04/05 Listen & Engage!

Placed on 4 mei 2012

Tenso Professionals Meeting: 10 & 11 May 2012, Paris

Tenso, the European organisation for professional chamber choirs, aims to promote choral practice in Europe and contribute to the creation of new and innovative repertoire. At its yearly Professionals Meeting, delegates from member choirs and a variety of organisations gather to exchange knowlegde.

The upcoming Tenso Professionals Meeting will focus on social media strategies and the mobile web. Creative uses of these technologies will be presented by speakers active in the classical music and museum or media industries, notably Jo Johnson, Digital Marketing Manager at the London Symphony Orchestra; Rachel Coldicutt, founder of Caper and former Head of Digital Media at the Royal Opera House; Lukas Hellermann, project manager at musikFabrik; Roei Amit, Head of Digital Media, Réunion des Musées Nationaux - Grand-Palais; Tim Rutherford-Johnson, musicologist and writer; Lindsey Porter, Press & PR Manager at Opera North.
These professionals will illustrate, during five panel sessions, how social media and the mobile web offer cultural organisations new ways to promote their activities and interact with their audience, or to what extent they can foster collaboration and be an element of the creative process.

For more information and registration, please visit www.tensomeeting.eu.

29/04 A Suitcase from Berlin

Placed on 19 apr 2012

Join us on a journey spanning German choral literature through the ages.

20 April 20:15, Pieterskerk Church Utrecht | tickets
24 April 20:15, Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, Amsterdam | tickets

In recent years young German conductor Ralf Sochaczewsky (1972) has assisted regularly at Cappella Amsterdam, and has also displayed his talents as a choir conductor with the Choeur de Radio France, Rundfunkchor Berlin, the Rias Chamber Choir and Cappella Cracoviensis. So it was high time to invite him to put together his own programme.

The oldest and probably best known work in this programme is the Israelsbrünnlein by Johann Hermann Schein, a friend of Heinrich Schütz’s whose ‘swan song’ was presented earlier this season. But although Schütz travelled to Italy several times in order to study with well-known contemporaries, Schein stayed his entire (albeit short) life in Germany. The manner in which he gave his own interpretation to the popular Italian madrigal style of the day is what makes Israelsbrünnlein one of the highlights of the German baroque.

The late romanticism of Arnold Mendelssohn and Peter Cornelius, the neo-Classicism of Max Reger and recent works by Wolfgang Buchenberg on texts by mediaeval philosopher Meister Eckehardt complete our journey through the centuries. 

21/01 New Janácek cd: first reviews

Placed on 21 jan 2012

'Beautiful choir', 'Supple timing', 'Harmonious and sharp'

Released on the second day of this year by harmonia mundi, our newest cd received its first wave of very favourable reviews!

NRC Handelsblad (* * * * *): Harmonious and sharp

"This is the fourth cd that this beautiful choir Cappella Amsterdam and Daniel Reuss have released under the Harmonia Mundi label. This is a win-win situation: the quality label puts the choir in the international limelight, while choral music receives the attention it deserves. (...)." - Floris Don (19 January 2012, translated from Dutch).

New York Times: A valuable one

"By now, Leos Janacek's music is firmly established in the orchestral, chamber and, most of all, operatic repertoires. (...) But his gorgeously varied choral works are heard far less often, so this new release, featuring the Cappella Amsterdam under Daniel Reuss, is a valuable one." - Zachary Woolfe (13 January 2012).

Volkskrant  (* * * *): Supple timing and a refreshing sound

"With a title role for Cappella Amsterdam, the choir of Daniel Reuss, that recorded its fourth album for quality label Harmonia Mundi. Supple timing and a refreshing sound." - Guido van Oorschot (11 January 2012, translated from Dutch).

Parool (* * * *): Splendid performances

"A beautiful cd, which brings together a major part of his vocal ensemble music, performed splendidly." -  Erik Voermans (11 January 2012, translated from Dutch).

Radio 4: A downright discovery

In his radio show on 21 and 23 December 2011 on Dutch classical Radio 4, Hans Haffmans aired a couple of pieces. The cd as such he found "a fine record and the piece Otcena (Our Father) he called "a downright discovery. That work was performed by Thomas Walker (tenor), Philip Mayers (piano), Ernestine Stoop (harp), Dirk Luijmes (harmonium) and Cappella Amsterdam directed by Daniel Reuss.

The cd can be had from your favourite music store, among which the harmonia mundi online store.