Before corona, it had become a tradition at the Sint Pieters church in Jette around New Year: the first Sunday, mass in the morning in Brussels and a concert in the evening. And this year the culture department of the municipal government revived that tradition. Invited this time was the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonië based in Mons. Once founded in 1958 by and for a long time also conducted by Belgian-Romanian violinist Lola Bobesco. Now violist Jean-François Chamberlan was particularly in the spotlight. With the orchestra he is currently undertaking his farewell tour. And here he was able to shine as a soloist in the Winter section from Vivaldi's Four Seasons, and did so in a swirling winter manner. In this church, still completely dressed up in Christmas spirit and beautifully decorated, the start of this New Year concert was for Arcangelo Corelli, with of course his Christmas Concerto. Equally strong was Musique militaire nocturne de Madrid, a well-known piece by that Italian who moved to Spain, Luigi Boccherini with that swelling and fading famous sixth section, La Retraite. Mozart received a divertimento from the orchestra, his KV138.
You would think a classical program, but the orchestra's repertoire also contains modern work. This was evident from a gem performed by viola player Anne Pingen. Film music by Japanese composer Shigeru Umebayashi. Anyone who ever saw "In the mood for love" by Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai will never get that melancholic and gripping song out of their head: Yumei's theme. The film recently made the list of the 10 best films of all time.
The last work was equally contemporary and surprising. A section from a concerto grosso "Palladio" by Karl Jenkins. That British composer was once a member of the pop and jazz band Soft Machine. Now become a neo-classicist whose Benedictus from his The Armed Man: a Mass for Peace was number 3 in the latest Klara's Top 100. And of course there could still be an encore. A piece from the light music genre by American Leroy Anderson.
All of this enthusiastically cheered by a packed church. And together with the Jette music lovers and the initiators of the concert series "Klassiek in de Abdij", the orchestra members fraternized, in the icy wind, not around a Glühwein but a 'drinks truck' with "Westmalle", set up in front of the church portal to wash away the emotions experienced.
WHO: Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, conducted by Vahan Mardirossian and soloists violist Jean-François Chamberlain and viola player Anne Pingen.
WHAT: Arcangelo Corelli, Concerto grosso opus 6 number 8; Luigi Boccherini, Musique militaire nocturne de Madrid; Antonio Vivaldi, Concerto 4, opus 8, Inverno; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Divertimento KV138; Shigeru Umebayashi, main theme from In the mood for love; Karl Jenkins, Allegretto from Palladio.
WHERE: Sint Pieterskerk, Jette
WHEN: Sunday 8 January 2023