Holland Symfonia - A French Christmas

The chansonnier Philippe Elan is paying Haarlem a visit. Together with Holland Symfonia and maestro Jurjen Hempel he will treat the audience on his melancholic voice, singing only the most beautiful French songs. Combined with highlights from the French orchestral repertoire, this is a concert you won´t forget. How else should you spend Boxing Day?

Holland Symfonia, the Dutch Ballet and Symphony Orchestra, was created on January 1, 2002 from the Dutch Ballet Orchestra and the NoordHollands Philharmonic Orchestra. By their long history both orchestras gained a tremendous wealth of experience. This expertise has translated into a dynamic orchestra, which performs in various musical settings. Holland Symfonia has three main tasks: giving symphonic concerts, accompanying dance, opera and theater, and providing education projects and specials. The orchestra has the Philharmonie in Haarlem as home base for the concerts and the Music Theater in Amsterdam for the accompaniments.

One concert for € 6,99 or all 3 Christmas Concerts for € 9,99
Click on the ticket at the left side, to go to the checkout page

The premiere of this webcast is on December 28^th 20:15 CET

If you don't have the opportunity to watch the performance on the premiere date, you can watch the production up to 15 January as Video on Demand at a time that suits you.

Philippe Elan (France, 1960) followed music lessons from an early age. In 1985 he became acquainted with the Dutch world of music via the classical Gemini Ensemble. Elan established himself in Amsterdam to work on his singing career. A year later he won the first price at the chanson competition of the 'Alliance Francaise' institute. In 1988, accompanied by the Gemini Ensemble, Elan made his theatre debut. Together with this ensemble he produced his first album, 'Chansons Classiques', which was crowned with an Edison Award. Between 1992 and 2003 another five CD's and a DVD were released, and Elan gave numerous concerts in Holland and France with a wide range of accompanyingmusicians. After his successful theatre tour in 2002 and 2003 the album 'Du jaune, du blanc' was released in 2005. In that year Elan took to the stage of Het Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and directly after he completed two tours, accompanied by the pianists Cor Bakker en Louis van Dijk. Of these performances a CD and DVD recording were produced. This year Elan is celebrating his 20ieth anniversary: with an adapted program he tours the smaller auditoriums of the Dutch theatres, accompanied by multi-instrumentalist Reyer Zwart. For a extensive biography: www.philippe-elan.com.

Conductor Jurjen Hempel (1961) was a student at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague of David Porcelijn and Kenneth Montgomery. In 1994 he took part in a course for conductors in Tanglewood, where he was taught by Seiji Ozawa, Bernard Haitink and Lorin Maazel. His debut performance at the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest in 1989 formed the beginning of his career as conductor. In 1996 he was appointed as assistant conductor working for the Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest, alongside Valery Gergiev. In addition to having worked with all Dutch orchestra's Hempel has conducted many renowned orchestra's abroad. Apart from that he regularly directs at important European festivals. In 2005 he made his debut at the BBC Proms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He was also the first Dutch conductor to work with the Kirov Opera in St. Petersburg. For many years Hempel has been considered to be an important conductor of contemporary music. Amongst the many ensembles he conducted are the Asko Ensemble, Schönberg Ensemble, Orkest de Volharding and the London Sinfonietta. Since 2005 Hempel has been appointed as permanent conductor of the Ensemble Contrechamps from Geneva. For a more extensive biography: www.jurjenhempel.com.

Bob Zimmerman (1948) studied clarinet, piano and conducting at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. From 1982 until 2000 he was the pianist and conductor of the Dutch comedian Seth Gaaikema. As vocal coach Zimmerman was connected to the ensemble Montezuma's Revenge. In addition he is the permanent arranger of the Metropole Orkest and in-house composer of the TV-program ' Una voce particulare'. Zimmerman is especially known for his scores, among which the ' Adios Nonino', which was performed at the royal wedding of Willem Alexander and Máxima. He wrote music for stage, film (amongst others for 'De Avonden') and countless TV-productions. Apart from that he composed chamber music and youth opera´s. For Holland Symfonia he arranged songs for the successful production ' In de ban van Bannink' and the Christmas series in December 2007.

Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963)
Les Biches: Final

Dites-moi pourquoi (J. de Corte / E. van Altena / P. Elan)

Mon seul refuge (R. Cocciante / F. Bernheim / P. Delanoë)

Charles Aznavour - medley

Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963)
Les Biches: Rondeau

Après le froid (Y. Banai / P. Elan)

Donne-moi ton amour (A. Glenmark / T. Randstrom / P. Elan)

Avec le temps (L. Ferré)

Marieke (J. Brel / G. Jouannest)

Francis Poulenc
Les Biches: Rag Mazurka

Une petite cantate (Barbara)

La voix de Frida (B. Andersson / B. Ulvaeus / P. Elan)

Charles Trenet - medley

Ne me quitte pas (J. Brel)

Francis Poulenc
Les Biches: Adagietto en Andantino

Medley of French Christmassongs

L´amitié (G. Bourgeois / J.M. Rivière)

Mystère (C. Mattone / P. Elan)

Translations by
Brechje Klok-White