Sven Arne Tepl Reflects on the 2023/2024 Season
From miniatures to masterpieces and from Bach to Wantenaar, the Residentie Orkest offers a variety of musicians and repertoires from different cultures and backgrounds.
Sven Arne Tepl, General and Artistic Director of the Residentie Orkest, takes his audience on a musical exploration of different cultures. Diversity and versatility are, therefore, at the center of the programming. ‘We want to surprise and inspire our audiences time and time again, both with a large and innovative repertoire, and with guest soloists and conductors from completely different backgrounds. We are going on a world tour in our own concert hall Amare.’
Our own world tour also includes our audience that comes from almost every country in the world if we consider our vast clientele among the diplomats living in The Hague. From beginner music enthusiasts to experts, former musicians to new explorers, diplomats are always part of the audience, and we love it. Our 10-year-old partnership with Diplomat Magazine has been proverbial in developing this solid exchange with embassies.
Top Pianists Series
New to the lineup of regular series like Symphonic Friday and the Sunday matinee is the Top Pianists series. ‘The piano repertoire is vast and comprehensive; there is a lot to choose from. We are home to some great soloists, including Denis Kozhukhin playing Rachmaninov. And former artist in residence Yeol Eum Son returns to The Hague.’ New repertoire has also been considered: Ralph van Raat performs the piano concerto ‘Prophecies of Stone’ by John Luther Adams.
It was remarkable, the Auerbach Festival that we celebrated with American-Russian Lera Auerbach on her birthday party. To mark the 50th birthday of this pianist, composer, and artist, the Residentie Orkest, the Royal Conservatoire The Hague, the Netherlands Chamber Choir, and a number of other ensembles from The Hague organized a weekend festival around this artistic jack-of-all-trades. ‘Lera is a woman of boundless energy and countless ideas. She writes provocative books, makes intriguing bronze sculptures, goes skydiving, but with us, she played Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 and conducted the Dutch premiere of her Fifth Symphony.’
‘Contemporary composers use the same 12 notes that are prevalent throughout musical history, but you hear the sound of today. The echo of what is going on in today’s society.’
Since opening, we have done some tweaking to the acoustics of the concert hall. ‘The orchestral sound was just a little too bare, especially in the high registers like the first violins. We did something about that, and successfully, it has become one of the best halls in the country! Because the sound mixes so beautifully now, the sound image comes very close, as if you were looking directly into the score.’ Artist in residence Czech violinist and former concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra Josef Špaček brings the violin concertos by Dvořák, Beethoven, and Berg. ‘Josef is our artist in residence this season. An exceptional musician who has a very diverse repertoire.’
Into the Neighborhood
‘With projects like Portiekmuziek, where the orchestra goes into the neighborhood, we want to connect with all residents of the city. We receive help from housing associations, healthcare institutions, and other partners. They identify what people want, and we respond to that.’ A great example is the series of concerts at the Juliana church in the Transvaal neighborhood. The meeting between the musicians and local residents afterward is sometimes more important here than the concert itself.’
Sounds of Today
The program also includes a number of world premieres. These include a concerto for accordion and orchestra by Dutch composer Mathilde Wagenaar and the Triple Concerto written by Finnish composer Sebastian Fagerlund for the Storioni Trio. ‘Contemporary composers use the same 12 notes that are prevalent throughout musical history, but you hear the sound of today. The echo of what is going on in today’s society.’ Tipped by Sven ‘First of all, if you have not yet been to our fantastic concert hall, please come and visit us!
