Robbert Muuse and pianist Micha van Weers have been a versatile duo, both professionally and privately, since 1994. Together, they have given recitals at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Salzburg and Paris, among others, and many Dutch concert series. They received awards including the 2004 MeesPierson Award in the Concertgebouw's Young Dutchmen series, and prizes at the Seghizzi Song Competition in Italy.
With their CD Alle Lust will Ewigkeit (Challenge Records, 2016), dedicated to songs by Julius Röntgen, they released largely premiere recordings that were met with rave reviews. Earlier, they released Songs of Quest and Inspiration out, featuring songs by Cyril Scott and Ralph Vaughan Williams. The premiere recording of Scott's songs, a unique discovery, was praised internationally in magazines such as Gramophone, Listen and Fonoforum.
Robbert and Micha combine the well-known song repertoire with a passion for rediscovering unknown or forgotten compositions. Their mission is to breathe new life into this music, both on stage and in recordings. A key project is the recovery of lost works by persecuted Jewish composers, some of which have only recently been rediscovered.
Robbert Muuse is a much sought-after concert and oratorio soloist, with a repertoire ranging from the Renaissance to contemporary music. He has performed dozens of opera roles, worked with renowned conductors and orchestras, and sang as an ensemble singer in several top ensembles, such as the Nederlands Kamerkoor, Ensemble Pierre Robert and the Zürcher Singakademie.
He graduated Cum Laude with Mya Besselink at the Maastricht Academy of Music and continued his studies abroad with Donald Litaker at the Hochschule für Musik in Karlsruhe. As a Lieder duo, he studied with Micha van Weers in the renowned Lieder classes of Konrad Richter (Stuttgart) and Hartmut Höll (Mozarteum Salzburg). He further developed in Britain with singing teacher Gary Coward and song pianist Julius Drake.
Besides his performing career, Robbert, together with Micha, gives annual master classes to amateur singers, duos and young professionals.
Robbert Muuse, baritone
Micha van Weers, piano
The colourful programme Verschwiegene Lieder includes songs from the first half of the 20th century. Lyrics about beauty, tragedy, hope, longing and humour, take on special connotations in it. Prominent composers - such as Hans Gál, Hans Krása, Pavel Haas, Viktor Ullmann and James Simon - were persecuted because of their Jewish origins or because of strong opposition to the German occupiers, as was the case with Jan van Gilse. Their work was therefore banned.
Robbert Muuse, baritone
Micha van Weers, piano
A bold and intriguing dialogue of two musical works that are interwoven and form each other's parallel. Schumann's well-known song cycle (sung) of the Kerner Lieder opus 35 is overwhelmed by Janáček's poetic piano solo work On an overgrown path (Po zarostlém chodníčku, No. 1-10), played by Micha van Weers.
Robbert Muuse, baritone
Micha van Weers, piano
The story of Winterreise seems very simple. A young man is rejected and then sets off on a journey, in which the poems describe his journey. In the last poem, the young man meets Der Leierman, the playing man with the lyre, which is a personification of death. But there is a hidden message in the poet's lyrics: Wilhelm Müller was known for his socially critical poetry and a master of indirect criticism.
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