO) is part of the extensive “Summer Festival” during which 160 young musicians – not only from the Netherlands – come together in the province of Gelderland to work with outstanding docents for several weeks in various ensembles. The highlight of the project is the NJO Music Summer (taking place this year from August 3 to 19, 2018), presenting the results of the rehearsal phase. During past years, Young Euro Classic has also presented the NJO’s baroque orchestra and the opera company, and now it is the large symphony orchestra’s turn again. The NJO reflects the extremely rich musical tradition of the Netherlands, which has always had an open ear for contemporary music and still does. Thus, during recent years, composers such as Steve Reich, John Adams, Kaaja Saariaho and Wolfgang Rihm have been the NJO’s “composers in residence”.
Konzerthaus, Berlin
© Petro Dome
Actor
Stefan Jürgens, born in Unna in 1963, is a sought-after film and theatre actor and has been a musician from his earliest youth. Between shooting movies, Jürgens has toured Germany and Austria very successfully with his band. As a pianist he writes and composes almost all his songs himself. Stefan Jürgens made a name for himself with the legendary RTL comedy show “Samstag Nacht”, by playing the role of Inspector Hellmann in the Berlin ‘Tatort” and appearing on numerous film and television productions. Knowing that acting and music are basically two full-time jobs does not stop him from doing both: “I want to do both and not miss either. It may be strenuous, but it’s very satisfying,” he says. When he is busy for half a year playing the rough-and-tumble Major Carl Ribarski for “SOKO Wien/Donau”, as he is right now, he looks forward to sitting down at the piano again after a short break – whether alone at home, texting and composing, or during live performances. Since he was 16, he has been on the road with bands, has remained true to himself and still tours the entire country. His albums Langstreckenlauf, Heldenzeiten, Alles immer möglich, Grenzenlos Mensch will be followed in 2019 by his fifth studio album, Was zählt. In the spring of 2019, Stefan Jürgen tours Germany and Austria with his WAS ZÄHLT TOUR.
© Marco Borggreve
Much of the career of the Dutch conductor Antony Hermus has taken place in Germany. During his six years as General Music Director at the Anhaltisches Theater in Dessau (2009-15) he called attention to the opera house not only by producing a complete Wagner Ring, but also by open-air and Twitter concerts. Guest engagements have taken the 45-year-old to the most important symphony orchestras of the Netherlands, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra London. This spring, Hermus made his debut at Vienna’s Musikverein with the Tonkünstlerorchester Niederösterreich. He also performed Bruckner’s Sixth Symphony with the Residentie Orkest Den Haag and returned to the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra for a cinema production of Stravinsky’s Firebird. His discography also reflects his many interests: after works by the Romantics Hans Rott, August Klughardt and Alphons Diepenbrock, Hermus most recently recorded compositions by the Austrian Siegmund von Hausegger with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra.
“Cinderella Suites” Op. 107, 108, 109 (1945/46, Excerpts)
“Mors Aeterna“ (2015, German Premiere)
Symphony No. 4 in E-Minor Op. 98 (1885)
Celebrate with us! At the traditional AUDIENCE PARTY after the concert.
7 pm: Pre-Concert Talk with Dieter Rexroth at the Werner-Otto-Saal
Free admission for ticket holders at 6:45 pm
PROGRAMME
The fact that the Netherlands have produced not only famous painters such as Rembrandt or van Gogh, but also have a great musical tradition is known to anyone who has ever heard the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra from Amsterdam. Music education has a high priority in our neighbouring country, and it is especially the National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands and its various ensembles which profits from this fact – as several acclaimed concerts in Berlin have demonstrated. In 2018, the “classical” formation returns to Berlin, the National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands, offering a colourful programme ranging from romanticism to modernism. It begins with an orchestral suite from Sergey Prokofiev’s world-famous ballet Cinderella. The Dutch orchestra also plays a German premiere by its compatriot Willem Jeths. And finally, Brahms’ highly romantic Symphony No. 4 is just the right work to drive the youth orchestra’s pulse up to racing levels!
Broadcast
The concert will be streamed LIVE and ON DEMAND on ARTE CONCERT: concert.arte.tv/young-euro-classic
