It was Saturday, August 3rd, a joyful reunion for the faithful attendees of the closing concert of Klassiek Leeft Meesterlijk in Knokke-Heist. After five more than successful concerts in the Dominicanenkerk, the Sint-Margareta was now filled to the last seat.
Expectations were high because Dmytro Udovychenko, Florian Noack and the Kwartet Van Kuijck, Lore Binon, Wim Maeseele, Thomas Baeté, Peter Wispelwey and especially Liebrecht Van Beckevoort had thoroughly spoiled the audience since July 23rd. Now they were masterfully honored by soprano Tineke Van Ingelgem and the Boho Strings with conductor David Ramael.
After well-meant and well-deserved words of thanks to mayor Jan Morbee, cultural alderman Astrid Mestdach, Rudi Van der Cruyssen, director of the Kunstacademie, assistant Ludwina Beuckels, Piano's Maene and the team of staff members of the Cultuurcentrum, organizer Liebrecht Van Beckevoort gave the floor to Klara presenter Katelijne Boon. With her familiar enthusiastic eloquence, she outlined the common thread of the concert, which was themed around "Cordes d'amour"
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(c) Dries Luyten[/caption]
Musical Stories
There was no shortage of love. Neither in Mozart, nor in Boho and Algerian culture, nor in Tchaikovsky. Love arias from Mozart's operas are ubiquitous. But here the choice fell on lesser-known concert arias that were intended as additions to operas by other composers, in this case by Cimarosa, Vicente Martin y Soler and Paisiello. If you then consider that Mozart wrote them tailored to female singers he had a weakness for, it should come as no surprise that they burst with expressions of love, rivalry, anger and reconciliation. To express this range of emotions, one could rely on the powerful voice, empathy, persuasiveness and talent of Tineke Van Ingelgem. If the melodic continuity sometimes had to give way to this diversity of intense feelings, the melodic line remained intact in Tineke's version of "Laudate Dominum"
Another great love is that of Boho conductor David Ramael for North African culture, particularly Algerian. This led to an intense collaboration with Salim Dada, a versatile 49-year-old Algerian. He is not only a prolific, award-winning composer, performer, musicologist and educator but also a lecturer in medicine. And a cultural policy maker and bridge builder between the West and North Africa.
The five "Miniatures algériennes" he wrote for piano in 2009 and arranged for string orchestra in 2010 were an exotic immersion from sunrise to sunset. Adapted lighting effects gave even more expression. That David Ramael and the Bohos love telling stories with music was clear from the first mysterious measures of "Aurore de Djurdjura", which grew into an intense dialogue between concertmaster Peter Bogaert and viola player Elaine Ng.
Surprising Musical Experience
If Liebrecht Van Beckevoort called this concert "the icing on the cake", then the final piece was an extra dollop of cream on that icing: the "Serenade for Strings" by Tchaikovsky, well-known, not to say overly familiar. Although Tchaikovsky had already become passionate about a work that was not commissioned but, as he himself said, "originated from an inner compulsion", he had yet to hear the Boho Strings! What I thought would be a sweetener became an unforgettable, incomparable musical experience.
What those fifteen musicians based in BOrgerHOut after just under ten years have in their repertoire musically borders on the inconceivable in terms of musicality, empathy, coherence, layering, versatility and timbre. The driven leadership and gestures of David Ramael clearly play a role here. Liebrecht could not have wished for a more beautiful conclusion to his 16th edition of "Meesterlijk" and the start of his 40/20 jubilee.
Now it's a matter of looking forward to his 40th birthday, his 20 years of career, a "Klassiek Leeft Vurig" on 1, 8, 15 and 22 February 2025 in the Sint-Vincentiuskerk in Ramskapelle and a tour with an Italian acting company and Stefaan Degand around Caravaggio. On Tineke Van Ingelgem's agenda is her participation in a German opera production of "Elektra" and the release of the CD "Je ne t'aime pas" which she recorded with pianist Aaron Wajnberg