Le Sacre du printemps at the Muziektheater

Het Nationale Ballet, the Dutch National Ballet company, will debut this evening at the Muziektheater a new performance of Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du printemps (‘The Rite of Spring‘). This new version of Stravinsky’s ballet – in the centenary year of its notorious premiere in Paris in 1913; and showing as part of the Holland Festival – has been choreographed by the Chinese-born choreographer Shen Wei.

Shen Wei received the Nijinsky Award for Emerging Choreographer in 2004, and his choreography has been commissioned by ballet companies, museums, arts venues and events worldwide. He choreographed the ‘Scroll’ segment of the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics in 2008. His collaboration with Het Nationale Ballet marks his second interpretation of Le Sacre du printemps, having first choreographed the ballet in 2003. Shen Wei’s art is characterised by his interdisciplinary, multimedia-based approach to performance, and his drawing upon elements of Western and Asiatic culture. He has been described as ‘combining Chinese calli­graphy with the language of modern dance’; while Shen Wei himself stresses the primacy of the human body in his work.

I wrote recently a piece on Le Sacre du printemps, considering the long history of Russian culture throughout the 19th Century, its particular engagements with Asiatic art and concepts of the East, and how these influenced the development of the ballet through Stravinsky, the Ballets Russes, and the artist Nicholas Roerich. The piece is entitled ‘The Scythians and The Rite of Spring‘ and is here.

Het Nationale Ballet will perform six times over the next week at the Muziektheater. More information and tickets are at: http://www.hollandfestival.nl/en/program/2013/sacre-du-printemps-overture/

Music This Weekend in Amsterdam (14-16.06.13)

Friday

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Paradiso: Gerrit Rietveld Academie Fashion Show 2013 – 7 pm (Great Hall); Legends – from midnight

Melkweg: City and Colour – 7.30 pm (The Max); OZORA – 10 pm (Old Hall); City Samplers @ klinch – from 11 pm

De Nieuwe Anita: Nozemnacht #2 – from 8 pm

Trouw: Audio Culture (Redshape live, Pearson Sound, etc.) – from 11 pm

OT301: Casettebandjesfeestje (Bascha en Bruno, Los Dancing Queen, VideoWillem) – from 10 pm

Sugar Factory: Toekomstmuziek – 9 pm

Winston: The SelfEmployed + Riverdistrict – 9 pm

Concertgebouw: RCO conducted by Heinz Holliger – 8.15 pm (Great Hall)

Muziekgebouw: Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop & Lee Ranaldo – 8.30 pm (Great Hall)

North Sea Jazz Club: Friday Night Out: Benjamin Herman, Esperanzah Denswil & The Fresh Cuts – 6 pm; Late Night Live – 11.30 pm

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Saturday

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Paradiso: Liquicity – from 11.30 pm

Melkweg: Encore – from 11.59 pm (The Max & Old Hall)

Trouw: DVS1 All Night Long and Black Magic – from 11 pm

OT301: Roots Reggae Dance part 4 – from 10 pm

OCCII: Rebel Up! Soundclash (The Kazatzikis + El Buho + Roccii Markyahno) – from 10.30 pm

Sugar Factory: Push – from 11.59 pm

Winston: Gold + The Local Spastics + Richie Dagger – 9 pm

Concertgebouw: Janine Jansen plays Bruch’s Violin Concert No. 1 – 2.15 pm (Great Hall); Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky (Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Louis Langrée, Stefan Jackiw) – 8.15 pm (Great Hall)

Bimhuis: Jamie McDermott: Cabaret Songs – 8.30 pm

North Sea Jazz Club: Denise Jannah Quartet – 9 pm; Late Night Live – 11.30 pm

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Sunday

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Paradiso: Het Orkest Amsterdam with Gustavo Gimeno: Paris au Paradis – 2 pm (Great Hall); The Babies – 10 pm (Small Hall)

Sugar Factory: Wicked Jazz Sounds Club Night – 11 pm

Winston: Sneeky Sunday – 10 pm

Concertgebouw: Triumph and Magic (Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Louis Langrée, Stefan Jackiw) – 2.15 pm (Great Hall); Alexander Gavrylyuk – 8.15 pm (Great Hall)

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Operatic, theatrical and performance-based events continue at these and other venues as part of the Holland Festival.

Brooklyn to Berlin: Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop and Lee Ranaldo

The string ensemble Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop will play with guitarist Lee Ranaldo, of Sonic Youth, for a one-off performance this evening as part of the Holland Festival. At the Muziekgebouw, and entitled ‘Brooklyn to Berlin’, Ranaldo will interweave with the ensemble to perform Charles Avison’s Concerto grosso nr. 3, d-moll (1744), Sebastian Claren’s Licht a capella (2011), Julia Wolfe’s Fuel (2007), and a new composition of his own.

Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop are a young ensemble based in Berlin, who have frequently collaborated with artists from other disciplines in an endeavour to experiment with the way in which string ensembles appear on stage. They often play drawing upon aspects of performance art, and utilising props and other visuals. As the name suggests, all members of the ensemble also operate as soloists. Claren, a German composer and musicologist, wrote Licht a capella especially for the Kaleidoskop.

Ranaldo will play guitar and sing in performing the world premiere of his new score, written in the tradition of the concerto grosso – a Baroque form of music which involves the interplay of material between full orchestral groups and smaller groups of soloists. The English composer Charles Avison’s piece will serve to complement and as a counterpoint to Ranaldo’s composition.

The concert will begin at 8.30 pm. It will be preceded from 7.45 pm with an introduction by Jacqueline Oskamp; and there will be the opportunity after the performance to meet the artists. More information is at: http://www.hollandfestival.nl/en/program/2013/brooklyn-to-berlin/

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No Age Pre-Sale via Subbacultcha!

No Age, the experimental punk duo of Randy Randall and Dean Spunt, will play in Amsterdam on 15 October. The date was announced by Subbacultcha! last night, with tickets for the performance – to take place in a ‘secret location’, apparently to be revealed not before 21 July – going on sale today. These will cost €10 if purchased in the pre-sale prior to the show; and €12 if you’re inclined to wait and try your luck on the door. Pre-sale tickets can be acquired via Subbacultcha!’s facebook page.

No Age – whose sound has been variously described as ambient punk and noise punk – emerged from Los Angeles in late 2005. Releasing their debut album, Weirdo Rippers – a collection of early singles – in 2007 on Fat Cat, the band signed to Sub Pop and released Nouns in 2008 and Everything in Between in 2010, all to wide acclaim among the mainstream and independent music press. Their fourth full-length is to be entitled An Object, and will appear on 19 August in Europe, and 20 August in North America.

Here’s the lead single for the upcoming album:

Museum Willet-Holthuysen in Eleven Pictures

Desdemona: Music Theatre by Toni Morrison, Peter Sellars, and Rokia Traoré

Desdemona, a music theatre production based on Shakespeare’s Othello, will open tonight in Amsterdam at the Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ.

Premiering in Vienna in May 2011, before touring London, New York, and Berkeley, Desdemona is borne of a collaboration between the novelist Toni Morrison and the director Peter Sellars, noted for his boldly contemporary stagings of operas and plays. After Sellars produced a four-hour-long, futuristic version of Othello in 2009, to mixed reviews, he and Morrison began discussing a response to Shakespeare’s tragedy. Morrison – whose first novel, The Bluest Eye, appeared in 1970; and who has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize, in 1988 for Beloved, and the Nobel Prize in Literature for 1993 – wrote a text which gives the perspective of Desdemona, Othello’s wife, from beyond the grave, after she has been suffocated by her husband.

Desdemona appears in intimate dialogue with Barbary – an extension of the character of Barbara in Shakespeare’s play, who is mentioned briefly in Act 4 Scene 3 as Desdemona’s nursemaid. The role of Barbary is performed by the Malian singer-songwriter Rokia Traoré, who has won significant acclaim for her stage presence and vocal range.

Desdemona will show at the Muziekgebouw from 8.30 pm over the next three evenings, as part of the Holland Festival. More information and tickets are here: http://www.hollandfestival.nl/en/program/2013/desdemona/

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Red Bull Framed Reactions: BMX Park at the Westergasfabriek

Sixteen of the world’s best BMX freestylers will compete this evening in a BMX Park competition, at the Cultuurpark Westergasfabriek. Sponsored by Red Bull, the event entitled Red Bull Framed Reactions, the unique park for the competition has been set up by X-Games ramp builder Nate Wessel, and will include moving elements – a first for a BMX contest.

The sixteen competing freestylers are Pat Casey, Drew Bezanson, Gary Young, Daniel Sandoval, Rob Darden, Harry Main, Daniel Dhers, Ryan Taylor, Bas Keep, Ben Hennon, Daniel Wedemeijer, Alessandro Barbero, AJ Anaya, Logan Martin, Ben Wallace, and Morgan Wade.

All the riders will complete two ninety-second runs; before the sixteen are whittled down to eight, who will then compete for the podium positions. The event begins at 9 pm; it is free for those who want to go and watch; and it will also be streamed live via http://www.redbull.com/en/bike/events/1331590861015/red-bull-framed-reactions

Here’s a teaser showing Daniel Wedemeijer backflipping over an Amsterdam canal: