Concert life started jerkily again in 2022, the flow of new albums was greatas ever. For those who couldn’t keep up with it all: these were thehighlights.
Peter van Brummelen, Stefan Raatgever, Frederick Berntsen and Britt vanKlaverenDecember 13, 202211:30
1. Stromae: Multitude
The fact that Stromae canceled his self-elected retirement was part of thebest musical news of the year. on Multitude he brings the sound of someonewho has entered into battle with his demons and steps out of the boxing ringvictorious. Darkness and light alternate in his lyrics at a rapid pace. Justlike his musical guises. Perhaps what Stromae does best in the world is makingstyles collide. Stromae drives you like a Formula 1 driver at a sprint pacealong all corners of his possibilities. Classical harpsichord, rap, baile funkand then a chorus that seems so plucked from Jacques Brel. To make you dizzy,but in a blissful way. Read back our review of Stromae: Multitude.
2. Rosalia: Motomami
She made her debut in 2017 as a singer who breathed new life into flamenco,but nowadays Rosalía, who comes from near Barcelona, is mainly involved withpop and R&B. She still sings in Spanish and is a big star in the UnitedStates, where people usually don’t like pop music in a language other thanEnglish. Motomami , her third album, contains spectacular music that is goodfor dancing, but also convincing at home. Typical of her status in the newworld: Pharrell Williams is one of the producers of Motomami The Weekndsings along (in Spanish!). Read back our review of Rosalía: Motomami.
3. Paolo Nutini: Last Night In The Bittersweet
Paolo Nutini let eight years and two months pass before he released his album_Caustic Love_ succeeded. The wait was not in vain. Last Night in theBittersweet turns out to be a mind-blowing trip of festival rock, soul, bluesand psychedelia with some breathtakingly good songs on it. soul ballad_Through the Echoes_ for example. Above brief instrumentation, Nutini (35)shows what a ridiculously good singer he is. Also memorable: Shine a Light.Played hypothermically, but initially with a threatening undertone. However, aglorious chorus transforms that shadow to full sun. Nutini’s fourth turns outto be his best work to date. Read back our review of Paolo Nutini: LastNight In The Bittersweet.
4. Froukje: Outrageous
It was – again – the year of Froukje Veenstra. She toured the Netherlands,performed at Pinkpop and Lowlands and delivered with Delirious a formidablemini album. She then perfected the formula with which she broke through: cool,driving electro with warm-blooded and resourceful lyrics. Absolute prizenumber turns out to be the duet with that other Dutch pop woman of the year:S10. He became eleventh at the Eurovision Song Contest on his own and singswith Froukje without a face, a duet for pop heaven. If, in two decades,radio retrospective lists of the best songs of the twenties state Without aface there is no doubt about it. Read our review of Froukje: Outrageousback.
5.Kendrick Lamar:Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers
Expectations were high for it mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. Kendrick Lamar– considered by his fans capable of winning a Nobel Prize one day – followedhis acclaimed Damn on with an ambitious double album, highlighting all endsof his musical spectrum. A journey of discovery through deep mourning (United in Grief ) and surprising guest appearances. That of Beth Gibbons ofPortishead is most impressive. At her side, he also dares to name a childhoodtrauma in which a family member ‘touched’ him. Unfortunately, things are lesssubtle on the track Aunties Diaries in which Lamar frequently raps about “fagots calling Caitlyn Jenner a “he.” Read our review of Kendrick Lamar:Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers are back.
6. Lucky Fonz: Celestial Bodies
Lucky Fonz is a fan of Bob Dylan, but also loves gabber music. Those extremesconverge Celestial bodies , the provisional highlight in the already richoeuvre of the Amsterdammer. Singer-songwriter music and pounding electronictones are, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, best friendshere. The music of Talk about it sounds almost carnivalesque, but the lyricsare as serious as anything. Lucky Fonz’s compelling advice to the listener: beopen about any psychological problems you may have – he knows all about it asan expert by experience. Read our review of Lucky Fonz: Celestial Bodiesback.
7. Taylor Swift: Midnights
On her tenth studio album — her fifth in five years, not counting her re-recorded earlier work — Taylor Swift takes her sound in a new direction forthe umpteenth time. After the – also very successful – acoustic folk pop of_Evermore_ and Folklore she now opts for modern electro pop. The substantivethemes remained the same. Swift never hesitates to put her soul on the table.Broken relationships, the pain of growing up and other life doubts dominatethe dark lyrics that coincide beautifully with the instrumentation of piercingsynthesizer beats. Read back our review of Taylor Swift: Midnights.
