The programme was adventurous in the sense that the story behind the liederen that sounded that afternoon was as important as the liederen themselves.
This afternoon revolved around Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish captain in the French army, who was wrongly accused of high treason in 1894. The affair had a major impact, not only on French society, but also on musical life, Ellen and Maurice discovered. They delved into (music) history and, in the process, stumbled across wonderful, sometimes rarely performed liedrepertoire. Based on the story of Dreyfus, they took us in The Hague past these musical gems by Gabriel Fauré, Charles Bordes, Alfred Bruneau, Jules Massenet and others. They also chose a lied by Grieg, who at the time made a statement in protest against the unfair treatment of Dreyfus by cancelling a tour of France.
The music was sung and played really fantastically beautifully ... What expression, what musical conviction, what passion for this special project! The many listeners - in the spacious living room of host Cees de Rooij even chairs had to be added - listened enthralled to the music and the storytelling, and the prolonged standing ovation for both musicians afterwards was more than deserved.
Liesbeth Reijerkerk
contact person The Hague region
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