​​20 March 2022 – ​​ NPO Radio 4 broadcast two concerts from our festival Around Messiaen on its Avondconcert programme. In the Paleiskerk, the microphones were set up for Alfonso Gómez. The Spanish pianist came from Freiburg to play Messiaen’s Vingt regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus. His lucid vision of this monumental cycle and his colourful, deeply focused playing made a big impression: it took several minutes for the applause to break out after the final notes. You can hear it in the live recording. The Fazioli piano, which we rent for our concerts, shines in this recording.

​The final concert from our festival was also broadasted. Bert den Hertog performed Messiaen’s two-hour cycle Livre du Saint-Sacrement on the organ of the Elandstraat Kerk. The organ, a perfect instrument for Messiaen’s music, was heard for the first time on Radio 4. In his impressive recital, Bert den Hertog confirmed that he has become one of the best Messiaen interpreters in the Netherlands.