Kathleen Ferrier
Pianist Lieselotte van Tol and I are delighted to announce a new programme for 2024, based on the music performed by twenty-first century contraltos including Aafje Heynis and Kathleen Ferrier.
It includes well-known arias by Handel and Gluck, folksongs from the British Isles, and works that seem to be performed less often these days such as “The Holy City” and “The Lost Chord.”
We have our first concert at a private venue in Rotterdam tomorrow.
With Robert Cekov. Photo: Dub de Vries
The penultimate concert of the year brought a pleasant surprise: a collaboration with Macedonian violinist Robert Cekov. Robert leads the Dutch national ballet orchestra and had to hurry to Amsterdam after our concert. He stood in for baritone Piet Baarssen, who suddenly and uncharacteristically was unwell. We performed a programme of mostly Dutch Christmas music, together with some favourites such as the “Ave Maria” attributed to Caccini (which was actually written in the 1970s by Vladimir Vavilov), and of course “O Holy Night.”
I have one more recital to go before the new year: Lieselotte and I are performing in Rotterdam for a private occasion.
Highlights for 2023 include singing Karl Jenkins’s “Stabat Mater” in Amsterdam, various concerts and ceremonies in France including for the eightieth anniversary of D-Day, and some exciting events further afield…
I wish you a wonderful Christmas and a happy and healthy new year.
On 16th December I’ll be joining the internationally-acclaimed baritone Piet Baarssen and organist Dub de Vries to sing a mostly Dutch Christmas programme in the Orgelzaal Booy in Alkmaar, the Netherlands. I’m really looking forward to this programme!
For more information (in Dutch), please visit this webpage.
Every year, on the second Sunday of December, candles are lit across the world to remember children during “Worldwide Candle-Lighting Day.” In Leiden, Xenia, our children’s hospice, hosts a ceremony for all those who wish to take a moment to reflect and remember. It’s a beautiful ceremony, and it’s an honour to sing in such a moving and important event.
I’m excited to be singing in the Leiden Christmas Tattoo this year, along with four orchestras, and Marnie Baumer and Nataliia Cioban. The tattoo is on Saturday, 9th December on the square at the west end of the historic Pieterskerk, the church in which Pilgrim Father Rev. John Robinson is buried.
For tickets and information (in Dutch), please visit this webpage.
With Gyles Brandreth and Dr Hilary Jones. Photo: CWGC
Last Wednesday, I joined Gyles Brandreth and Dr. Hilary Jones to perform in the Guards’ Chapel, London, for the Commonwealth War Graves’ Foundation‘s Christmas carol service.
The foundation is the charitable arm of the war graves commission. Its aims include raising awareness of the work of the CWGC and the stories behind the graves so that no one is forgotten. It also raises funds to support the CWGC in caring for our war dead. Please consider donating to help their work.
For more photographs and information, please visit this webpage.
Almost 82 years ago, when the Netherlands was occupied by German forces, Peter Tazelaar travelled from England to Scheveningen by boat. Under his waterproof clothing he wore a tuxedo. Before going ashore, he removed his waterproofs and splashed himself with brandy in order to blend in with the party-goers he expected to find there. But the beach was empty. A curfew had been imposed and he would have been shot immediately had he been seen.
On 22nd November, we remembered Tazelaar and his spirit of resistance. In a closed group, we toasted his memory with Hennessy XO, the same brandy as he had used to disguise himself. Tazelaar had received the bottle from Queen Wilhelmina. I sang “We’ll meet again.”