Amsterdam: 750 year; Music from Amsterdammers

The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Netherlands Radio Choir perform commissioned works by former Dutch composer Calliope Tsoupaki and Jeff Hamburg. With songs by Renaissance composer Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck and Rudolf Escher from the last century, the program spans four centuries of music by Amsterdammers. Louis Andriessen will of course also be present, with ‘Un beau baiser’, a song from the opera George Sand that he wrote for the theater group Baal, and ‘The City of Dis’ from La Commedia. In Dante’s Divine Comedy, Dis is a city in the depths of hell, a city of violent people, usurers and blasphemers.

Calliope Tsoupaki wants to express her love for music in her composition, which brought her to Amsterdam. Jeff Hamburg draws on the Jewish history of the city and expresses 750 years of magical creativity.

Program:

Jeff Hamburg – new work
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck – selection from ‘Cantiones sacrae’
Rudolf Escher – Songs of Love and Eternity
Louis Andriessen – Un beau baiser
Calliope Tsoupaki – new composition (Commissioned by the Concertgebouw Orchestra)
Louis Andriessen – The city of Dis (from La Commedia)