Amsterdam Sinfonietta is renowned for its adventurous programmes. Popular masterworks are linked to premières of contemporary compositions and newly arranged works. There are frequent collaborations with celebrated soloists. Composers such as Thomas Larcher, Michel van der Aa and Sofia Gubaidulina have written works for the orchestra that have since become part of the core repertoire for strings. We also commission young, talented composers to write works, providing them with a pathway to present themselves to a large public.
Masterworks and premières
Commissioned work by Thomas Larcher (2016)
Thomas Larcher, one of the leading composers of our day, was commissioned by Amsterdam Sinfonietta to write a new cello concerto, bearing the mythical title Ouroboros. Together with the cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras the orchestra gave its world première in the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam on February 11, 2016, followed shortly afterwards by the Austrian première in the Viennese Konzerthaus. The Dutch daily newspaper NRC praised Larcher’s new work as monumental and eclectic. Under Larcher’s direction, Queyras perfomed the Dutch première of Larcher’s Mumien, for which the composer had earlier received the prestigious Lincoln Centre composition prize.
Shostakovich’s Fourteenth Symphony (2019)
At the 2015 Holland Festival Proms, Amsterdam Sinfonietta and Eva-Maria Westbroek forged a close bond. The internationally celebrated opera star and soprano made her return appearance with the orchestra in 2019, performing Shostakovich’s imposing Fourteenth Symphony. Shostakovich wrote this cycle of eleven songs for the unusual combination of two singers and strings, dedicating it to Benjamin Britten. Westbroek was joined by the Russian bass Mikhail Petrenko in this “passionate protest against death”.
“From the very first bars the group outshone virtually all performances of orchestras with conductor.”
– NRC about Amsterdam Sinfonietta & Beatrice Rana
Beatrice Rana en Bach
Beatrice Rana, een van de grootste pianobeloftes voor de komende jaren, maakte haar debuut bij Amsterdam Sinfonietta met twee klavierconcerten van Bach. Voor haar vertolkingen van Bachs Goldbergvariaties sleepte ze talloze prijzen in de wacht, waaronder een Edison Klassiek. De tournee met de jonge Italiaanse pianiste voerde langs zalen in Nederland en Italië. Het programma leverde het orkest een nominatie op voor de Ovatie 2019.
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