Europe's very own digital concert hall launched

Another 'digital concert hall' has been launched. Dutch media company CommuniServe B.V. are promoting http://www.monteverdi.tv/ (above) as a resource offering 2,500 hours of classical concerts, blogs, reviews, a downloadable music catalogue and several classical radio stations.

A different take on the digital concert hall here.
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Overgrown Path goes Dutch with the BBC

It's a good job I love the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Because I just noticed I've been promoting their tour of Holland.

Read the BBCSO blog about their Dutch tour here. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

Contemporary music goes Dutch

Good news from my friends in Holland. Radio Mona Lisa programmes are now available on demand for two months after broadcast. The weekly programme is hosted by Patricia Werner Leanse, and is devoted to women composers and performers. Patricia, who is seen in my photo above, is a mezzo soprano from California. She has lived in the Netherlands since 1989, and also writes for the influential Dutch magazine "Opzij". Her recent recording of the complete vocal music of Marjo Tal with pianist Patrick Hopper (BVHaast # 0302) received considerable attention in Europe. Listen to some fine contemporary music on demand via this link.

American ladies are doing some very good things in Holland. I wrote about Dutch based composer Vanessa Lann here a while back. Follow this link to Vanessa's Myspace site for a complete performance of her song cycle "Memory Demands So Much" based on a poem from Denise Levertov.
Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and other errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

Essential minimal piano collection

June 2007 is rather early to be talking of CDs of the year, but it is going to take a lot to trump the treasure I have for you today. The Minimal Piano Collection is a survey of minimalist works for the solo piano. The breadth of the survey is shown by the composers represented - Philip Glass, John Adams, Simeon ten Holt, Arvo Pärt, Erik Satie, John Borstlap, Yann Tiersen, Michael Nyman, Jeroen van Veen, Wim Mertens, Tom Johnson, Jacob ter Veldhuis, Klaas de Vries, Carlos Micháns, Terry Riley and Friedrich Nietzsche - yes, you read that last name right. The joys are too numerous to list, but include John Adams' China Gates, Arvo Pärt's Variatonen zur Gesundung von Arinuschka, and a complete In C from Terry Riley, here is the complete track listing.

The pianist for this extraordinary 9 CD survey is the Dutchman Jeroen van Veen, who also contributes his own Minimal Preludes Books 1 and 2. The record label is the Dutch independent Brilliant Classics which has featured here several times before, including their 2 CD survey of John Cage's complete music for prepared piano.

If all that isn't enough good news, I paid just £21.99 for the 9 CD box in London last week. The recordings were all made in Barbara Church, Culemborg, in the Netherlands in October 2006, and the sound is excellent. The project is a tour de force for Jeroen van Veen, as well as appearing as pianist and composer he also engineered and produced the recordings himself through his own production company.

Not only is the Minimal Piano Collection essential in any CD collection, it is also one of the bargains of the decade.

For more minimalism try a different take on Terry Riley's In C.
Image credit - Plaster Surrogates 1982/84 by Allan McCollum. In the past I have recommended buying Brilliant Classics from Amazon reseller. That recommendation is now withdrawn, my last orders with them have been plagued by problems, and the customer support is non-existent. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and other errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

Cure for Tchaikovsky fatigue

My July 2006 tribute to Ruth Schonthal still attracts a lot of readers. So here, as a counterbalance to BBC Radio 3's current Tchaikovsky overload, is a rare opportunity to hear Ruth Schonthal's music on one European radio station that is still not afraid to challenge its listeners.

Amsterdam based Stads FM broadcasts a weekly programme hosted by Patricia Werner Leanse and devoted to women composers and performers. Patricia, who is seen in my header photo, is a mezzo soprano from California. She has lived in the Netherlands since 1989, and also writes for the influential Dutch magazine "Opzij". Her recent recording of the complete vocal music of Marjo Tal with pianist Patrick Hopper (BVHaast # 0302) received considerable attention in Holland.

Radio Monalisa is webcast at 18.00h to 9.00h European Standard Time on Thursdays, and on February 15th broadcasts Ruth Schonthal's 1976 Four Epiphanies - follow this link.

Elisabeth Lutyens is another composer who has featured recently on Radio Monalisa. Now read about her walking with Stravinsky.
Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and other errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk