Ton Koopman will turn 80 on Wednesday 2 October 2024. To mark this milestone musically, he and his Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir will tour the Netherlands with Esther, Handel's very first and rarely performed English oratorio, with which the composer single-handedly created a new genre. Ton Koopman has compiled a new edition, which consists of a combination of a very early version from 1720 [HWV 50a] and the larger-scale version from 1732 [HWV 50b]. Esther will be performed from 19 to 30 October in Enschede, Utrecht, The Hague, Eindhoven, Amsterdam and in the foreign cities of Brussels and Budapest. It has been more than 10 years since Koopman made a major Dutch tour with his own internationally renowned choir and orchestra.
For the original performances of his oratorio Esther, Handel chose opera stars as singers in his time. Ton Koopman follows the composer's example and has invited young and widely acclaimed singers from the (baroque) opera world for this anniversary project. The leading role in Esther is sung by none other than the world-famous soprano Julia Lezhneva ('The Voice of Angelic Beauty' - The New York Times). The internationally acclaimed Dutch countertenor Maarten Engeltjes fulfills a double role in Esther: he sings both the role of the Persian King Ahasverus and the role of Mordecai. The role of the villainous Haman is sung by the German bass-baritone Andreas Wolf, one of the young male Handel opera stars of the moment.
CONCERTS
Za 19 okt 2024 Enschede Muziekcentrum
Ma 21 okt 2024 Utrecht TivoliVredenburg
Wo 23 okt 2024 Den Haag Amare
Do 24 okt 2024 Brussel BOZAR
Za 26 okt 2024 Eindhoven Muziekgebouw
Zo 27 okt 2024 Amsterdam Concertgebouw
Wo 30 okt 2024 Boedapest Bartók National Concert Hall
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