Ta-ta-ta-taaa! Anyone who reads this reference to Ludwig van Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony will immediately start singing the well-known theme. Today it is enough to listen, because Beethoven’s complete Fifth is the dynamic closing piece of an exciting evening. Artist-in-residence of the AVROTROS Friday Concert, Simone Lamsma, premieres a new violin concerto by Joey Roukens. Also a composer of memorable notes and grand gestures.

It has been more than twenty years since Simone Lamsma won the Oskar Back National Violin Competition. In that time she has become one of the absolute leaders of the Dutch violin school. She is known far beyond the borders and knows how to win over audiences and critics with her elegant playing. Lamsma ‘played splendidly, with crisp clarity and brightly radiant sound…’, as the New York Times once said.

Anyone who talks about Joey Roukens cannot ignore the term eclectic. The Dutch composer is not one to be pigeonholed and uses everything he can to tell his story. “I try to embrace the entire history of music,” he once said, “from the earliest Gregorian music to the latest techno music and everything in between.” This produces scores that dance and swing, sigh and grind, but always appeal directly.

Program:

Joey Roukens – Violin Concerto

Beethoven – Symphony No. 5