Topic: Leo van Doeselaar, Erwin Wiersinga, CU3, Groningen Schnitger, September 28, 2019

[Mandryka]

http://www.binnenstadskerken.nl/index.php/home/agenda/icalrepeat.detail/2019/09/28/760/11/grote-orgelmis-van-j-s-bach-van-doeselaar-wiersinga

I may go to this but . . . can I be sure of getting a seat? I don't want to go all the way to Groningen and find that the church is full. Or is it such a big church that it's a silly thing to worry about?

[Christo]

http://www.binnenstadskerken.nl/index.php/home/agenda/icalrepeat.detail/2019/09/28/760/11/grote-orgelmis-van-j-s-bach-van-doeselaar-wiersinga

I may go to this but . . . can I be sure of getting a seat? I don't want to go all the way to Groningen and find that the church is full. Or is it such a big church that it's a silly thing to worry about?

My brother in law happens to be the pastor of this Martinikerk (St. Martin's Church, the central 'old' church of Groningen, see https://www.martinikerk.nl/index.php/toeristen/month.calendar/2019/03/22/-) and I know it has about 1200 seats - probably more than the total amount of Dutch organ enthousiasts.  I can't imagine a crowd big enough to push you out of your place.

[Mandryka]

I will go then.

[Mandryka]

Ideally I'd like to go just for one night, leaving London at a reasonable time to get in Groningen for the concert which starts at 8. But this doesn't seem to be possible by train or by plane -- unless someone here knows differently!

Alternatively I could make it a two day trip, and stay in or near Groningen the night before.  Are there interesting things to see and do nearby or in another town with a decent train link to Groningen and a decent air link to London?

A concert on the 27th in Amsterdam or even Brussels or Antwerp would work, but I can't see anything.

[Christo]

Ideally I'd like to go just for one night, leaving London at a reasonable time to get in Groningen for the concert which starts at 8. But this doesn't seem to be possible by train or by plane -- unless someone here knows differently!

Alternatively I could make it a two day trip, and stay in or near Groningen the night before.  Are there interesting things to see and do nearby or in another town with a decent train link to Groningen and a decent air link to London?

A concert on the 27th in Amsterdam or even Brussels or Antwerp would work, but I can't see anything.

A direct train from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport only takes two hours, e.g. 15:04-17:12 (on September 28, leaving every 30 minutes), so I can't imagine why you wouldn't be able to do London-Groningen in one day. See: https://www.ns.nl/reisplanner/#/?aankomst=Groningen&aankomsttype=treinstation&vertrek=Schiphol%20Airport&vertrektype=treinstation&type=vertrek&tijd=2019-09-28T15:00

As for both concerts and city trips, you could think of Leeuwarden (half an hour from Groningen), Zwolle (one hour), Utrecht (close to Amsterdam, two hours from Groningen) or even The Hague or Rotterdam (both one hour from Amsterdam), Eindhoven, Arnhem or Nijmegen (about 1,5 hours from Amsterdam, all by train). And, BTW, there's also a Groningen Airport Eelde with direct flights to London: https://www.groningenairport.nl/bestemmingen-overzicht/londen

E.g. Utrecht: https://www.tivolivredenburg.nl/agenda/avrotros-vrijdagconcert-27-09-2019
Amsterdam: https://www.sinfonietta.nl/nl/concert/overzicht
Rotterdam: https://www.dedoelen.nl/agenda/17322/Shani_s_Sacre/Rotterdams_Philharmonisch_Orkest
Loppersum: There's also a special organ concert in nearby Loppersum (20 minutes from Groningen) BTW: Friday, September 27, 2019: Loppersum, Petrus & Pauluskerk, 4 p.m. After its restoration, the famous organ of Loppersum (ca. 1480-1562-1665-1735-1803) is put into use again.

[Mandryka]

The problem is to leave a London airport at a reasonable time (i.e not a flight which closes the gates at 8 a.m.) and arrive in Holland in good enough time to catch the Groningen train with confidence to arrive in the town before the start of the concert at 8 p.m. Fortunately all was saved the other day when I found a 10.00 am flight from Heathrow to Amsterdam  with KLM. I'll return directly from Groningen to London on the Sunday, or that's the plan.

It would be nice if there was an organ recital in Zwolle or Leeuwarden either the day before or the day after the concert but as far as I can see on the web, nothing's planned.

[Christo]

It would be nice if there was an organ recital in Zwolle or Leeuwarden either the day before or the day after the concert but as far as I can see on the web, nothing's planned.

