Featured concert: The Sound World of Mozart at Concertgebouw

Jörn Boysen and Musica Poetica takes you back to the Amsterdam music salon of Mozart's time – with a special discount for the subscribers of the IamExpat newsletter. 

The Sound World of Mozart

This highly entertaining programme includes music, quotes from old travel journals and gossip from "Old Amsterdam." Discover the sound world of Mozart with authentic 18th-century instruments such as viola d’amore, fortepiano and clavichord. Back then, Amsterdam was the European centre for music publishers - for example, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons was first printed here.

Musicians travelled long distances to buy the latest music and give concerts in Amsterdam. The Mozart family visited Amsterdam in 1765. Some important figures in classical music even settled in Amsterdam, such as the Italian violin virtuoso Pietro Locatelli, who lived on the Prinsengracht.

During the concert, you will get acquainted with the most beautiful music of Locatelli, Willem de Fesch, Hendrik Focking, Bach's son Johann Christian and, of course, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Special discount code

A special discount when you buy tickets online. Promotion code: CM211031 only for IamExpat readers!

Exclusively for the subscribers of the IamExpat newsletter: Concertgebouw offers a special promotion code: CM211031. All you have to do is introduce this code in the last window when ordering your tickets, giving you the chance to purchase two tickets at the price of 55 euros while tickets last. (The regular price for two tickets would be 2 x 37,50 euros = 75 euros)

Jörn Boysen

One of the leading Bach specialists of modern times, Jörn Boysen is famous for his completion of Bach’s St. Mark Passion BWV 247. This Passion (Markus-Passion in German), is a lost Passion setting by Johann Sebastian Bach, first performed in Leipzig on Good Friday, March 23, 1731. Though Bach's music was lost, the libretto by Picander survived, and from this, the work has been completely reconstructed by Boysen.

The piece was premiered in Russia in 2017, with critics describing it as "holistic, stylistically consistent and emotionally convincing. Not only [his] profound knowledge of baroque music contributed to this, but also his unconditional talent, and I am only too enthusiastic about this experience.”

Harpsichordist, conductor and composer Jörn Boysen was born in Lübeck, Germany. As founder and director of Musica Poetica, guest conductor, soloist or continuo player, he regularly performs in many prestigious festivals, such as the Festival Mitte Europa, Göttinger Händel Festspiele, Delft Chamber Music Festival, Itinéraire Baroque and the Utrecht Festival Oude Muziek. Boysen has worked with Alina Ibragimova, Lisa Ferschtman and regularly records and performs with Antoinette Lohmann (Furor Musicus). Critics describe his harpsichord playing as "affective, dynamic and of délicatesse".

Have you visited the Concertgebouw yet?

It was Bernard Haitink who once praised the Concertgebouw as “the best instrument of the orchestra that it houses”. In the time that the Concertgebouw was taking shape, the science of acoustics was still considered a mysterious combination of many different and undefinable factors. Professional recording equipment was still being developed in the 20th century, so the architects at that time had only successful examples to look to for guidance.

As a result, the Recital Hall became nearly identical to the renowned oval hall in the Felix Meritis House, and the Main Hall (in terms of design and materials used) to the Neue Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Germany. In later restorations, the original design and finishing details of the halls were left intact as much as possible to preserve the sensitive world-famous acoustics. 

Get your Concertgebouw tickets

Get your tickets on the Concertgebouw website. Subscribers of the IamExpat newsletter are offered a special promotion code: CM211031. All you have to do is type this code into the final field when ordering the tickets, which gives you a chance to purchase two tickets at the price of 55 euros. (The regular price for two tickets would be 2 x 37,50 euros = 75 euros).

Thumb photo: Joris Jan Bos