Chief-conductor
Simon Murphy (Sydney, 1973) has successfully opened the 10 year
jubilee season of The Hague's Baroque Orchestra, The New Dutch
Academy (NDA), with the symphonic programme Black Magic on
18 October in The Hague's Philipszaal. Soloists included
Chinese-American fortepianist Shuann Chai in Mendelssohn's powerful d
minor piano concerto and German soprano Gudrun Sidonie Otto
performing music from Reichardt's setting of Macbeth and Rust's Colma's Klage together with arias from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte
and von Weber's Der Freischütz.
The
near to sold out performance was hosted by The Hague's vice mayor
Henk Kool and the Australian Ambassador to the Netherlands H.E. Neil
Mules, with special guests including leading members of The Hague's
diplomatic corps, the vice president of the Netherlands, Mr.
Piet Hein Donner and the mayor of Wassenaar and former cultural
ambassador of the Netherlands, Mr. Jan Hoekema.
Conductor
Murphy described the performance event as “a wonderful and very
emotional experience” and “an extremely important milestone for
the orchestra, especially in these highly challenging times for the arts in the Netherlands”.
 |
Soprano Gudrun Sidonie Otto
with conductor Simon Murphy and the NDA Orchestra
(Photo Fernando van Teijlingen) |
Innovative,
Distinctive and Dynamic
Since the orchestra's establishment in 2002, Murphy and the NDA have won major industry awards and attracted international media
praise, developing a strong international reputation for their
dynamic, engaging and cutting-edge performances, delivering fresh
perspectives on 18th century music with new soundscapes
and new repertoire. “A revelation!”, “breathtaking, compelling,
technically brilliant and unusually effervescent!”, “sumptuous,
vibrant and energetic”, “liveliness and groove, great
dynamic profile and a beautiful use of timbre”, “daring
and full of character” are but a few of the international
press' enthusiastic reactions.*
Programming,
Performance and Presentation
To
date, Murphy and the NDA have performed more than 50 unique,
hand-crafted concert programmes together in more than 250 concerts
throughout the world. Tours have taken the orchestra through Belgium,
Germany, Sweden, Norway, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Poland,
Australia, Indonesia, the United States, Canada and Russia.
Highlights have included productions for the Bachfest Leipzig,
Händelfestspiele Halle and the UNESCO world heritage site Schloss
Brühl.
At
home in the Netherlands, Murphy and the orchestra have been regular
guests at the country's most prestigious series, halls and festivals,
including the ZaterdagMatinee at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the
Holland Festival of Early Music Utrecht. In its home town of The
Hague, the NDA has established new symphonic, Baroque and chamber
concert series for the city, as well founding successful education,
community art and outreach programmes.
New
Perspectives
During
the past 10 years, Murphy and the orchestra have shed new light
on 18th century music and culture through their projects
together, introducing exciting new repertoire and delivering new
perspectives on classic repertoire. Murphy and the orchestra have
successfully rediscovered and reintroduced the Netherlands' own
symphonic heritage, making several first recordings of symphonies by
Schmitt “The Dutch Haydn”, Graaf, Stamitz, Schwindl and Zappa on
the Dutch label PentaTone Classics. The group's pioneering CD series
of early Mannheimer Schule symphonies has received major
industry awards including an Edison, and the orchestra's
ground-breaking recording of Corelli's Concerti Grossi made at
the Holland Festival of Early Music Utrecht was recently voted in the
top 5 highlights of the 30 year history of the festival.
The
NDA's performances of classic symphonic repertoire, including
symphonies of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and Mendelssohn, have been
documented on a series of live CD recordings for Dutch radio. Murphy
and the NDA's multidisciplinary productions such as the Fêtes
Galantes project and the recent Empress of Pleasure show together
with Baroque dancer and choreographer Caroline Copeland have also
gained much interest.
New
Generation Specialists
With
its own distinctive blend of integrity and vibrancy, the NDA represents the new generation of the innovative, Dutch (based) early music tradition made renowned in the 20th century by pioneering figures such as Gustav Leonhardt.
Comprised of 40 hand-selected, top international specialist
early music performers, the NDA orchestra is an exceptionally
international outfit with more than 20 nationalities represented
amongst its member musicians who range in age between 25 and 40.
 |
Shuann Chai performing Mendelssohn's d minor Piano Concerto
(Photo Fernando van Teijlingen) |
International
Cultural Ambassador
In
the past 10 years, the NDA has made substantial contributions to the
Netherlands' international cultural diplomacy programmes. At the
invitation of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the city of
The Hague, the orchestra has regularly represented the Netherlands at
major bilateral occasions, performing hand-crafted programmes
profiling Dutch cultural heritage and celebrating international
cultural relations. Highlights include performances in Rome (Visit of
HM Queen Beatrix to Italy and Dutch EU Presidency), New York (Hudson
400), Vancouver (Cultural Olympiad), Los Angeles (Getty Center) and
Sydney (Netherlands Australia 400). Later this year the NDA will
visit China for the first time, at the invitation of the Dutch and
Chinese governments.
 |
Soprano Gudrun Sidonie Otto
(Photos Fernando van Teijlingen) |
Jubilee
Season Programme
Following
the orchestra's season's opening programme Black Magic exploring the late 18th/early 19th century's obsession with the supernatural with music from Mozart's
Die Zauberflöte, Reichardt's Macbeth, Rust's Colma's
Klage, Weber's Der Freischütz and
Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream, other highlights of the
NDA's jubilee season include guest appearances by the winner of the
2011 London Handel Singing Competition Canadian soprano Stefanie True
in Mozart Concert Arias and the winner of the 2010 Brugge Competition
Hungarian fortepianist Petra Somlai in Mozart's Concerto in C (KV
467) Elvira Madigan. Closing the season is the monumental
symphonic programme Ein Heldenleben with music from Romberg's
Ulysses, Mozart's Don Giovanni and Rossini's La
Cenerentola (Cinderella) together with Beethoven's Symphony no.
3, Eroica.
Next
Ten Years
What
would conductor Murphy personally like to say, looking back on the
challenges and achievements of the past decade and thinking about
plans for the next ten years? “I am very proud of the many ground-breaking things we have achieved as
an organisation and as an orchestra during the past 10 years, from
the research to recordings to performances to productions, especially
given the massive financial and political difficulties which the arts
continue to face in this country. However, the strain placed on our
very compact organisation due to our ongoing commitment to delivering
quality under these challenging circumstances has been enormous. And
hence the theme of this jubilee programme, Black Magic.
I don't quite know how we've managed to do it, but I would like to
thank all of those who have made the orchestra's achievements
possible during these first 10 years. Their efforts have been truly
magical.”
The
conductor continued, “on a personal level and as a foreigner in
this country, it also meant so much to me to have the support and
presence of both the
Australian Embassy and the city council of my adopted home city of
The Hague at the opening of this jubilee season. I would also like to
particularly thank the NDA musicians and the current board members,
staff and volunteers of the NDA for their commitment and hard work
over the last year and a half which has made this jubilee season
possible.” And the future? “First a little break and then on with
this very special season.”
*
Quotes respectively from Codaex, Concerto, Gramophone,
Toccata – Alte Musik Aktuell, Frankfurter Neue Presse and
Haagsche Courant.
