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New CD: The Dutch Connection: from Utrechtsch Sextet to Hexagon Ensemble The sextet consisting of five wind instruments and piano is a colourful combination that has inspired many composers. In the 1920s there were even two professional wind sextets in the Netherlands: the Utrechtsch Sextet and the Concertgebouw Sextet. Besides these sextets, there was an even larger number of wind quintets in the Netherlands. Often these ensembles were made up of first-desk wind players from symphony orchestras. The best known Dutch wind quintet is the Danzi Quintet, an ensemble that from the 1950s held a prominent place in Dutch music life for a long time. Some of these wind quintets were regularly augmented with a pianist in order to play sextets. The Dutch Connection is a tribute by the Hexagon Ensemble to the Dutch composers who have written sextets, as well as to the ensemble’s predecessors who performed the works.
This cd is the fifth en last one in the series of Connection cd’s. About this CD | Listen | Our other CDs
Programs for the season 2010-2011 The Hexagon Ensemble has assembled some special and exciting programmes for the 2010-2011 season. You can find all information on these programs here. The Lady Macbeth from the Mtsensk district Following two successful seasons, in which the Hexagon Ensemble, together with actor Carol Linssen, presented the programme entitled Entretiens avec Francis Poulenc, the ensemble, in partnership with actors Carol Linssen and Christine Ewert, is now preparing a multidisciplinary programme for the 2010–2011 season, entitled Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. The two points of departure for the new project are Nikolai Leskov’s novella, Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, as translated by Aleida Schot, and an adaptation of the work for the stage by Carol Linssen and Christine Ewert. The members of the Hexagon Ensemble play music from Shostakovich’s opera, Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, based on Leskov’s novella, especially arranged for the ensemble by Kees Olthuis. In the resulting work, text and music form an integral, indissoluble whole – a fascinating evening of music and drama, not to be missed! This production was made possible in part by a grant from the Netherlands Fund for Performing Arts |