H.E. Mrs. Brândușa Predescu, Ambassador of Romania and Wesley Troeger, composer One Minute Symphony dedicated to Romania. May 17, 2019.
With a full theatre, and the audience giving multiple stand up ovations, last Friday’s Romanian One Minute Symphony night at the Zuiderstrandtheater was a great success.
This extraordinary concert was presented to the Dutch public under the auspices of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU, the Ambassador of Romania to the Netherlands, H.E. Mrs. Brândușa Predescu, and the CEO & Artistic Director of Residentie Orkest The Hague, Mr. Sven Arne Tepl. A special part of the concert was a One Minute Symphony composed by Wesley Troeger, which was inspired by a conversation with the Ambassador of Romania.
During the reception that took place prior to the concert, Ambassador Predescu explained how she met with the young composer at her embassy and how after talking about art, jazz and Romanian sport, Troeger decided to write the One Minute Symphony dedicated to Romania.
“ A Romanian inspired concert with a European content, represents a bit of my country inside Europe, and listening to the experienced classical musicians interpreting a young composer inspired by Romania; this concert was a great experience. I really appreciate that the Dutch audience came in such big numbers. Former Dutch ministers, my dear colleagues ambassadors, and the heads of international courts sitting in The Hague were among many other friends that came.”
Not a seat was left unattended for this Romanian Friday night at the Zuiderstrandtheater. This truly European night concert brought to the audience Brahms concerto for piano No. 1, which was written by the great composer and inspired by Beethoven when he had just 25 years old. It was magistrally interpreted by pianist Hannes Minnaar who received several ovations from the public reclaiming him for an encore. His Chopin’s encore came out as a masterpiece again interpreted to perfection for more ovations received from an already captivated public.
After that, it was the time for Beethoven Symphony No. 7, perfectly interpreted by the Residentie Orkest, under the magistral and energized direction of Jan Willem de Vriend. What a fantastic evening, Beethoven never sounded so lively, and this thought was undoubtedly shared as well by the public which adored maestro de Vriend’s direction.
A sweeping night out, thanks Romania-EU!
