Le déjeuner sur l’herbe
Friday 22 May / 20.15 - 22.00
Nicky Spence, tenor / Julius Drake, piano / Lonneke van Straalen, violin Margot Kolodziej, violin Laura Kieboom, viola Jan Bastiaan Neven, cello
The answer to the question ‘how are you?’ is often: busy! But wanting to escape the hectic pace of everyday life for a while is not just of today. You can see it in Manet's painting ‘le dejeuner sur l'herbe’, for example: a carefree scene with fresh green grass, soft spring light breaking through between the young leaves and a stay in nature with friends ... The work presents you with a world in which the pressures of everyday life fall away for a moment.
That sense of stepping back and relaxing can also be heard in Fauré's La bonne chanson or Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? by John Dankworth. Tenor Nicky Spence has the ideal voice to take you - along with liedpianist pur sang Julius Drake - for an evening, back to nature to refuel musically.
Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)
La bonne chanson op. 61 (Verlaine)
break
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
Chrysanthemums SC 65
Vaughan Williams
On Wenlock Edge (Housman)
John Dankworth (1927-2010)
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? (Shakespeare)
Stephen Sondheim (1930-2021)
The Girls of Summer (Sondheim)
Love is in the air (Sondheim)
Tom Lehrer (1828-2025)
Poisoning pigeons in the Park (Lehrer)
Great Hall
Evangelical Brotherhood
Zusterplein 12, 3703 CB Zeist
Nicky Spence / tenor
Nicky Spence is a beloved singer for his distinctive sound, unique qualities as an opera singer and sincere musicality. He has performed a large number of opera roles and appeared as a soloist in several major orchestral works. He achieved great fame with his interpretation of Janáček's operas, for which he received the Leoš Janáček Memorial Medal in 2024. His discography includes recordings with beloved lied pianists such as Roger Vignoles and Joseph Middleton. In recent years, Spence has received many expressions of recognition. For instance, BBC Music Magazine named him ‘Personality of the Year’ in 2022, he was knighted by King Charles in 2023 and won The Royal Philharmonic Singer Award in 2024.
Julius Drake / piano
Julius Drake is considered one of the best lied pianists in the world. He gives recitals with well-known musicians and has an extensive discography for which he has collaborated with singers such as Gerald Finley, Ian Bostridge and Joyce DiDonato. Several CDs have won awards, including the recording of Janáček's The Diary of One Who Disappeared with tenor Nicky Spence and mezzo-soprano Václava Housková.
His great love for the lied repertoire has led to the invitation to devise lied programmes for Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebouw and the Pierre Boulez Saal. He also organises the annual Julius Drake and Friends series. In addition, Drake is Professor of Collaborative Piano at the Guildhall School of Music in London and is regularly invited to give master classes worldwide.
Lonneke van Straalen / violin
Lonneke van Straalen is one of today's most idiosyncratic and enterprising violinists. She is a chamber musician and guest leader/guest concertmaster of several ensembles and orchestras in and outside the Netherlands. She loves traditions but also tries to push against the conventional, sometimes sticks her tongue out at the familiar and prefers to explore an infinity of flavours. Van Straalen is founder of International Chamber Music Festival Amersfoort - now September Me - and of ensemble Pynarello, an orchestra that explores and introduces innovative ways of playing music. With her musical brewery TheDutchBrewhouse, she enters into unexpected liaisons with artists from different disciplines. She is also attached to Splendor in Amsterdam, active as an advisor at broadcaster NTR and as director of the Amersfoort Youth Orchestra.
Margot Kolodziej / violin
Margot Kolodziej studied at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Kees Koelmans and Ilya Grubert. She has taken masterclasses with, among others, Emmy Verheij, Dmitri Ferschtman and Vera Beths. Kolodziej is a versatile musician. Alongside performing as a soloist, she is first violinist of the ADAM Quartet and regularly plays as a substitute in various chamber and symphony orchestras. She has performed on multiple occasions at the Concertgebouw and has been heard on radio and television, including on the programme Podium Witteman. Kolodziej enjoys pushing the boundaries of classical music by interpreting works by contemporary composers, collaborating with other artistic disciplines, or performing in unusual venues.
Laura Kieboom viola
During her studies at the conservatories of Utrecht and Amsterdam, and the International School of Music in San Diego, Laura Kieboom became hooked on all music featuring strings. After graduating, she worked with various symphony orchestras such as Phion, the Radio Chamber Philharmonic and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra. In addition, she enjoys playing sacred music, accompanying choirs and pop artists, and recording film and commercial music.
Kieboom is also artistic director of Ensemble Jochanan, which consists of professional Dutch musicians.
Jan Bastiaan Neven cello
At the age of ten, Jan Bastiaan Neven received his first cello lessons from Jan Hollinger. Studies at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf and the New England Conservatory in Boston followed. Neven attended masterclasses given by artists including Gary Hoffman, Frans Helmerson, Anner Bijlsma and Philippe Müller. At a young age, he was already performing as a soloist with orchestras in Europe and the US, and could be heard as a chamber musician at various international festivals. Neven is a member of the Erard Ensemble, which focuses on the authentic performance of chamber music from the Romantic period. In addition, Neven is co-principal cellist of the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra.
Nicky Spence showed his irrepressible energy, adaptability and humour, reminding us of his gift for the long phrases and for powerful expression, in any language.
With perfect timing and playing that ranged in timbre from full orchestra to the softest pianissimo, Julius Drake was the ideal partner to make the recital an unforgettable, musical experience