Baroque Abroad: The Netherlands
Written by Sarah Papadopoulos, HIP Company co-director and violinist.
8th March, 2023.
In June 2020 I was lucky enough to be offered a place as a Samama fellow with Holland Baroque. That’s right, 2020. The year no one could travel. So as you can imagine, I am thrilled to report I was finally able to journey over to the Netherlands in November 2022 and February 2023, to take part in various projects with the ensemble.
As I write this, I am sitting at my kitchen table in Amsterdam, reflecting on what a beautiful experience it has been. My time with Holland Baroque began in November last year at De Hallen Studios to perform a few short pieces for the TV program, Podium Klassiek. This TV program is like nothing I have ever experienced before. It is completely dedicated to showcasing various musical groups from a range of different genres, interviews with musicians and interactions with a live studio audience… Incredible! Holland Baroque were featuring in an episode to promote and discuss an upcoming performance at the TivoliVredenburg Concert Hall as a part of the Utrecht 900 festival. The concert was a huge collaboration involving Holland Baroque, the Netherlands Bach Society, the Dutch Chamber Choir, Utrecht Cathedral Choir School, and the Suriname Cathedral Choir School (who flew over from Suriname for the event!) to perform songs of Sint Maarten (the patron saint of Utrecht since the 7th century), and Handel’s Utrecht Te Deum and Utrecht Te Jubilate, to celebrate 900 years of city rights for Utrecht. The concert was conducted by Philipp Ahmann and the arrangements of the Sint Maarten songs by Erik van der Horst, Tinneke Steenbrink and Judith Steenbrink. Being a part of something that large and meaningful in such a culturally rich city was an unbelievable experience for me, especially having not being allowed to travel for such a long time. I felt so privileged to share the stage with such incredible musicians, and even better knowing that I would be back at the end of January to continue the experience in another form.
Den Haag, November 2022
Fast forward two and half months, and I was flying out of a scorching 39° in Perth and touching down somewhere around the 0° mark at Schiphol Airport. A shock to the system to say the least, and I thank my lucky stars everyday that Uniqlo thermals exist. From there I hit the ground running (or should I say cycling?), starting rehearsals they the next day in Utrecht for two programs with Holland Baroque that were to run concurrently: ‘Bach and Eisler’, and ‘Bach’s Königin’.
The ‘Bach and Eisler’ program included songs from Hanns Eisler (setting Bertolt Brecht’s words to music) that displayed his search for the meaning(lessness) of existence, and some well known J.S. Bach works such as Iche habe genung (a cantata HIP Company performed in our 2021 ‘Bach Together Again’ concert), which also explores themes of meaning and being content with life - here sung by the incredible Thomas Oliemans. ‘Bach’s Königin’ showcased some of J.S. Bach’s incredible organ works arranged for string orchestra by Holland Baroque’s brilliant artistic team, Judith and Tinneke Steenbrink. It was so interesting to be immersed in the middle of the ensemble for this program and hear the various lines emerge from each section, allowing for a new perspective on this beautiful music.
Photos by Jan Photograaf for Holland Baroque: ‘Bach and Eisler’ in Concert
Concerts were held all over the Netherlands; Leeuwarden, Utrecht, Zwolle, Enschede, Arnhem, Heerlen, Amsterdam, Den Haag, and Haarlem. I felt that this was such an incredible way for me to experience the entire country, seeing snapshots into each of the cities and towns, the countryside during the train journeys, and the remarkable churches and concert halls I was lucky enough to perform in. The tour went by far too quickly and I before I knew it I was saying goodbye to friends I had made in the orchestra who were returning to their homes in other parts of Europe, and feeling incredibly lucky to have met them all.
From here onwards my trip is filled with some travel, performances of J.S. Bach’s St Matthew Passion, Mozart’s Requiem and Haydn’s Missa Celensis with the Northern Consort, and lots of playing for various Early Music icons I have only ever dreamt of meeting.
I’ll be back in Perth in April to perform with HIP Company in our first concert of the year - stay tuned for an announcement very soon!
Honestly, not a bad start to 2023!
Amsterdam, February 2023