Our second Concertgebouw concert was a complete contrast to the first - a piano recital in a dimly lit hall made it far more intimate. A masterful Russian musician, who doesn't perform outside Europe, was much admired by the audience. Our reward was six encores!
On the following night, Monday, we saw the final performance of Puccini's Madama Butterfly at the Dutch National Opera. The opera house is a very functional building when viewed from the street although the main frontage, onto a canal, is a wall of glass. Our stall seats in the 1600 seat theatre were fabulous. The production was very stylised and minimal which I enjoyed. Butterfly was performed by a Russian soprano who was in great voice.
All in all, our musical events in Amsterdam have set a high bar for the other cities!
Our tour director commented that our day time activities are the "fill ins" around the performances but we have been spoilt for choice!
Rembrandt, Vermeer and Van Gogh were the focus of the museum visits!
Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl Earring" is the star attraction at the Mauritshuis in The Hague. Always learning...
* there are only 32 accredited Vermeer paintings worldwide and
* the painting is not a portrait but a "tronie" - painting of an imaginary figure.
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| The Mauritshuis is located next to The Binnenhof - one of the oldest parliamentary bushings still in use |
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| Octagonal building to the left is the prime minister's official residence |
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| Another view...well the swan was cute. |
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| Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl Earring" |
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| Vermeer's "View of Delft" |
The Johan Rudolph Thorbecke monument in The Hague was unveiled in February 2017. It's a combination of marble and stainless steel. Description that I'm not sure is acchieved- "The statue conveys how Thorbecke’s ideas in the 19th century have influenced modern day Dutch society and governance."
The Hague's about 60km from Amsterdam and close to Vermeer's home town of Delft were we took a lunch break in Markt Square.
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| Colours of late spring - a copper beech at the rear of Nieuwe Kirk, Delft |
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| Town Hall and Markt, Delft |
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| Nieuwe Kirk, Delft |
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| Delft local brew! |
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| A recent article in The Guardian shows Amsterdam in miniature. Here's the Rijksmuseum |
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| Rembrandt's Night Watch - a big attraction |
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| Vermeer's Milkmaid - another crowd puller! |
A special exhibition was in full swing on the 350th anniversary of Rembrandt's death. What struck me was the range and amount of works on show from the museum's collection. Rembrandt used himself and those around him as models - here it's his father in two studies. Drawings were both small portraits and landscapes.
There's a huge blue and white collection....
Time for a selfie before a visit to the adjacent Van Gogh Museum...here are two of my favourites from the collection.
A great return visit to Amsterdam which grew on me the longer I was there....