​​Sunday 23 maart 2025, 19:30
The Hague: Paleiskerk

The world of klaas de vries (with festival dag in de branding)

Klaas de Vries and György Kurtág, two soulmates

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Tickets:  € 27,50

Musicians

Gerrie de Vries mezzo-soprano 
Ellen Corver
 piano 
Slava Poprugin piano 
Felicia van den End flute 
Jelmer de Moed clarinet 
Ernestine Stoop harp 
Niels Meliefste percussion 
Jellantsje de Vries violin 
René van Munster cello 
Arie van Beek conductor

Programme 
György Kurtág 1926 
Kroó György in memoriam for cello solo (1998)
Szókratész búcsúja (Abschied des Sokrates), Hommage à Job van Eck ​for cello solo (1999–2000)

Selection from ‘Játékok’ for piano solo 
Hymenaeus 
Hommage à Berényi Ferenc 70 
All’ongherese 
Kósza gondolatok az Alberti-basszusról 
aus tiefer Not... 
Eine Blume für Márta 
in memoriam Edison Denisov 
Merran’s Dream 
Consolation Sereine – für Renee und die ganze Familie Jonker

Klaas de Vries 
Hölderlin-Songs  

György Kurtág 
Suite for piano (1943)

Klaas de Vries 
Sonatine for piano (1961) 

Solo for alto clarinet from A King, Riding (1993-1995)

György Kurtág 
What is the word, opus 30B for voice and piano (Samuel Beckett, 1991) 

Klaas de Vries 
Piano concerto (version for piano, flute, clarinet, harp, percussion, violin and cello, 1998/2003) 

This concert is a co-production with société Gavigniès, which made the realization of this concert possible, and takes place during Festival Dag in de Branding, which celebrates Klaas de Vries from March 21 to 23.

discover the programme of dag in de branding​
​Two Lifetimes of Music

Klaas de Vries (80) and György Kurtág (99) share a combined creative life spanning roughly 140 years. The body of work they have composed over these decades is awe-inspiring: diverse, groundbreaking, profound, beautiful, and pioneering. In three parts, ten specialised musicians pays tribute to their work.

Pianist Ellen Corver plays a central role in the program. She has worked closely with luminaries such as Karlheinz Stockhausen and György Ligeti. She has maintained a close relationship with Kurtág for many years. Klaas de Vries wrote his piano concerto for her, which will be performed in this concert in its version with sextet.

The first part is dedicated to Kurtág, focusing on his connection to the Netherlands. From 1997 to 1999, he lived in Amsterdam with his wife Márta, inspiring many musicians through his presence and teachings at conservatories. Ellen Corver will perform a series of short homages that Kurtág dedicated to Dutch individuals who were important to him. The part concludes with Kurtág's Beckett setting What is the Word in the version for voice and piano, performed by Gerrie de Vries, Klaas's wife. To put it mildly, Kurtág is extremely specific and precise about the performance of his music, and for years he considered no singer capable of performing What is the Word. This changed when he heard a cassette recording of Gerrie de Vries. Since then, it has become one of her signature pieces.

The second part combines early works by De Vries and Kurtág (from 1962 and 1943 respectively, written when they were 17 and 16) with the premiere of the completed version of the Hölderlin Songs for voice and piano. The third part features the Piano Concerto that De Vries composed in 1998, in its revised 2003 version. The program also includes a short documentary about Kurtág's stay in the Netherlands, featuring film footage from 1998 and contemporary reflections from Dutch musicians who worked with him.