Concertgebouw orchestra goes Blur
NewsThe orchestra, lacking a music director, has announced a Pierre Audi-directed weekend in February with the former Blur frontman Damon Albarn.
Cool idea, but with an orchestra of this calibre?
On Friday 11 and Saturday 12 February 2022, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra will embark on a new path with the exceptionally versatile singer-songwriter and all-round musician Damon Albarn. In close collaboration with Pierre Audi, creative partner of the orchestra, and conductor André de Ridder, the Concertgebouw Orchestra presents a program in which various aspects of Albarn’s eclectic musical universe are discussed. Damon Albarn: Symphonic Loops is an exciting boundless musical adventure in the theatrical space of the Gashouder. The concert starts at 8.30 pm and lasts approximately one and a half hours (without intermission).
Damon Albarn rose to fame as the frontman of the idiosyncratic British band Blur, after which he established himself with the virtual band Gorillaz and in various music and theater projects as an innovator with a wide field of view, working with musicians from many different disciplines from all over the world. .
Damon Albarn: Symphonic Loops promises to be an exceptional evening, with guest musicians such as singer/guitarist Afel Bocoum and kora player Mamadou Diabaté from Mali and Mélissa and Ophélia Hié from Burkina Faso, who will play with Damon Albarn in enchanting pieces from his repertoire. In the imposing Gashouder, Albarn’s creativity will also be confronted for the first time with a large symphony orchestra in a multicolored concert in which, among other things, great orchestral music by the inspiring French composer Olivier Messiaen will be played.
The orchestra probably will have more to do than in most concerto accompaniments, so why not?
Agree — they’re in good hands with Damon.
Well he knows two notes for sure.
what surprises me is not the programming, but that the Dutch audience likes this stuff enough that they sell enough tickets
Whats the problem here? The RCO has a history of these kinds of collaborations, having performed special evenings with the British band Fink and the American/Canadian artist Patrick Watson, and these were during the Chailly/Jansons tenures. As an orchestral musician, I think there is nothing wrong with these kinds of performances, and I’m sure it will pay a few bills along the way. It also exposes an audience to a symphony orchestra that may never have gone otherwise. Nothing to see here. Move along.
You’re right. What the hell is André de Ridder doing at the Concertgebouw?!
André is a very capable conductor and the ideal person for this kind of project.
So adventurous new projects should only be done by bad orchestras? Get your head out your arse
Excellent programming. If orchestras do not entice a younger audience there will be no orchestras. They can mix the new with the old and young people will begin to appreciate the roots of classical music. If the entire program consists of pre 20C. music. The orchestras will die from a lack of new listeners.
Well, they go pop for a change, since they think this will attract younger audiences, and probably they sense that ‘symphony orchestras are outdated and merely a hobby of old fogeys’. Maybe they want to ‘go with the times’ instead of being ‘an island of the past’.
It is always easier to simply surrender to any pressure than to stand for something you believe in.
The past, so often seen by the ignorati as ‘outdated’, has created everything cultural that defines the West, in universal terms, and in timeless terms so that it will never age. But for the ignorati, who don’t perceive anything whatsoever, that is non-existent.
I think I understand where you are coming from, as I also see ignorance of anything past in today’s writers. But there is a real danger that people devoted to the purity of the classical canons are equally resistant to anything new. Perhaps events like this can open the ears of those on both sides of what need not be a divide.
Haitink is spinning in his grave.
Sorrry.
Cross over projects simply create demand for more crossover projects. I speak from experience – lots of it. If you need them to pay the bills, that’s another matter. But don’t expect crossover audiences to begin buying season tickets to more ‘traditional’ fare. That won’t happen, except for a very small percentage.
I don’t see it as a money grab nor as a desperate gambit to sell tix. In this case, I’m willing to believe they are taking it on faith that it will be a worthwhile undertaking on artistic merits alone.
It certainly was 🙂
I despair sometimes! So much griping from people for no reason, in truth.
1) This was no “crossover” concert by any means. It was a performance of music by Damon Albarn, with some very exciting Messaien thrown in as well, and it was a nice balance between not so old, not so new, and new. It showed that music certainly isn’t something that always needs to dwell in the past or with the “great masters” (old and modern) when it comes to using an orchestra of this calibre. The worth of this collaboration was borne out by the attendance of an audience that consisted of all ages.
2) The music of Damon Albarn may not be to everyone’s taste, but it is music nevertheless, and it is music (and lyrics) that comes from the heart and imagination of an extremely versatile and accomplished Artist with honesty and skill.
3) The KCO in no way downgraded itself by collaborating on “Symphonic Loops”. They played both Messiaen and Albarn with equal skill and enthusiasm, and the rich orchestrations (by Andre de Ridder, Josephine Stephenson and others) of Albarn’s songs and music both brought out the richness of the music and showed the skill of the orchestra at its best.
3) Andre de Ridder was the ideal person to stand on the conductor’s podium. He is extremely clear, knows his scores backwards, and at the same time a musicians musician. He displayed his consummate skills both musically and personally. He is extremely well liked by the orchestra, and they showed him great respect and appreciation of those skills. At the same time they followed his lead and threw themselves into the eclectic styles and richness of Damon Albarn’s music, especially in the numbers with the guest musicians from various African countries.
4) Collaborations like this are exciting, interesting, and, yes, extending the possibilities of reaching new audiences (not just young audiences). In today’s modern musical world, many of the musicians of the KCO (and indeed other “great” orchestras) are not fettered by their role as “classical” musicians, and are excited to extend their activities and enjoy the musical rewards of playing pop and jazz as well as Beethoven and Mahler. This was evident in their response to Damon Albarn, for whom they showed immense enthusiasm and respect. Equally, Damon publicly voiced his enormous appreciation at hearing the KCO bring to life, in such an accomplished and enthusiastic way, music that came from his heart.