What was a musical tribute last winter to the late Paul De Ridder, music lover in heart and soul, continued on Sunday and is well on its way to becoming a pleasant tradition. Major driving force is son Jan, who was able to push Paul in the direction of classical music.
Armenian
For the concert in the salons of Battenbroek castle, he combined tradition with new sensations. As usual, Aram Grigorian was called upon. Close friend of Paul, Aram proved himself valuable to the family. But all those years he remained the star who scaled great heights in the opera of Yerevan. Seeing and hearing Aram sing is melting away in admiration. His voice comes as it were from an unfathomable depth. It is warm, flexible and shimmers. He was accompanied by another Armenian, Hasnil (meaning 'jasmine') Manoukian. In Belgium she completed her piano studies at the Lemmensinstituut and in Brussels. Despite various prizes, she preferred over the ordinary role of pianist a career as a 'collaborative pianist'. This means not just accompanying musicians but strengthening them through intense collaboration and allowing them to come fully into their own. Her professional accompaniment made it possible for Aram Grigorian to open his repertoire from the traditional Russian ballads to Glinka and to opera fragments from 'Simon Boccanegra' and 'Macbeth' by Verdi. And again his deeply felt body language, his depth, his diction and his hands, which spoke volumes, impressed even those who do not master Russian or Italian.Reunion
The many connections Jan De Ridder has led to the surprise of the day: none other than guitarist Wim Brioen had come from the French Indre - the homeland of George Sand. The virtuoso who after his studies in Lier, Antwerp, Ghent and with Alexandre Lagoya won prizes in competitions such as Tenuto and Pro Civitate and in Rio de Janeiro (Villa Lobos), the master who succeeded in coordinating his guitar and the carillon of Eddy Mariën, high in the tower of Busleyden, was back in Mechelen! He guided the audience through the history of the guitar. Until his playing became more uncertain, less precise, and he stopped. His neurologist was right: no performances! Yet he returned and bravely worked his way through Tarrega, through Villa Lobos and through a posthumous 'cuckoo' to Paul: an arrangement for guitar of the Third Fantasia by Benoit. A duet with Jan De Ridder in a surprising recertate concertant by Francisco Da Milano & Joanne Matelart closed the circle.Last year pianist Ilya Maximov. Now Manoukian and Brioen... The memory of Paul is in good hands.