Highlights
december 2025
A month full of musical highlights. We have selected special concerts in different genres.
Agenda
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Masterpieces for violin and piano
Marc Bouchkov + Ohad Ben-AriBeethoven, Brahms and Messiaen by two top musiciansBrahms, Messiaen, Beethoven
Sun 14 Dec 2025Unfortunately, pianist Lucas Debargue is ill and won't be able to perform on Sunday. Pianist Ohad Ben-Ari will take his place on stage. The programme is unchanged. Tickey holders will receive an e-mail.
Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata may well be the ultimate sonata for violin and piano, but Brahms’ First Sonata and Messiaen’s Thème et variations are equally among the top pieces for this instrumentation. These masterpieces are literally in good hands with two musicians of exceptional calibre: violinist Marc Bouchkov and pianist Lucas Debargu.Just like his father and grandmother, Bouchkov made a name for himself by reaching the final of the Queen Elisabeth Competition. Debargue is known, among other things, for his collaboration with Janine Jansen and also works as a composer. ‘Lucas Debargue is a gifted pianist with sumptuous tonal resources, a seemingly inexhaustible technique and a frightening level of concentration’, wrote Gramophone Magazine.
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This concert will be broadcast live by NTR on NPO Klassiek
Programme booklet (Dutch)Program
19:30 - 19:55 / Entreehal / Opening Act
By Ensemble Qusion
20:15 / Grote Zaal / Concert
Johannes Brahms Vioolsonate nr. 1 ‘Regen’
Olivier Messiaen Thème et variations
Ludwig van Beethoven Vioolsonate nr. 9 ‘Kreutzer’Credits
Marc Bouchkov violin
Ohad Ben-Ari piano -
Shelter
Het Muziek + Storm in a JarWhat is shelter in uncertain times?Gordon, Lang, Wolfe
Thu 18 Dec 2025In a time of social and political unrest, Het Muziek (formerly Asko|Schönberg) and artist Johannes Offerhaus explore the meaning of protection. The 2005 oratorio Shelter, written for three sopranos and large ensemble, is a collaboration between American Bang on a Can composers Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe. The text is by Deborah Artman, who has written for them on several occasions.
For this new production, visual artist Johannes Offerhaus creates a kinetic installation that literally moves with the ensemble. His textile sculpture (growing, shrinking, breathing) is like a body that encloses us and then releases us. A temporary refuge that protects as often as it questions. His work amplifies the sensory experience in which space, skin, and music become one; in which shelter is something that arises, disappears, and must be sought again.
Donate a sleeping bag or winter coat
Inspired by the title and theme of Shelter, Het Muziek has teamed up with aid organisation De Regenbooggroep to organise a campaign to collect winter coats and sleeping bags for the homeless. Do you have anything lying around that you don't use? Bring it to the concert and give it a second life. De Regenbooggroep will be present to receive donations and tell you more about their work. Thank you for helping to keep someone warm this winter.Program
19.15 / Foyerdeck 1 / Pre-concert talk
By Huib Ramaer20.15 / Grote Zaal / Main program
Michael Gordon/David Lang/Julia Wolfe ShelterCredits
Het Muziek
Storm in a Jar
Benjamin Perry Wenzelberg conductor
Johannes Offerhaus (Studio Boris Acket) scenographer -
Viennese glamour
Simply QuartetThe romantic sounds of Brahms and WolfWolf, Brahms, Mayer
Sun 7 Dec 2025When it comes to music, Vienna is the city to be. In the 19th century, it was the musical heart of Europe. It was the era of composers like Brahms, whose Second string quartet is on the music stands today. Emilie Mayer, now forgotten, was a celebrated Viennese composer at the time. What a find! The young Simply Quartet also hails from Vienna.
The one-movement Italian serenade by song composer Hugo Wolf will be performed. This piece, in Wolf’s arrangement for symphony orchestra, became his most popular instrumental work. Brahms was considered Beethoven’s natural successor - no small task. ‘You have no idea what it’s like to always hear his footsteps behind you’, he once exclaimed. Still, he managed it rather well. The Simply Quartet guarantees a wonderful performance of his Second string quartet. They graced the stage of the Muziekgebouw earlier this year, in 2024, as part of the String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam.
