Beethoven 5 and new Violin Concerto by Roukens

Ta-ta-ta-taaa! Anyone reading this reference to Ludwig van Beethoven's Fifth Symphony will immediately start singing the over-familiar theme. Today, listening will suffice, as Beethoven's complete Fifth is the dynamic finale to an exciting evening. Artist in residence of the AVROTROS Friday Concert, Simone Lamsma, premieres a new violin concerto by Joey Roukens. Another composer of memorable notes and the grand gesture.

It has been over twenty years since Simone Lamsma won the National Violin Competition Oskar Back. In that time, she has become one of the absolute leaders of the Dutch violin school. Known far beyond the borders, she manages to win over audiences and critics with her elegant playing. Lamsma "played splendidly, with crisp clarity and brightly radiant sound...," the New York Times once found.

Anyone talking about Joey Roukens cannot avoid the term eclectic. The Dutch composer is not one to be caught and uses everything he can use to tell his story. 'I try to embrace the entire history of music,' he once said, 'from the earliest Gregorian music to the latest techno music and everything in between.' It yields scores that dance and swing, sigh and chafe, but always speak directly.