This is even more offtopic than your post, Pim, but I do think the complacency of people like de Leeuw, and the resulting stagnation of contemporary music activity in the Netherlands, is one of the factors behind the Dutch government's current slash-and-burn policy with regard to arts subsidies, although of course it's a very minor factor compared with the agenda of the government itself. When I lived over there I often asked myself how long the situation would be allowed to continue where (for example) concert schedules were so swamped by the deluge of "new work" from any mediocrity who could write a few dots on music paper and thereby qualified as a composer... I think many people who ought to have been in the audience (including me) had already lost interest, and it was only a matter of time before the government woke up to the fact that they could save a few euros in their budget without much resistance except from people who can be dismissed as "relics of the sixties", like de Leeuw.

That makes quite depressing reading, it's exactly the same tone of philistine populism and trying to put the arts on a "businesslike" basis which has become familiar in the UK over a much longer period of time.

Is that the fairly small place somewhere in the grachtengordel? I've only been there once  but found it fascinating.

It didn't came as a big surprise to me, t-i-n:

http://r3ok.myforum365.com/index.php?topic=1332.msg125093;topicseen#msg125093

Perhaps our dear Moderators can combine the last messages (up from #34) from the Stockhausen recordings-thread with t-i-n's message and call this new thread Dutch Destruction? I can add many other wonderful examples if you like!









Now why doesn't that make me happy?

Many thanks, dear moderators.

I saw that Stanley Stewart gave us a "pointer": a film about Valery Gergiev.

An hour ago, I read that the Rotterdam Gergiev Festival will probably not receive money from the Ministery of Culture anymore. I've never been a great fan of Gergiev but I always thought that this festival was popular with the public. The commission advising the government said that the festival doens't add something new to the programme of the Rotterdam Philharmonic. Oh, dear! If this orchestra would actually DO something new (playing new pieces for instance) the commission would probably complain about empty seats in the concert hall. Now isn't that lovely?

This afternoon, the commission has published its views.

For those of you that are interested, please take a look over here:

http://www.nfpk.nl/adviezen_en_besluiten/index.php?id=78

So it's probably goodbye to the Utrecht String Quartet (remember that brilliant Arthur Lourié disc?), the Willem Breuker Kollektief (remember those lovely Kurt Weill concerts?) and many others, including Ton Koopman!

The reactions on Dutch weblogs and newspaper sites are very hostile and very anti-culture. You know: those free-market idiots.

I really like living in the Netherlands. The country that gave the world Big Brother and window prostitution.

I feel delighted!

Erm ...

Why was my post moved? It was started as a new thread in News and Current Affairs for the very deliberate reason that people might like to send an email as suggested in the message. It wasn't a mere anecdote to be combined into a generalised 'Dutch Destruction' thread.

You can always open a new thread, t-i-n.

Perhaps our moderators can move this thread to the News section? It's a bit strange to have this thread in the 20th Century Music section.

However, the problems facing the Netherlands Chamber Choir are also part of the plans of the Dutch government to "improve" cultural life in this country.