ERNST REIJSEGER SOLO

Ernst Reijseger is one of the world’s most inventive cello players, constantly shifting between classical, jazz and African music. His utterly idiosyncratic style of playing is best expressed when performing solo.

This concert is part of the BIMHUIS AT FELIX &FOAM, a series of adventuresome summer concerts, hosted by the Bimhuis.

One of the loveliest solo albums to have appeared recently was cellist and composer Ernst Reijseger’s 2008 release entitled Tell Me Everything. He has been looking for adventure his whole life which he taken him to far corners of the globe. His richly varied influences can be heard on some 150 albums, but during solo concerts all his facets seem to merge. Expect an exhilarating journey navigating between pure improvisation, African percussion and expressive classical music.

Reijseger has gained increasing international notoriety over the years, partly because of his work on several films by the German director Werner Herzog. They are projects that at the very least attracted attention. He worked for instance on Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2011) with the Nederlands Kamerkoor (Netherlands Chamber Choir) and on Requiem for a Dying Planet (2006) with a Sardinian men’s choir. But pianist Harmen Fraanje and such purebred improvisers as Sean Bergin and Alan Purves also contributed.

The solo pieces on Tell Me Everything (winner of the 2010 Dutch Edison Award), were recorded without any frills in Tuscany, in a former church with excellent acoustics. Reijseger, renowned for his experimental improvisations and unorthodox playing techniques, reverted to the pure sound of his instrument on this recording with chirping birds as accompaniment. The result has an impressive emotional eloquence.

“In so doing, Reijseger strings one pearl after another on his chain, all the while giving a amazing demonstration of the sounds the cello is capable of producing. Howling and sighing flageolet tones in Falsetto, Henry Purcell-like melody in Song of Nenna, Scelsi-like microtonal suspensions in Tempered, asthmatic squeaking harmonics in Delicato. And it always yields profound and emotionally charged music, in which you can hear a great deal is at stake.” (Erik Voermans, in Het Parool, in a four star review of Tell Me Everything)

The Felix &Foam restaurant is opened before the concert from 6 P.M until 9:30 P.M. (reservations recommended tel. 06 2831 0403). Click here for more information about Felix &Foam and directions for getting there.

50% discount for Bimcard holders.