Nieuw Vocaal Amsterdam / Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra / Ton Koopman

Kerstspel

Price: € 14.95
Format: CD
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917226720
Catnr: CC 72267
Release date: 24 November 2017
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Label
Challenge Classics
UPC
0608917226720
Catalogue number
CC 72267
Release date
24 November 2017

"This catchy CD should encourage every parish in Flanders to make Christmas time also musically attractive. In the dark days of December, this recording of beautiful traditional Christmas songs in the vernacular is simply a bright spot."

Kerk & Leven, 27-12-2017
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About the album

Nieuw Vocaal Amsterdam is a classical voice training programme specialising in opera, accessible to all children and young people from 4 years old who enjoy singing. Its was founded in 2005, roughly ten years ago, and immediately after the idea to perform a Nativity play on a yearly basis arose. In these performances, all students would be performing simultaneously. Ton Koopman's arrangement of Christmas songs for the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra from a few years before were the starting point, musically. The first performance of the play was accompanied by only a piano, with angels, sheep and shepherds performing and singing alongside Mary and Joseph. It proved to be an immediate success, and thus it evolved into a full evening's entertainment.

This year's performance consists of Old Dutch and Western European Christmas music, arranged and directed by Ton Koopman, especially for the Nieuw Vocaal Amsterdam and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra. Around 350 students from the Nieuw Vocaal Amsterdam, ranging from 4 to 21 years, perform the pieces at the highest level, accompanied by the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra.
Nieuw Vocaal Amsterdam is een klassieke zangopleiding met specialisatie in opera en muziektheater, voor kinderen en jeugd vanaf vier jaar. Al snel na haar oprichting, zo'n tien jaar geleden, onstond het idee om jaarlijks een kerstspel te programmeren, waarbij al hun leerlingen tegelijk op het podium zouden staan. De muzikale basis werd gevormd door de kerstliedjes die Ton Koopman al enige jaren ervoor had gearrangeerd voor zijn Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra en Herman van Veen. De eerste keer werd het kerstspel uitgevoerd met pianobegeleiding. Naast Jozef en Maria traden engeltjes, schaapjes en herders op, die het kerstverhaal zongen en acteerden. Het was direct een groot succes en de jaren erna ontwikkelde dit concept zich tot een volwaardig avondvullend programma.

De uitvoering van 2017 bestaat uit Oud-Nederlandse en West-Europese kerstmuziek die door Ton Koopman speciaal voor het Nieuw Vocaal Amsterdam en het Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra werd gearrangeerd en gedirigeerd. De ruim 350 leerlingen van Nieuw Vocaal Amsterdam – in de leeftijd van 4 t/m 21 jaar – voeren de stukken op het hoogste niveau uit, onder begeleiding van het Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra.
Das Nieuw Vocaal Amsterdam ist eine klassische Gesangsausbildung mit Schwerpunkt Oper, die allen Kindern und Jugendlichen ab 4 Jahren zugänglich ist. Sie wurde 2005 gegründet und entstand unmittelbar aus dem Gedanken, jährlich ein Krippenspiel aufzuführen. Bei diesen Aufführungen würden alle Schüler gleichzeitig auftreten. Ton Koopmans Arrangement von Weihnachtsliedern für das Amsterdamer Barockorchester vor einigen Jahren war der musikalische Ausgangspunkt. Die Uraufführung des Stückes wurde nur von einem Klavier begleitet, mit Engeln, Schafen und Hirten, die neben Maria und Josef sangen. Es erwies sich als sofortiger Erfolg und entwickelte sich zu einem abendfüllenden Unterhaltungsprogramm.
Die diesjährige Aufführung besteht aus altniederländischer und westeuropäischer Weihnachtsmusik, arrangiert und geleitet von Ton Koopman, speziell für das Nieuw Vocaal Amsterdam und das Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra. Rund 350 Schüler des Nieuw Vocaal Amsterdam, von 4 bis 21 Jahren, präsentieren die Stücke auf höchstem Niveau, begleitet vom Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra.

Artist(s)

Nieuw Vocaal Amsterdam

Nieuw Vocaal Amsterdam (formerly Nieuw Amsterdams Kinderkoor) is a classical voice training programme specialising in opera, accessible to all children and young people from 4 years old who enjoy singing. Besides singing lessons and music theory training, the students sing together in a choir. The school has nearly 300 students, from beginners to conservatorium level. The children do not need to audition, any child that enjoys singing is welcome. NVA has 18 choirs, with progression based on age and level. Children who have gone through various training choirs and who have plenty of talent and motivation may be invited to sing in the ‘Talentenkoor’ (Talent Choir), one of the best classical children’s choirs in the Netherlands.  NVA was founded in 2005, has...
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Nieuw Vocaal Amsterdam (formerly Nieuw Amsterdams Kinderkoor) is a classical voice training programme specialising in opera, accessible to all children and young people from 4 years old who enjoy singing. Besides singing lessons and music theory training, the students sing together in a choir. The school has nearly 300 students, from beginners to conservatorium level. The children do not need to audition, any child that enjoys singing is welcome. NVA has 18 choirs, with progression based on age and level. Children who have gone through various training choirs and who have plenty of talent and motivation may be invited to sing in the ‘Talentenkoor’ (Talent Choir), one of the best classical children’s choirs in the Netherlands.

