September 2006

Bram Heemskerk is from Waddinxveen, Netherlands.

Mozartkugeln, 1 Mozarteuro, music-packing-paper

Published: Sep. 5, 2006 at 11:08 AM
Here a bowl in which I bought some Mozartkugeln. I Holland I got an euro from Austria with Mozart on it and I saw in Holland a music-packing-paper around a present.

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CARLA LEURS + MAARTEN VAN VEEN in the Concertgebouw

Published: Sep. 7, 2006 at 11:28 AM
Last modified: Sep. 8, 2006 at 2:33 PM

After 2 1/2 hours of work I went to the Concertgebouw for a free entrance lunchconcert of 1/2 hour of 2 Violinist.com bloggers Carla Leurs and Maarten van Veen. The foto's short after the concert failed an were too dark. I asked someone after the concert to make a foto of Carla and me. I forget to laugh and I bent my knees and she stood on her toes. It was a very original programm and well played. Carla plays something virtuoso and a baby began to cry, so father and child leave the full concerthall. Maarten van Veen drummed with his hands on the piano during a virtuoso piece of Piazzolla, as encore, and his sheet music fell down backwards in the piano. So the girl who turned the pages stood up and put his desk upricht on the piano. Carla had found this rare music searching in a sheetpapershop Broekmans and van Poppel, for example an early piece of Bartok he wrote when he was in love. I forget to make a foto of the pianist. After the concert I made in The Hague some copies of pieces of Vieuxtemps and the violinconcerto of Mjaiskovsky. In the evening I played with an amateurorchestra 5th Tjsaikovsky. Busy day.

I was bad clothed with that T-shirt. A blouse with short sleeves or a poloshirt would be better.

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Nikolaj Znaider played Korngold

Published: Sep. 13, 2006 at 11:12 AM
Ok, it is a sad story. I could hold it private or I can write about it in my blog. I choose for the latter, because the link with the violin is too strong.
During one of my violinlessons I talked about Nikolaj Znaider, Elisabeth competition winner, who would play for the Valery Gergiev-festival in Rotterdam with the professional Rotterdam Philharmonic the violinconcerto of Korngold. I asked my 34-year old teacher if we could go to that concert and whether she had no other appointments and she said: “Yes lets go, I don’t have other appointments”.
(perhaps she would hear this Kornconcerto, but not with me, because I am too ugly for her or other reasons. So I gave her a opportunity to say: “Oh, I forget my agenda” or “no Friday is my callenaticsevening, so I can’t go to the concert”, so I subtle understand that I was only a pupil of her and she did not want to go out with me)
So that evening I ordered with internet 2 cards for the concert, which arrive for the next violinlesson. I thought: Ok I will pay. I showed her the 2 cards during the next lesson and she immediately took her purse and paid her card, which I gave to her.
….The next day I got an email from her: Bram, I have decided not to go to the concert, because I want to separate work with private, so I will bring back the card for the concert for your next violinlesson…
I was not happy. But because I had an new orchestra on the day of my violinlessons. I have not seen her since, but I wrote a mail about that and asked her to sent to card to my postaddress, because of that orchestra I told her about before.
The next day I got the concertcard and she asked me to pay the money of the card back, although I still have 2 lessons payed in front for after that orchestra.
What do you think?: Is it time to look for another teacher after that orchestra?
A colleague said as a joke: You had to say to her: Let’s go to the concert and than I stop my violinlessons with you, so work and private is separated.

Oke I went to the concert with a friend and gave Nikolaj Znaider the 11 rare violinconcerto-cd (will he ever listen to this obscurities?) and the Janacekbeer, VieuxTemspbeer,Bachwine, Saint-Sanes as usual and he had played the Korngold very well. ANd I got his autograph.

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André Rieu on Oprah

Published: Sep. 14, 2006 at 11:17 AM
Last modified: Sep. 14, 2006 at 11:20 AM

I got a letter from Sonja Harper. A Dutch woman and big André Rieu fan, who lives in Cincenatti. She had made alot of transcriptions of interviews of André Rieu in English. Here is her website : www.andrerieutranslations.com
Although a lot of readers dislike Rieu [in Holland some people call him André Riool (sewer in English) or André Reu (male dog)], because is only plays light classical Strauss stuff and is very commercial, I am also a big fan because he introduce the violin for a much broader public than the high educated serious heavy classical people. I have been 3 times to his shows (show, not performance). Sometimes they talk about "world famous violinists" like Oistrach, Bell, Mutter, etc, but Rieu is really a "world famous violinist" , because a friend of mine found a Rieu-cd in a market in a a village in Ecuador. Nobody there had heard of Oistrach, although Oistrach is a much better violinist. Rieu addmitted in a Playboyinterview, as you can read on www.andrerieutranslations.com of Sonja Harper that there are much better violinists than he.
Sonja Harper also had tried to get Rieu in Oprah, as you can read here: http://www.andrerieutranslations.com/Sonjas-page/Oprahbox.html . But she even did nor reach the Oprah Magazine.

This Oprahbox she sent to her programm, but never received an answer

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Music centre at the IJ (lake near Amsterdam) +violincard22

Published: Sep. 20, 2006 at 11:12 AM
Apart from the Concertgebouw Amsterdam has a concerthall with 750 seats for 21 th century music, called Music centre at the IJ (a lake against Amsterdam)
http://www.muziekgebouw.nl/gebouw_detail.asp?id=3
I have played there the violinconcerto of Philipp Glass (1987), minimalistic music, with an amateurorchestra. A friend found some watery cards, because the concerthall is build in the water, the IJ (lake)

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Mozart T-shirt + pencil from Wien

Published: Sep. 26, 2006 at 10:53 AM
Last modified: Sep. 26, 2006 at 10:59 AM

During my summer holiday in Wien I bought a 100% cotton Mozart T-shirt with "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" ("1 small nightmusic")[ I still have not had it around my shoulders, but I hope this will be the same size as the XL violinist.com T-shirt soon] and a pencil with a violin on it.
In Praha I bought before a iron pencilsharpener with a iron violin on it, so now I have a sharpener and pencil with violin.

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik Mozart T-shirt

violinpencil

pencilsharpener from under

pencilsharpener from the front

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Mozart and also Strauss are popular in Wien

Published: Sep. 27, 2006 at 11:11 AM
Last modified: Sep. 27, 2006 at 11:12 AM

Mozart and also Strauss are popular in Wien.
Most readers consider Strauss as a second rank composer, mostly played by Andr♪é Rieu, who also played at that time in Wien. Mozart is now considered as a first rank composer, he is even on the 1 eurocoin in Austria, but he is now controversial because in Berlin they cancelled his opera Idomenea, because it could be insulting for muslims and could be insulting for cristians as well.
Here some concerts of both composers I found in ahotel in Wien and some Mozartgadgetslinks I got from Pauline Lerner.