m
e
n
u
e
n
u
Klaartje van Veldhoven is a soprano with guts and taste, according to the NRC. She is frequently praised by critics for her early music qualities, with her crystal clear voice and sincere performances. Yet she does not like to be pigeonholed. Be it improvisation, classical or contemporary music with daring line-ups: Klaartje is an adventurous singer who does not shy away from unusual artistic choices.
Concerto Copenhagen/ Alfredo Bernardini
Corinthian Chamber Orchestra/ Leonard Elschenbroich
Residentie Orkest/ Shunske Sato
Nederlandse Bachvereniging/ Jos van Veldhoven
Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht/Johannes Leertouwer
European Union Baroque Orchestra/ Christina Pluhar
Le Concert Etranger/ Itay Jedlin
Norsk Solistkoret/ Grete Pedersen
Lutheran Bach Ensemble/ Ton Koopman
Opera2day/Hernán Schvartzman
and many others...
Hindsgavl Festival
Festival de Sable
Musica Viva Osnabruck
Tanglewood Festival
International Baroque Festival Melk
Intra Muros Festival Alden Biesen
Festival of Early Music
Bach Festival Dordrecht
Aurora Festival
Oranjewoud Festival
the 1st Lady in Zauberflöte, The Next Generation
Miroir de Peine is a project around 20th century Dutch composers which Matthias Havinga (organist) and I recorded in the corona time. Beautiful music that deserves all the fame. And we received no less than 4**** in the NRC and 5***** in the Volkskrant.
Klaartje van Veldhoven and Matthias Havinga have carefully unearthed gems from the Dutch organ and vocal repertoire
The Listen is a classical music glossy what I read regularly and where there are always great interviews and backgrounds of musicians and concert programs.
Of course, when they asked me if I wanted to be on the cover of the Christmas edition, I didn't hesitate for a moment.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, there were many restrictions. When singing was finally allowed again, I started looking at what was possible , and we started performing this quirky Farmer's Cantata in places where classical music is not normally heard, such as farmyards and barns.
The project became a great success, we received 5***** in the NRC and were named in the list of the best classical performances in the year 2020.
My first real CD recording, the Stabat Mater by Pergolesi, together with Johannes Leertouwer. The special thing about this version is that Dutch retranslation by Willem Wilmink was used. Later I sang this piece many times, such as recently with the Residentie Orkest olv Shunske Sato, but this recording has a special place in my heart. De Luister gave it a 10, which of course was nice too....
I love telling stories and taking people into the wonder and power of music and theater. To make the world stand still, and to be in a different place together for a moment. Music is - at least for me - something that moves and touches.
On tour with Concerto Copenhagen and oboist Alfredo Bernardini, I performed in some of Scandinavia's most beautiful churches. Bach wrote beautiful duets for voice and oboe in his cantatas, including the title aria from Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen, about a believer seeking Jesus, who wants to embrace him. During the third concert, the feeling suddenly overwhelmed me that I was stepping out of myself, as if my body was opening up to the music and I was a conduit. A crazy experience.
In theater and opera, music takes on an extra layer through the narrative context and the atmosphere of sets, costumes and lighting. A simple melody can suddenly rise above itself. For example, in Opera2Day's performance Quarantine Island, I sang John Dowland's song "Come again," a bittersweet love song with intense and sensuous phrases like "To see, to hear, to touch, to kiss, to die". I played a patient dying after singing the final line. It was outdoors, on an iron bed, with the audience around me. After I died, they walked on and I was left on the bed. I often heard sobbing around me. As a performer, you then have the feeling of becoming one with the audience. I look forward to working with Opera2day again next season, as the first Lady in Die Zauberflöte.
The moment I am a soloist in front of an orchestra, it feels like chamber music to me; you make music together and react in the moment to what the other is doing. With an orchestra, this is one size bigger than with a string quartet, but the feeling is the same.
Leonard Eisenbroich complimented me on this when we performed Strauss songs in London. He had never worked with a soprano who listened so well to what the orchestra was doing. I appreciated the compliment, although for me that's completely natural.
The moment you sing together with a quartet or an orchestra you all make sure that the music takes wings and rises above itself and you do that by really working together, whether it's with Bach, Mozart or Strauss.
