NEWS
During a presentation for Universal Music retailers last September, where I sang a couple of songs from my new CD “Zomerreis” [Schubert’s “Die schöne Müllerin” translated into Dutch by Jan Rot] I was taken by surprise when TV-personality Paul de Leeuw presented me with a Golden Award for my contribution to the success of the Dutch St. Matthew Passion CD. In the meantime, the Schubert CD has been released as part of the annual sales campaign Aangenaam Klassiek and has received lots of attention from the press [see the new heading PRESS CUTTINGS on this website]. “Zomerreis” was performed at the Crossing Border Festival in The Hague on 17th November.
Jan Rot and Marcel Beekman at Crossing Border
Signing CD's after concert at Crossing Border
Classical singing in the Dutch language has turned out to be a phenomenon which stimulates discussion. Hebrew poetry demands a rather different approach, which can be heard on the latest CD “Hooglied” [“Song of Songs”] by composer Jeff Hamburg. As well as Dutch fragments from this biblical text [narrated by actors Nettie Blanken and Rudolf Lucieer], the CD contains new songs for tenor and flute [Eleonore Pameijer] on Hebrew texts by Spanish-Jewish poets from the period of Moorish rule over the Iberian peninsula. Erotic music, infused with Arabic flavours. Rabbi David Lilienthal handed over the first copy of this CD to composer Jeff Hamburg during a festive concert in the Amsterdam Uilenburger Synagogue on November 12th.
Rudolf Lucieer, Nettie Blanken, Eleonore Pameijer, Marcel Beekman
Another festive occasion in November was the celebration of the 45th Jubilee of the “Society of Friends of Song” in De Doelen concert hall in Rotterdam. Accompanied by pianist Ernst Munneke I sang a Robert Schumann programme. His relatively unknown “Frühe Lieder” were highly appreciated by the audience and turned out to be worth re-discovering.
In December I’ll be singing concerts of works by Beethoven and Bach in venues like Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and Salle Pleyel [Paris] and Barbican Hall [London]. Mauricio Kagel’s 75th birthday will be celebrated with a production from the Netherlands Chamber Choir on Christmas Eve, where compositions like “Mitternachtsstück” and “Ballads by Guillaume de Machaut” will be performed. Starting in January 2007, I will be involved in, amongst other things, a recital of songs by Jacques Beers, a concert with the Netherlands Bach Society [“Der Tod Jesu” by Netherlands composer Ernst Graaf] and preparations for the opera production of “Arminio” by Heinrich Ignaz von Biber with the Combattimento Consort conducted by Jan Willem de Vriend and directed by Eva Buchmann. The première will take place in the Zoetermeer City Theatre on March 4th.
Further info can be found in the AGENDA. Should you wish to mail me, please do so at: marcelbeekman@orange.nl
Marcel Beekman [November 2006]