And then there was the third concert with Hartmut Haenchen and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra playing Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks followed by Shostakovich's 8th. Strange programming I thought, although the Handel seems to be one of Haenchen's fetish pieces, and ultimately the contrast (between the pieces and their execution) was revelatory.
It was a brilliant concert of impeccable musicianship led by a master, in the wonderful acoustic, the clarity can be emphasised enough, of this special place.
Outstanding.
The Handel (with full orchestra) was forward, bombastic and of course celebratory, if at once pompous and terribly British.
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