The main reason for making an album is the love I feel for certain pieces. I want to spend hours and days on that: to anchor and dive deep. Then you get to lose yourself in picking out music, studying, recording, and spending hours listening back to various takes and make choices. But I only do that with songs that I really feel I need to record and thereby (hopefully) add something to the recordings that are already out there. With the album Miroir de Peine with organist Matthias Havinga, this feeling was strong. This music by Hendrik Andriessen and Henk Badings is unknown, but incredibly beautiful and poignant. This work definitely deserves more attention.
Even at the conservatory, I found it inspiring and enriching to go to jam sessions in the jazz department as well. Later on I worked a lot with musicians from jazz and improvisation backgrounds. I learned a lot from them: it expanded the space in my head. Music is less cast in concrete now. I think that cross-pollination is good for everyone whether in classical music or jazz. There's a lot to learn from each other. As jazz legend Duke Ellington noted, "There are only two kinds of music: good music and the other kind."
Sopraan Klaartje van Veldhoven brengt samen met dichter Jibbe Willems en het Hermitage Kwartet (strijkkwartet) een programma rondom het thema Allerzielen. Er klinken liederen van Richard Strauss (o.a. Morgen) en Giacomo Puccini (die in 2024 100 jaar geleden is overleden) en het bekende strijkkwartet Der Tod und das Mädchen van Schubert. Jibbe Willems vlecht het tot een avondvullend programma door middel van poëzie en nieuw geschreven teksten.
Sopraan Klaartje van Veldhoven brengt samen met dichter Jibbe Willems en het Hermitage Kwartet (strijkkwartet) een programma rondom het thema Allerzielen. Er klinken liederen van Richard Strauss (o.a. Morgen) en Giacomo Puccini (die in 2024 100 jaar geleden is overleden) en het bekende strijkkwartet Der Tod und das Mädchen van Schubert. Jibbe Willems vlecht het tot een avondvullend programma door middel van poëzie en nieuw geschreven teksten.
Sopraan Klaartje van Veldhoven brengt samen met dichter Jibbe Willems en het Hermitage Kwartet (strijkkwartet) een programma rondom het thema Allerzielen. Er klinken liederen van Richard Strauss (o.a. Morgen) en Giacomo Puccini (die in 2024 100 jaar geleden is overleden) en het bekende strijkkwartet Der Tod und das Mädchen van Schubert. Jibbe Willems vlecht het tot een avondvullend programma door middel van poëzie en nieuw geschreven teksten.
Plastic Party! - Een Vrolijke Consuminder-Opera
“Plastic Party!” is een vrolijke opera over het einde van een sociaal-cultureel ritueel: de iconische plastic keukenspullen party. Ooit een fenomeen waarbij huisvrouwen elkaar de laatste trends in plastic keukengerei lieten zien, dreigt dit fenomeen nu te verdwijnen in onze wegwerpsamenleving. David Prins schreef een gloednieuw Nederlands libretto en de muziek komt uit Mozarts opera's "Così fan tutte", "Don Giovanni" en "Le nozze di Figaro".
Deze unieke voorstelling, opgevoerd door Het Kofferbak Collectief, bestaat uit drie avontuurlijke musici: Klaartje van Veldhoven (sopraan), René Bekkers (accordeon) en Mattijs van de Woerd (bariton), met Michaela Riener (mezzosopraan), Charles Watt (cello), David Prins (libretto, regie) en Olga Verlee (dramaturgie). Het Kofferbak Collectief maakt reizend locatietheater waarbij de locatie het decor vormt. Na hun succesvolle mini-opera tijdens de Covid-zomer van 2020, brengen ze nu "Plastic Party!", een onverwoestbare muziekervaring gecombineerd met aardse, bij vlagen slapstick-achtige komedie. Kom meefeesten nu het nog kan!
Optreden tijdens de jubileum uitzending van Een Goedemorgen met.. op NPOklassiek
Plastic Party! - Een Vrolijke Consuminder-Opera
“Plastic Party!” is een vrolijke opera over het einde van een sociaal-cultureel ritueel: de iconische plastic keukenspullen party. Ooit een fenomeen waarbij huisvrouwen elkaar de laatste trends in plastic keukengerei lieten zien, dreigt dit fenomeen nu te verdwijnen in onze wegwerpsamenleving. David Prins schreef een gloednieuw Nederlands libretto en de muziek komt uit Mozarts opera's "Così fan tutte", "Don Giovanni" en "Le nozze di Figaro".
