The cello is not exactly a spotlight instrument. But at this month’s third Amsterdamse Cello Biënnale at Muziekgebouw, its rapidly growing solo and ensemble repertoire is getting an overwhelming amount of play, quite literally.
‘You may only hear a great cello soloist a few times a year,’ says Maarten Mostert, the event’s founder and artistic director. ‘Suddenly in one week, we have 36 top soloists and ensembles.’
When he was a student, then later professor and performer, Mostert always felt his instrument was getting short-changed, in spite of the skill and music acuity required to play it. There have been national violin and viola competitions in the Netherlands for years but nothing for cello; even at the IJsbreker Café, Amsterdam’s one-time primary (albeit tiny) contemporary music performance hall and predecessor to the Muziekgebouw, the visionary Jan Wolff programmed highlight weeks focusing on different instruments other than the cello. For its 2006 inaugural run, Mostert called in all the friends and favours he could manage to create a weeklong cello-bration so epic it would need two spotlights.
‘Everyone knows the cello but they don’t realize how beautiful it is,’ says Mostert. ‘It’s close to the human voice, has a great range and a warm sound. You can love the flute but you can also hate flute at times. There’s not so much reason to hate cello.’
This Biënnale will give listeners 37 reasons not to hate the cello. It will show off the cello as an artistic, virtuosic and versatile element in its own right, from its warm, croaking low notes to the silky smooth upper range that retains a cool, dark character.
The staggering number of performances and master classes jam-packed into nine days and nights (5-13 November) span generations and genres, from an evening with Beethoven’s ‘German dances’, performed by the Frans Brüggen-directed Orchestra of the 18th Century, to an afternoon with Melo-M, a Latvian cello trio that plays special arrangements of pop songs. From respected classics to freshly inked experiments, the theme this year is maximising exposure to all styles of music for cello ensemble, including brand new commissions.
Since its 2006 inaugural iteration Mostert has just about doubled the composition premieres every two years: 4 the first year, 8 in 2008, and this year 15 brand new pieces. ‘I’ve dared to programme more of them, knowing the audience is there,’ he says (2008 saw roughly 20,000 visitors). ‘Now that we’ve been around, I have the confidence to go there.’
One world premiere is by Chiel Meijering, a 56-year-old Amsterdam composer who’s credited with more than 700 compositions. His piece ‘Arco Arena’ is scored for two solo cellos and a full mini orchestra of ASKO | Schönberg ensemble members. The soloists are meant to be ‘fencing’, metaphorically competing as their two parts overlap to create the piece’s central melody. In the piece’s second part, ‘The actual fight is the most noticeable: who has the smoothest muscles, best conditioning, endurance, etcetera,’ explains Meijering. ‘It’s the moment of truth.’
In addition to new compositions, the Biënnale’s inner series of ‘Take Five’ concerts is intended to showcase the festival’s spiciest modern music, each evening at 5 pm. Otherwise, Mostert’s structure remains largely unchanged, apart from a few critical upgrades: a hot meal (included in ticket price) offered before each morning’s ‘Bach & Breakfast’ performance of a single, unaccompanied cello suite and an open lounge following each evening’s final performance, at Muziekgebouw’s Star Ferry restaurant.
‘The atmosphere was good the past two times,’ says Mostert. ‘But how can you keep it from going down? Like Nero: give the people bread and games.’
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