In October, Dennis Russell Davies, Jun Märkl and Antony Hermus conduct the Residentie Orkest in masterpieces by Rachmaninoff, Philip Glass, Tchaikovsky, Richard Strauss, Tsoupaki, Mahler and Dvořák. The soloists performing at Amare are pianist Maki Namekawa, violinist and artist in residence Stefan Jackiw, and mezzo-soprano Barbara Kozelj. At the Nieuwe Kerk, musicians from the Residentie Orkest perform works by Haydn, Martin and Dvořák as part of the Close Up series.
Fri 2 Oct, 8.15pm, Amare: RACHMANINOV & GLASS
Under the baton of master conductor Dennis Russell Davies – who has been conducting with passion and finesse for decades and is also the partner of tonight’s pianist – the Residentie Orkest presents compositions in which past and present intertwine. Pianist Maki Namekawa, Philip Glass’s close musical collaborator, is the soloist in the Dutch premiere of Glass’s Mishima Concerto for piano and orchestra, a cinematic and hypnotic journey. The piece grew out of Glass’s soundtrack for the acclaimed film Mishima and is imbued with contemplation, freedom and inner strength. Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 3, by contrast, embraces memory and longing, with lush strings and playful jazzy accents. Rachmaninoff wrote the symphony after emigrating to the United States, and you can hear the balance between nostalgia for his homeland and an open, energetic outlook towards the future. An evening full of contrast, energy and emotional richness.
Fri 9 Oct, 8.15pm & Sun 11 Oct, 2.15pm, Amare: TCHAIKOVSKY & STRAUSS
The stage is bursting with energy today. Stefan Jackiw, violinist and artist in residence for the 2026/27 season, takes on Tchaikovsky’s exuberant Violin Concerto. A lyrical, demanding and irresistibly expressive work. Tchaikovsky’s only violin concerto calls for total commitment: dancing melodies, dazzling technique and an emotional directness that is in safe hands with Jackiw. Afterwards, chief conductor Jun Märkl continues his great journey through the German Romantic repertoire this season, this time with Richard Strauss’s monumental Ein Heldenleben. An orchestra of more than one hundred musicians, rich colours and an outpouring of energy in every bar: unforgettable. In this work, Strauss openly weaves quotations from his own earlier compositions into the score, as if the hero were looking back on his musical life. The impressive violin solos by concertmaster Wouter Vossen give the heroic figure an inner voice. The result is an overwhelming listening experience in which virtuosity, orchestral grandeur and personal stories converge.
Fri 16 Oct, 8.15pm & Sat 17 Oct, 8.30pm, Amare: TSOUPAKI, MAHLER & DVOŘÁK 5
Calliope Tsoupaki – former Composer Laureate of the Netherlands and a close associate of the Residentie Orkest – explores in Falling how we seek to find meaning again in a world that has become unsteady. In Tsoupaki’s Thin Air, we return to a work born of compassion and solidarity. Originally written during the pandemic (and premiered in this orchestral version by the Residentie Orkest), it is so timeless that it may perhaps resonate even more powerfully now than it did then. Mahler turns the emotion inward with one of his best-known song cycles: the Rückert Lieder. Five miniature mirrors in which longing, tranquility, self-examination and melancholy are laid bare without drama. Barbara Kozelj makes the songs almost tangible with her warm, rich mezzo-soprano voice. Dvořák’s fascinating Symphony No. 5 brings the evening to a close not with spectacle, but with sunlight: warm-blooded, playful and dancing. A symphony that smells of grass, earth, sunshine and evening air. This is Dvořák at his most open, most free and most blissful. Conductor Antony Hermus weaves a wonderful, breathing programme between Tsoupaki’s air and Dvořák’s earth.
Saturday’s concert is part of the now much-loved RO NOW series. Before the concert, presenter Sander Zwiep, known from NPO Klassiek, and the orchestra will offer a few short, illuminating examples to open your ears to what is about to come. After the concert, the music continues in the foyer and drinks will be waiting, with the first round on the Residentie Orkest.
Wed 28 Oct, 8.15pm, Nieuwe Kerk: CLOSE UP WITH HAYDN, MARTIN & DVOŘÁK
During Close Up at the Nieuwe Kerk, chamber music comes particularly close: you sit around the musicians, the sound is warm and immediate, and every nuance counts. This edition presents three gems for strings, performed by an ensemble from the Residentie Orkest. The programme unfolds from quartet to sextet, allowing the colours of the string ensemble to become increasingly rich and full. Haydn opens playfully with his famous String Quartet ‘The Joke’, which has been taking audiences by surprise for centuries. Frank Martin’s Pavane couleur du temps is a finely crafted gem: softly pulsating, intimate and clear in tone. Dvořák’s String Sextet brings the evening to a close with a warm-blooded blend of dance rhythms, melancholy and melodic richness. An evening where craftsmanship and imagination come together.
Photos above: Maki Namekawa, Stefan Jackiw en Barbara Kozelj
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