DutchDivas in the 401DutchOperas book-I
The 401 Dutch Operas book Vol I charts the development of Dutch operas from Sweelinck to the end of the French Period. This development goes hand in hand with the history of Dutch singers, as most Dutch operas were naturally created by Dutch Divas & Divos.
Vol I begins with Sweelinck's secular song cycles from around 1594 and continues through the end of the French Period, during which composers such as Ruloffs, Meissner, Beethoven (the Zutphen birth legend is explored), and the Gouda/Frisian Jean des Communes predominate. Much has been lost over the past 225 years, but a number of singers’ names came down through time. These included Utricia Ogle (the muse of Constantijn Huygens), Rose Baptiste Anselme (the muse of Jacob Jan van Wassenaer and the audience of the French Theatre The Hague), Anna Davia (Diva in the travelling company of Domenico De Amicis), Princess Carolina (who probably performed Mozart's very first opera experiments from The Hague herself) and Ernestine Louisa Anderegg (muse and wife of Bartholomeus Ruloffs).
DutchDiva of the Moment
From Huygens & Utricia Ogle to Elly Ameling & Cyril Auvity
Homo universalis Constantijn Huygens composed the anonymously published song and psalm collection "Pathodia Sacra et Profana Occupati" in 1646. Huygens' primary goal was to impress his muse at the time, harpsichordist and singer Utricia Ogle, to whom the work is dedicated. The scabrous/amourous/masochistic songs (just listen to "Con la candida man") demonstrate his knowledge of the latest fashions in Italy and France at the time. Besides Boësset, Monteverdi and his idol Luigi Rossi also resonate. Since the collection's rediscovery by Aafke Komter-Kuipers in 1934, Jo Vincent and the contralto Annie Hermes have been gradually putting Huygens on the map. Several complete recordings are now available, including the 1979 EMI LP with soprano Elly Ameling and bass Max van Egmond, the 2000 NM-Classics CD with soprano Anne Grimm, bass Peter Kooij, mezzo Wilke te Brummelstroete, and tenor Nico van der Meel, and the 2020 Glossa recording with tenor Cyril Auvity. The 401 Dutch Operas Handbook I devotes over 14 pages to Huygens, the Pathodia Profana, muse Utricia Olgle, and the pathodia discography.
Musicians
The Musicians chapter covers artists that didn’t fit in any of the other categories. Here among others portraits of master pianist/ accompanist Coenraad Bos and female composer Catharina van Rennes.
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Conductors
Another focus point is on Dutch conductors of the Concertgebouw orchestra – Willem Kes, Willem Mengelberg, Eduard van Beinum and Bernard Haitink.
Dutch divas & divos
This website continues Joop Lindeijer’s former DutchDivas website. It covers a period of 350 years of Dutch singing, and features hundreds of biographies, discographies and photographs of Dutch opera and concert singers. Additionally, the website hosts hundreds of audiovisual documents.