NVA was founded in 2005, has since won various international prizes and is regularly featured in the national media. On 30 April 2013, NVA conntributed to the musical programme for the official inauguration of King Willem-Alexander in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam.
In addition to well-known and loved children’s choir repertoire such as the St. Matthew Passion, Carmina Burana, Missa Brevis and Benjamin Britten’s Ceremony of Carols, NVA has performed a large number of operas: Humperdinck's “Hänsel und Gretel”, Britten's “The Golden Vanity” and “The Little Sweep”, Philip Glass' “The Witches of Venice”, and Krasá's famous children’s opera “Brundibár”. NVA students have been conducted by the likes of Mariss Jansons, Ed Spanjaard, Ton Koopman, Matthew Rowe, Ingo Metzmacher and MArc Albrecht; NVA also partners with the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, Muziekschool Amsterdam, The Dutch National Opera and the Children’s Matthew Passion.
Since December 2013, NVA has produced a yearly performance of their ever popular Christmas Play in collaboration with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Ton Koopman. Since 2016 NVA works as regular children's choir partner in productions of Dutch National Opera. In the 2017/2018 season, NVA will again take part in two DNO productions: La Bohème and Das Floss der Medusa.
Nieuw Vocaal Amsterdam performs in concerts under the names Nieuw Amsterdams Kinderkoor, Nieuw Amsterdams Jongenskoor and Nieuw Amsterdams Jeugdkoor.

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Ton Koopman (conductor)

Ton Koopman was born in Zwolle in 1944. After a classical education he studied organ, harpsichord and musicology in Amsterdam and was awarded the Prix d'Excellence for both instruments. From the beginning of his musical studies he was fascinated by authentic instruments and a performance style based on sound scholarship and in 1969, at the age of 25, he created his first Baroque orchestra. In 1979 he founded the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra followed by the Amsterdam Baroque Choir in 1992. Koopman's extensive and impressive activities as a soloist, accompanist and conductor have been recorded on a large number of LPs and CDs for labels like Erato, Teldec, Sony, Philips and DG, besides his own record label “Antoine Marchand”, distributed by Challenge...
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Ton Koopman was born in Zwolle in 1944. After a classical education he studied organ, harpsichord and musicology in Amsterdam and was awarded the Prix d'Excellence for both instruments. From the beginning of his musical studies he was fascinated by authentic instruments and a performance style based on sound scholarship and in 1969, at the age of 25, he created his first Baroque orchestra. In 1979 he founded the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra followed by the Amsterdam Baroque Choir in 1992.
Koopman's extensive and impressive activities as a soloist, accompanist and conductor have been recorded on a large number of LPs and CDs for labels like Erato, Teldec, Sony, Philips and DG, besides his own record label “Antoine Marchand”, distributed by Challenge Records.
Over the course of a forty-five-year career Ton Koopman has appeared in the most important concert halls and festivals of the five continents. As an organist he has performed on the most prestigious historical instruments of Europe, and as a harpsichord player and conductor of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir he has been a regular guest at venues which include the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Théatre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, the Philharmonie in Munich, the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, the Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York and leading concert halls in Vienna, London, Berlin, Brussels, Madrid, Rome, Salzburg, Tokyo and Osaka.
Between 1994 and 2004 Ton Koopman has been engaged in a unique project, conducting and recording all the existing Cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach, a massive undertaking for which he has been awarded the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis "Echo Klassik", the BBC Award 2008, the Prix Hector Berlioz, has been nominated for the Grammy Award (USA) and the Gramophone Award (UK). In 2000 Ton Koopman has received an Honorary Degree from the Utrecht University for his academic work on the Bach Cantatas and Passions and has been awarded both the prestigious Silver Phonograph Prize and the VSCD Classical Music Award. In 2006 he has received the « Bach-Medaille » from the City of Leipzig. Recently Ton Koopman has embarked on another main project: the recording of the whole works by Dietrich Buxtehude, one of the great inspirer of the young J.S. Bach. The recording will be accomplished in 2010 with the release of 30 CDs. Ton Koopman is President of the “International Dieterich Buxtehude Society”. Ton Koopman is very active as a guest conductor and he has collaborated with many prominent orchestras in Europe, USA and Japan. He has been Principal Conductor of the Netherland Radio Chamber Orchestra and has collaborated with the Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam, DSO Berlin, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks in Munich, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Cleveland Orchestra, Santa Cecilia in Rome, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie and Wiener Symphoniker. In the following season he will work on new programmes with the New York Philharmonic, DSO Berlin, Orchestra RAI in Turin, Stockholm Philharmonic, Tonhalle in Zurich. After the great success of his tour at the beginning of 2008, Ton Koopman has been nominated Artist in Residence at the Cleveland Orchestra for three consecutive years starting in 2011. Ton Koopman publishes regularly and for a number of years he has been engaged in editing the complete Händel Organ Concertos for Breitkopf & Härtel. Recently he has published Händel’s Messiah and Buxtehude‘s Das Jüngeste Gericht for Carus. Ton Koopman leads the class of harpsichord at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, is Professor at the University of Leiden and is a Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music in London. Ton Koopman is artistic director of the French Festival “Itinéraire Baroque”.

