Bach - Christmas Oratorio Tour - Les Talens Lyriques & Nederlands Kamerkoor
22 December 2022, 22:30Eight performances of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio; eight standing ovations. This was a tour of Holland to remember, with so many great components, including the Nederlands Kamerkoor, Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset, Johanna Winkel (soprano), Sophie Harmsen (alto), Zachary Wilder (tenor) and Krešimir Strazanac (bass).
We performed in the Tivoli Vredenburg in Utrecht (12 December 2022), De Doelen in Rotterdam (13), the Muziekgebouw in Eindhoven (14), the Pieterskerk in Leiden (17), the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam (19), the Grote of St Gudulakerk in Lochem (20), Musis in Arnhem (21) and Amare in The Hague (22).
Utrecht was a great first concert, Rotterdam was vibrant, Eindhoven was fun (also with table football offstage), Leiden was freezing outside and impressive inside, Amsterdam was very special, Lochem was homely (and featured outdoor midwinterhoorn playing), we were live on NPO Radio 4 in Arnhem, and the performance in The Hague was a fine epilogue.
I have been away with Les Talens Lyriques for three tours in very close succession. It is a fantastic orchestra and it is easy and rewarding to play with these fine musicians. In the last 36 days with this orchestra, I have played first trumpet in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio (eight times), Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 (three times) and Orchestral Suites No. 3 & 4 (three times). I also played in their recording with the tenor Michael Spyres. In those 36 days, I have been home for only 4 nights! I was very pleased that my wife could come to Holland to join me for some of the tour, and she listened to our Amsterdam concert from the balcony in the Concertgebouw. The bass soloist, Krešimir Strazanac, very kindly gave my wife his flowers from the Concertgebouw performance.
We performed in the Tivoli Vredenburg in Utrecht (12 December 2022), De Doelen in Rotterdam (13), the Muziekgebouw in Eindhoven (14), the Pieterskerk in Leiden (17), the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam (19), the Grote of St Gudulakerk in Lochem (20), Musis in Arnhem (21) and Amare in The Hague (22).
Photo credit: Rupert Whitehead
It was a pleasure, as ever, to play first trumpet in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. We had a great team, with Gareth Hoddinott on second trumpet, Imogen Whitehead on third, and Hervé Trovel on timpani. Jeroen Biliet and Yannick Maillet were a brilliant horn duo.
Utrecht was a great first concert, Rotterdam was vibrant, Eindhoven was fun (also with table football offstage), Leiden was freezing outside and impressive inside, Amsterdam was very special, Lochem was homely (and featured outdoor midwinterhoorn playing), we were live on NPO Radio 4 in Arnhem, and the performance in The Hague was a fine epilogue.
It’s now easy to forget that this kind of event was difficult a year ago and impossible two years ago! Playing at the Concertgebouw (for my second time: read about the first time here) was a real thrill, and it was great to play the solo aria Großer Herr in this wonderful and world-famous acoustic. Every section of the orchestra excelled; Gillone Gaubert (violin) was outstanding in her solo arias and so too were Jocelyn Daubigney (flute) and the wonderful oboists: Gilles Vanssons, Georg Fritz, Vincent Blanchard and Lidewei de Sterck. The bassoon, strings and continuo section were also thoroughly excellent! The Nederlands Kamerkoor were exceptional: their consonants were unanimous, and their ensemble sound was spine tingling.
I have been away with Les Talens Lyriques for three tours in very close succession. It is a fantastic orchestra and it is easy and rewarding to play with these fine musicians. In the last 36 days with this orchestra, I have played first trumpet in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio (eight times), Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 (three times) and Orchestral Suites No. 3 & 4 (three times). I also played in their recording with the tenor Michael Spyres. In those 36 days, I have been home for only 4 nights! I was very pleased that my wife could come to Holland to join me for some of the tour, and she listened to our Amsterdam concert from the balcony in the Concertgebouw. The bass soloist, Krešimir Strazanac, very kindly gave my wife his flowers from the Concertgebouw performance.
It leaves me only to say a huge thank you to the trumpet section, the orchestra, the choir, Christophe Rousset, the soloists, and all those who have been involved in organising these concerts. It has been a wonderful tour. A lot has changed since I last performed in The Hague (with the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century); a new concert hall has been built, replacing the Dr. Anton Philipszaal. One thing that hasn’t changed is the love that people from The Netherlands have for music.
Happy Christmas, and cheers!
Russell Gilmour
writing on music, photography, engraving, travel and life as a freelance professional musician.
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Berlioz
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Brandenburg
Brandenburg Baroque Soloists
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Classical
Concert
Cornetto
Education Outreach
English Slide Trumpet
Engraving
Festival
France
Germany
Gorczycki
Guts and Glory
Göttingen Handel Festival
Handel
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Historic Royal Palaces
Horn
Instrument
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Isle of Man
Keyed Trumpet
Kuhnau
Le Concert Lorrain
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Les Talens Lyriques
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Modern Trumpet
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Mozart
Museum
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OAE
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Opera
Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century
Oxford
Period Costume
Photography
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Royal Academy of Music
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Schelle
Schütz
Shakespeare
Solomon's Knot
Spain
Spiritato!
St. Martin-in-the-Fields
Switzerland
Taverner Consort
Teaching
Telemann
The English Concert
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Tour
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