Pianist Thomas Beijer was awarded the Dutch Music Prize on Thursday evening. In the Oosterpoort in Groningen he received the prize from Barbera Wolfensberger, director general culture and media at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. She replaced Secretary of State Gunay Uslu, who had to cancel due to a covid infection.
If it had been up to the committee, Beijer would have received a whole bunch of prizes on the side. They praised him as ‘uomo universale’, an all-rounder. ‘Pianist Thomas Beijer’ is therefore actually too short-sighted. Beijer makes music, composes, animates, writes books and screenplays and, if it is up to him, also an opera in the foreseeable future.
Also read this interview with Beijer: Pianist, composer, writer: Thomas Beijer is it all
Velvet ceiling
It Piano concerto in G by Maurice Ravel, Beijer is as cast as his suit. Like his appearance, his playing has a certain well-thought-out limitation. As if he’s worked out exactly how to start before his first note in order to stay within the margins further on; focus on a clear rhythm at the beginning, then it doesn’t have to be too sentimental right away. Start a little softer at the beginning, then it doesn’t have to be so loud later on. For example, Beijer keeps the most powerful notes in that woolly middle of the grand piano sound, just before it gets metallic loud.
The Noord Nederlands Orkest, conducted by Eivind Gullberg Jensen (starting next season the new chief of the NNO) does not continuously succeed in giving Beijer the necessary free space, partly under the influence of the difficult acoustics of the Groningen hall. But instead of solving that by playing louder, he sticks to himself. All he does is turn on the long sparkling right-hand run in the beautiful second movement every now and then for a fraction. So it’s as if he sticks his head out of a busy crowd to say wordlessly, but with a wink: I’m standing here, are you joining me? That works. You no longer hear that blazers are bumbling; Beijer knows how to attract attention without fail.
In his speech of thanks, the prize winner also showed himself to be a thinker, in a reflection on the statement ‘art is essential’. If communication is essential, so is art, because art is communication that transcends the boundaries of time. Art connects you to the hearts and brains of thousands of years ago, said Beijer with his warm baritone.
Conductor Antony Hermus, Beijer’s mentor in the music award training program, called him afterwards on Facebook “a true artist in the truest sense of the word: idiosyncratic, incredibly inspiring, eager to create and willing to bring out something special in others.”
Upcoming chef Jensen did not yet make a memorable impression at this concert. The Ninth Symphony by Dvorák after the break came out fine, but the orchestra and Jensen will undoubtedly coordinate their communication even better in the coming period.