It came as quite a shock, and I'm still rather shaken by it. Michel Dutrieue, former contributor to Klassiek Centraal and deeply devoted to his own blog 'Stretto’ is gone. He passed away on May 21st. At his request, he was cremated in a quiet ceremony and his ashes were scattered over the North Sea. The sea that, as a resident of Ostend, he held so dear. Whenever I met with him to discuss all manner of things and the weather permitted, he would invariably choose the elegant terrace of the Thermae Palace Hotel, with its view of the North Sea—a sea with which he is now united forever.
Michel possessed an encyclopedic knowledge and was passionate about all art forms, with classical music taking pride of place, and Richard Wagner above all else. After writing for Klassiek Centraal for about five years, he started his own blog because he wanted to convey messages about far more than just topics related to 'mere' classical music.
In a way, Michel was something of a loner, a bit of an odd duck in the cultural scene, but what knowledge he possessed and what refined taste he had—always striving for nothing but the very best. He gave many lectures and courses on classical music and other cultural subjects. Every conversation with him was engaging, and reading his work was often fascinating.
On Stretto you can read the following CV
“Michel Dutrieue studied at the Royal Music Conservatories of Brussels and Ghent. Since 1985, he was a teacher and course instructor in literature, music history, philosophy, art history, and music analysis. He started as a violinist in the then West-Flemish Orchestra and in the early 1980s, he led the Ballroom ensemble "Baby Loves Mambo" in Ghent. Between 1985 and 2005, he was a contributor to BRT 3, Radio 3, and Klara, and was a guest speaker on Dutch radio in Hilversum. During this period, he also taught classical music at the Training Institute in Ostend. In 1990, his book "Eros & Thanatos in Fin-de-Siècle Vienna" was published (BRT edition). He conducted the four-part mixed choir "De Profundis" for a period of ten years and was recognized as a composer in the "Lexicon of Flemish Composers." In Ghent, he ran his own opera club for 10 years, where he gave full-length presentations discussing the productions of the Flemish Opera. He was a member of the Belgian Music Press Association and had been a member of the music assessment committee of the Minister of Culture since November 2012."