Deze unieke voorstelling, opgevoerd door Het Kofferbak Collectief, bestaat uit drie avontuurlijke musici: Klaartje van Veldhoven (sopraan), René Bekkers (accordeon) en Mattijs van de Woerd (bariton), met Michaela Riener (mezzosopraan), Charles Watt (cello), David Prins (libretto, regie) en Olga Verlee (dramaturgie). Het Kofferbak Collectief maakt reizend locatietheater waarbij de locatie het decor vormt. Na hun succesvolle mini-opera tijdens de Covid-zomer van 2020, brengen ze nu "Plastic Party!", een onverwoestbare muziekervaring gecombineerd met aardse, bij vlagen slapstick-achtige komedie. Kom meefeesten nu het nog kan!
SoliAmersfoort
Holland Symfonie Orkest onder leiding van Paul Valk
Klaartje van Veldhoven, sopraan
Seil Kim, tenor
Willem de Vries, bas
Capella Groningen
The Northern Consort onder leiding van Merlijn Wackers
Klaartje van Veldhoven, sopraan
David van Laar, countertenor
Jasper Dijkstra, tenor
Drew Santini, bas
Paaspop Klassiek onder leiding van Emile Engel
Klaartje van Veldhoven, sopraan
Simon Heerze, countertenor
Vincent Lesage, tenor
Frans Fiselier, bas
Paaspop Klassiek onder leiding van Emile Engel
Klaartje van Veldhoven, sopraan
Simon Heerze, countertenor
Vincent Lesage, tenor
Frans Fiselier, bas
Kofferbak Collectief
Klaartje van Veldhoven, sopraan
Michaela Riener, mezzo sopraan
Mattijs van de Woerd, bariton
Renee Bekkers, accordeon
Charles Watt, cello
David Prins, samenstelling muziek, libretto en regie
Olga Verlee, dramaturgie
Camerata Trajectina
Klaartje van Veldhoven, sopraan
Max Bruijns, tenor
Saskia Coolen, blokfluit en viola da gamba
Cassandra Luckhardt, viola da gamba
Arjen Verhage, luit en citer
In addition to being a classical soprano who enjoys working with orchestras, choirs and musical theater or opera companies, Klaartje is also a creator. She is regularly at the cradle of various projects that she realizes together with various musicians around her.
The Kofferbak Collectief creates small-scale, mobile musical theater. Their performances are high quality and accessible. It starts with rock-solid music, sung in Dutch. On this foundation, they build theatrical performances that literally and figuratively take place in today's world.
With minimal means (one trunk full), every imaginable location is briefly transformed into an opera stage. This creates space for a magical moment in the middle of everyday life.
The Kofferbak Collective consists of three adventurous musicians: Klaartje van Veldhoven (soprano), Renée Bekkers (accordion) and Mattijs van de Woerd (baritone). In the claustrophobic Covid summer of 2020, together with cellist Benjamin Glorieux, they devised an open-air mini-opera based on J.S. Bach's Bauern-Kantate. This Peasant Cantata, sung in Carel Alphenaar's masterful Dutch translation and provided with a thick viral wink by director David Prins, became an unprecedented success.
In picturesque country houses and farmyards, select audiences were treated to a glimpse of peasant life both according to Bach and today. An indestructible piece of music in a high-quality performance, combined with earthy, at times slapstick-like comedy: it proved an irresistible formula.
"Suddenly corona was not a limiting factor, but the impetus for something as brilliant as it is funny," Rahul Gandolahage said in the NRC (*****).
The Peasant Cantata has since been performed over 50 times in the Netherlands and Belgium. A sequel soon followed: in 2022, Bach's Kaffee-Kantate was adapted into Bakkie Bach, together with cellist Pepijn Meeuws and director David Prins. Bakkie Bach lightheartedly demonstrates that addiction and generation gaps are of all times. The premiere appropriately took place among the coffee bales of coffee roastery De Eenhoorn in Kampen, and a successful tour followed.
Also in the summer of 2023, Bakkie Bach will tour in many places in the Netherlands.