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Dieuwertje Blok (spoken word)

Ana Balestra (vocals)

Pia Pleijsier (vocals)

Pia comes from a musical family and grew up with classical music. From a young age she came into contact with choral singing, which in her a great love for vocal music has fueled. In addition to music, Pia has a great interest in education and pedagogy. Here she gained further experience during her work as student-teacher history at the Joke Smit college. She combines her passion for classical choral singing and her pleasure in teaching with great enthusiasm in her work at Nieuw Vocaal Amsterdam. At Nieuw Vocaal Amsterdam, Pia received an internal training from, among others, Caro Kindt (choral conducting, didactics) and Dennis van der Wijk (solfège, music theory and didactics). She also received lessons in children's cordial direction...
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Pia comes from a musical family and grew up with classical music. From a young age she came into contact with choral singing, which in her a great love for vocal music has fueled. In addition to music, Pia has a great interest in education and pedagogy. Here she gained further experience during her work as student-teacher history at the Joke Smit college. She combines her passion for classical choral singing and her pleasure in teaching with great enthusiasm in her work at Nieuw Vocaal Amsterdam.
At Nieuw Vocaal Amsterdam, Pia received an internal training from, among others, Caro Kindt (choral conducting, didactics) and Dennis van der Wijk (solfège, music theory and didactics). She also received lessons in children's cordial direction from Sylvere van Lieshout. After several years of intensive training, she has been giving solfège lessons since 2014 at the Prelude choirs, Intermezzo choirs, Ouverturekoren, Concertkoren, and Jongenskoren. Since September 2018 she is also a rehearsal of Intermezzokoor B and Jongenskoor 2A and 2B, she also coordinates Concertkoren and Talentenkoren.

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Siri Brenner (vocals)

Dalia Kulek (vocals)

Ripley Looye (vocals)

Composer(s)

Press

This catchy CD should encourage every parish in Flanders to make Christmas time also musically attractive. In the dark days of December, this recording of beautiful traditional Christmas songs in the vernacular is simply a bright spot.
Kerk & Leven, 27-12-2017

A choir can be so much more than singing. During Kerstspel all 330 children of Nieuw Vocaal Amsterdam are on stage at the same time.
NRC Handelsblad, 21-12-2017

The artistic management of NVA, with pride proudly announces that they already have 330 pupils in various roles - from little sheep to star, from angel to Bethlehem citizen, shepherds and master angels ... on stage and that they want to participate every year! Add to that a fantastic storyteller with the Christmas story from Mary's point of view, three soloists (Gabriel, Mary and Joseph) and also the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra under the direction of Ton Koopman himself, and you get an amazing Christmas play. Without a doubt a golden recording!
Kerk & Leven, 27-11-2017

Impressive Christmas play by Nieuw Vocaal Amsterdam and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, lead by Ton Koopman
Stretto, 23-11-2017

What Ton Koopman, Nieuw Vocaal Amsterdam and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra do on their CD Kerstspel is traditional, but at the same time innovative.
Klassieke Zaken, 17-11-2017

Play album

Often bought together with..

Father & Son (re-issue)
Christoph & Julian Prégardien
Dirty Minds
Olivia Vermeulen / Jan Philip Schulze
A Medieval Christmas
Trigon Ensemble
Complete Symphonies
Jan Willem de Vriend / The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra
Ton Koopman at the Zacharias Hildebrandt Organ (1726) in Lengefeld in the Erzgebirge
Ton Koopman
Cantatas For Marian Feasts
Ton Koopman / Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir

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