There are a few around, on both days, all in medieval churches and towns. E.g. in nearby Ferwert and Loppersum (see before), Hasselt (old Hanseatic town near Zwolle), Haarlem (near Amsterdam), Delft. https://www.christelijkeconcertagenda.nl/concertagenda/Orgel/10. The translation engine & some more googling will offer am impression of the contents and whereabouts (I know little about organs and organists).

[Mandryka]

That's great, thanks so much. It's hard to say what these concerts will be like (why on earth don't they publish a programme?), in the one case the organist specialises in C19 music and in the other he's with a flautist. 

[Christo]

BTW, check this agenda for organ recitals (soon to be updated for September; translation will be easy). It has 1854 concerts for this Summer alone:

http://www.orgelagenda.nl

See now that under "ZOEKEN" (search) you can fill in your dates and see the present result: about 30-40 concerts on the days around September 28. Wish you good luck! 

[Mandryka]

It’s a move in the right direction, that programme site, but you still can’t tell what these people are going to be playing. That seems a great problem to me. 

[Christo]

It’s a move in the right direction, that programme site, but you still can’t tell what these people are going to be playing. That seems a great problem to me.

For those, and other 'details', you'll have to check the individual links (it offers).

[Herman]

Groningen is quite a ways from Amsterdam, but it's basically a college town, so I think you would survive spending some time there. Leeuwarden is a nice town too, a little more backwaterish, like the entirety of Friesland.

It's fascinating how countries, no matter how small they are, adopt the same perception of regions and distances as big countries. So in UK terms Friesland would be the Dutch Lake District and Groningen would be Scotland, or North Dakota in American terms. Just like Limburg would be Florida. People would say, you're going all the way to Groningen to hear an organ recital? even if they lived in Amsterdam.

I have a hard time believing someone would take planes, and trains, to get to an organ recital, but I guess it takes all kinds...

[Mandryka]

I have a hard time believing someone would take planes, and trains,

What??? Not even to hear CU3???

[pjme]

One warning though, and I definitely don't want to spoil your organ trip...but do check the NS website- the Dutch railway system - for delays, work, changes, technical problems etc.
I travel regularly from Antwerp to Utrecht (car or train) and increasingly am confronted with huge (= hours!) delays.

https://www.nsinternational.nl/en

and go to

Travel updates
Planned engineering works, service disruptions and schedule changes.

[Herman]

It's the paradox of a small country with a tremendously intricate interconnected infrastructure.
If one thing is blocked there are repercussions all over the place.

[Herman]

What??? Not even to hear CU3???

Frankly I had to think awhile before figuring out what "CU3" is, which kinda sounds like a software update from the nineties.

[Marc]

[…]

I have a hard time believing someone would take planes, and trains, to get to an organ recital, but I guess it takes all kinds...

Organ lovers from all over the world visit f.i. Groningen (city and province) to hear those historic instruments.
From the 1960s on already, the Schnitger/Timpe organ of the Der Aa Kerk was/is quite popular with especially organ aficionados from Germany. Also because Harald Vogel promoted the instrument with broadcast recitals for the Norddeutscher Rundfunk.
This summer, there was an Italian family at a concert in Leens. They travelled through the Netherlands and Germany just to visit organ recitals. It was their holiday trip.
In recent years, I also spoke with Americans who made an 'organ trip' though Friesland, Groningen and Niedersachsen. They consider the Dutch to be very priviliged… (which we are, actually).

To them, it's the same as Wagner fans visiting the Ring in Bayreuth.
But with organ concerts, there is less chance of a sold out house.

[Marc]

Oh, btw and fwiw... the concert was absolutely FAN-TAS-TIC, with a lovely choir that sang the chorals in between, accompanied by the pedals of the Schnitger et al organ, as a basso continuo. Van Doeselaar was faultless and very impressive. Wiersinga, who plays less 'historically informed' (more legato) was also in great shape.

[Mandryka]

I'm glad you enjoyed it.

In the event the train from Schiphol to Groningen needed three changes, including a bus ride, and I wasn't prepared to take the risk!

[Marc]

I'm glad you enjoyed it.

In the event the train from Schiphol to Groningen needed three changes, including a bus ride, and I wasn't prepared to take the risk!

I understand.
During intermission, I approached 2 dudes of whom I thought 'Mandryka? Is this the illustrious Mandryka?' and asked if they spoke English... they reacted like 'wtf'.

There were people from the western parts of the country though, especially for this concert. A man in a seat behind me had to drive 6 to 6,5 hours (outward and return journey) for 1,5 hours of Bach/Martini organ playing. It's worth it, he said.

To be honest: I don't plan my concert visits beforehand all that much. If something else good fun would have occured, I might have been elsewhere. But I don't regret my visit this particular time.