THE DELFT CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL 2018

For ten days the historic city center of Delft was graced for the 22nd time by the Delft Chamber Music Festival under the artistic direction of violinist Liza Ferschtman. More than twenty concerts took place in and around the center of this beautiful historic city.

We reviewed several events, listed here from first to last – click on picture to read the full review.

 

OPENING CONCERT Impossible Love  26th July

For me, the high-spot of the evening was Alban Berg’s 5 Orchester-Lieder. The twelve piece orchestra, led by Ms Ferschtman, played beautifully with flutist Adam Walker and oboe player Pauline Oostenrijk making significant contributions. The five songs were sung nicely with gusto by soprano Ruth Ziesak.

DILLE & KAMILLE Free Concert in Delft Markt   27th July

It is usually a blue moon that is associated with love and romance but it was the rare phenomenon of a Blood Moon that the audience was hoping to see rise above the spires and gables of the Markt during last night’s Dille & Kamille open air concert in the centre of Delft.

FORBIDDEN FRUIT   28th July

For a festival whose avowed intent is to reveal and demonstrate love in all its forms I suppose it was inevitable that sooner or later we would, as the concert’s title suggests, get down to the nitty-gritty and that sex would finally raise its ugly head.

TELL ME THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVE at Lijm & Cultuur    29th July

Drama is what the concert was all about, or rather dramatic effect. The whole thing was very much orientated towards movement and text, both spoken and sung.

CONCERT AROUND GESUALDO at the Oude Kerk,  1st August

The Gesualdo Six exploited the architecture and the acoustics of the Oude Kerk to the maximum as they moved from one part with the greatest ceiling height to other parts, thus producing a great variety of resonance, allowing the voices to swell into the space.

YOUNG TALENT TRAIL at various locations on 3rd August.

Today’s epic four-hour daytime recital not only featured some excellent young talent but also enabled the perambulatory audience to visit some of Delft’s most beautiful, often hidden sites in which the various segments were performed.

JEALOUSY, THE GREEN MONSTER on 4th August

I was beginning to experience withdrawal symptoms from not having heard Liza Ferschtman play for a nearly a week so I was glad to see her walk on stage after the interval, violin in hand, to take part in the string quintet version of Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata.

REAPPROACHING BACH at The Cigar Factory on 5th August.

It was the enigmatic, ambiguous relationship between the two that was the essence of this performance. Koranyi’s Bach cello pieces were not just an accompaniment, they were integral to the bond between them.

The final concert IN THE STILL OF THE NIGHT on 5th August

Tonight’s music captured these mysteries perfectly –Wagner’s prelude from Tristan and Isolde’s impossible love, Respighi’s tragic love in Il Tramonto, Chausson’s Chanson Perpetuelle, John Cage’s A Perilous Night and finally, Schönberg’s Verklärte Nacht.