Programme booklet (Dutch)Program
19.45 uur / Entreehal / Support
by Tsyganov Quartet20.15 uur / Grote Zaal / Main programme
Emilie Mayer String Quartet in G major
Hugo Wolf Italian Serenade
Johannes Brahms String Quartet No. 2 in A minorCredits
Simply Quartet:
Sueye Park violin
Antonia Rankersberger violin
Xiang Lyu viola
Ivan Valentin Hollup Roald cello
Sueye Park replaces the previously announced first violinist Danfeng Shen in this concert. -
Rewşan
Soulful singer brings new energy to Kurdish folkRewşan
Fri 5 Dec 2025Rewşan is a singer of her time, with songs that have been streamed millions of times on Spotify and whose concerts are consistently sold out. With her soulful voice and compelling melodies, she has carved out her own place in the musical landscape, somewhere between pop, indie and folk. At the same time, she is rooted in the tradition of the ‘dengbêj’, the Kurdish singers who pass on folk stories.
Kurdish singer Rewşan Çeliker was originally trained as a violinist and has played with the Istanbul Film Music Orchestra, among others. She has achieved considerable success over the past years with her contemporary interpretations of Kurdish folk songs. Her most recent album, Hinar, is her first to feature only songs she has written herself. Hinar (Kurdish for ‘pomegranate’) explores universal themes of love, hope, despair and self-acceptance.
Credits
20:15 / Grote Zaal / Main concert
Rewşan vocals
and musicians
22:00 - 22:30 / Entreehal / After concert
Guli Duo:
Zilan Hasret Yıldız (vocals, lavta, daf) and Motahare Tajik (vocals, setar) -
Talisker
HIIIT + I SOLISTIThrilling sounds by Brewaeys and MessiaenBrewaeys, Messiaen, Murphy
Thu 4 Dec 2025Ten years ago, the Belgian spectralist Luc Brewaeys passed away. He was a composer of grand sound structures filled with fantastically coloured sound clouds. Antwerp-based I SOLISTI – a recurring guarantee for adventure in the Thursday Evening Series – pays tribute to this sound wizard from their hometown, joined by the percussionists of HIIIT. Music by Olivier Messiaen, the French maître who excelled in composed birdsong, will also be performed.
Talisker refers to a smoky whisky that Brewaeys liked to drink. That smoky quality is echoed in the sound of rasping percussion and clarinets infused with gritty double tones, that envelop the listener like a mysterious fog. The theatrical music of young Scottish composer Genevieve Murphy is equally physical and evocative. In Messiaen’s Oiseaux exotiques, the magnificent song of exotic birds flutter through the concert hall, creating a rainbow of sound.
Programma booklet (Dutch)Program
19.15 / Foyerdeck 1 / Pre-concert talk
By Thea Derks20.15 / Grote Zaal / Main Program
Luc Brewaeys Talisker
Olivier Messiaen Oiseaux exotiques
Genevieve Murphy LureCredits
HIIIT
I Solisti
Studenten Koninklijk Conservatorium Antwerpen
Studenten Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel
Studenten KASK/Conservatorium Gent
Filip Rathé conductor
Benjamin Dieltjens clarinet (Talisker)
Tomonori Takeda contrabass clarinet (Talisker)
Anthony Devriendt horn (Talisker)
Joey Marijs percussion (Talisker)
Agata Kruszewska percussion (Talisker)
Jan Michiels piano (Oiseaux Exotiques) -
Schubert and Kurtág
Leif Ove Andsnes + Bertrand ChamayouWorld-famous pianists play enchanting music for piano four handsKurtág, Schubert
Wed 3 Dec 2025Leif Ove Andsnes and Bertrand Chamayou, two of the world’s finest pianists, take their places at the grand piano. Renowned for their virtuosity, delicate touch, and deep musical expression, they now combine their talents to perform some of the most beautiful four-hand piano music by Kurtág and Schubert, including the beloved Fantasy.
Andsnes and Chamayou present Schubert alongside the short, characterful works of Kurtág. In his own unique way, Kurtág pays homage to composers such as Stravinsky, Schnittke and Schubert. Combining the poetic depth of Schubert, the intriguing playfulness of Kurtág, and the exceptional chemistry between two of the world’s finest pianists, this concert promises to be an unforgettable experience.
This concert will be broadcast live by NTR on NPO Klassiek
Programme booklet (Dutch)
Program
Franz Schubert Rondo in A, D.438 / Fantasie in F minor, D.940 / Allegro in A minor, D.947 'Lebensstürme' / Fuga in E minor, D.952 for piano four hands
György Kurtág Selection from Játékok for piano solo and for piano four handsCredits
Leif Ove Andsnes piano
Bertrand Chamayou piano