8. Tim Knol: Lightyears Better
Up the paths, into the lanes! Losing weight by walking a lot is now called theKnol method at our house. It will be a long search in the Netherlands for amusician who has covered as many kilometers on foot in recent years as singer-songwriter Tim Knol. Good for the body, but certainly also for the mind. Howis he doing now? Well, Lightyears Better So. And that can be heard on thealbum with that title. Americana the Dutch way, delivered with even greaterself-assurance than before and convincing in every song. Also very nice,especially live, is Knol’s current backing group The Wandering Hearts. Readback: Tim Knol from Tim Knol: Lightyears Better about the album.
9. Benjamin Herman: True Love’s Flame
Jazz that pop lovers can also enjoy. The highlight on this album bysaxophonist Benjamin Herman is a glowing cover of At Last I Am Free ,originally a rare ballad in the repertoire of disco group Chic, but best knownin the version of avant-garde musician Robert Wyatt. Furthermore has TrueLove ‘s Flame mainly to offer cinematic music: adaptations of existing piecesfrom films by David Lynch and Roman Polanski, but also own compositions for(yet) existing films. Will you also listen to this, film directors of theNetherlands. Read our review of Benjamin Herman: True Love ‘s Flame back.
10.Angel Olsen: Big Time
All The Good Times is called the song with which singer-songwriter AngelOlsen opens her sixth and by far best album. Any suspicion that a cheerfulsong is hidden behind that title is killed within a few bars. The whole album_Big Time_ is a serious matter, on which grief is a major source ofinspiration. Shortly after each other, Olsen lost both parents and there weremore problems in her life. She writes and sings it off in more thanmelancholic songs, which have one foot in the country and the other in thefolk. Read back our review of Angel Olsen: Big Time.
The best classical performances of 2022
1. Joey Roukens: Bosch Requiem, November Music (Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ)
Joey Roukens wrote the annual Bosch Requiem for November Music. A perfectbalance between modern and traditional music. In sixty minutes we seem totravel through an entire life cycle, but we start at the end instead of thebeginning. From dark, grim atmospheres we move towards a hopeful conclusion,in the form of a lullaby. A hit.
2. KCO/Monteverdi Choir/Gardiner: Brahms’ Gesang der Parzen (Concert Hall)
A wonderful concert is a celebration, but for real added value one wonderfulmoment can be enough – enough for the mind, for the week, for everything.There was such a moment with John Eliot Gardiner, the Monteverdi Choir and theConcertgebouw Orchestra. In the concluding line of Brahms’s Gesang der Parzen,a sound that gave you shivers vibrated, a pure sigh of the English choir.Divine.
3. Danish String Quartet: Der Tod und das Mädchen (Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ)
They were teenagers and loved classical music, one thing led to another. Thestrings taught Haydn to study and worked on their intonation. The DanishString Quartet is now an indispensable part of the world’s stages. InAmsterdam, the men played Schubert’s Der Tod und das Mädchen, intensely,directly and with great depth. The pinnacle of string quartet playing.
4. Iván Fischer: Entrée Essentials, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony (Concert Hall)
Ta-ta-ta-taaaa! “Now you get music that frightens you,” says Iván Fischer.Full of enthusiasm he accompanied a room filled with an audience of under 35through Beethoven’s Fifth. The audience hung on his every word. As if thechats in between weren’t entertaining enough, the orchestra was also in topform. Afterwards, there were drinks and dancing in all corners of thebuilding. Interested in classical music for young people? Entrée has theformula for success.
5. The Underground: NITE (Bostheater)
Club Guy & Roni, NNT, Slagwerk Den Haag and Asko|Schönberg joined forces forThe Underground. A multidisciplinary performance in which the audience wasshort of eyes. The nihilistic protagonist was played very strongly by Sanneden Hartogh, surrounded by extravagant, costumed musicians and energeticdancers. Together they formed a collective middle finger against theconformist society. Extra bonus points for Brendan Faegre’s rousing music.
Looking for more year-end lists? Go to ‘the best of 2022 overview’