Today, the Association of Theatre and Concert Hall Directors announced the nominations for the VSCD Classical Music Prize. Nominated for the Ovation 2019 - the most impressive stage performance of the past season - are Amsterdam Sinfonietta with Italian pianist Beatrice Rana, the Nederlands Blazers Ensemble with the programme Bach & Sufi and Ralph van Raat with an Andriessen programme.
The jury on Amsterdam Sinfonietta and pianist Beatrice Rana:
‘In April 2019, Amsterdam Sinfonietta performed eight times with Italian pianist Beatrice Rana. The ingenious, effective programme ranged from music for string orchestra by Mathilde Wantenaar through keyboard concertos by Bach to repertoire for solo piano by Bartók. The interplay between orchestra and soloist was wonderful to witness; a great side effect of long tours (and excellent musicians, of course).
With Bach, this led to an expressive, warm-blooded, solid keyboard concerto that never became old-fashioned romantic, however. Rana's bright playing, with - it doesn't seem possible - pearly-steady legato lines, was brilliant. We hope Amsterdam Sinfonietta and Rana will plan a follow-up project in the near future.’
The jury on the Nederlands Blazers Ensemble with the programme Bach & Sufi:
‘Bach & Sufi is an extraordinary production by the Nederlands Blazers Ensemble, combining Eastern and Western (classical) music. The movements blend effortlessly and melt together without losing their identity, extremely surprising. The strength of the Nederlands Blazers Ensemble is its ability to present a coherent programme with Bach & Sufi, not only musically but also in terms of design and setting. Commissioned by the ensemble, the very talented composer Mathilde Wantenaar provided the arrangements and compositions. As always, music is performed at a high level. Special attention to the two instrumentalists Ali Ghamsari (tar and compositions) and David Mackor (theorbo), and to the singers Elisabeth Hetherington and Haleh Seyfizadeh.’