Opening Rijksmuseum with Daniel Wayenberg (83)  and Martin Oei (17)

It took ten years to renovate the Rijksmuseum in the heart of Amsterdam.It opened on April 13 with a series of festivities. Queen Beatrix had one of her last public appearances and the national television broadcasted no less than three programs from the beautifully restored building. There was classical music to be heard too: the first Hungarian Dance by Brahms on a Bösendorfer grand piano in the library of the Rijksmuseum. It was played by a remarkable piano duo: masterpianist Daniel Wayenberg and the young pianotalent Martin Oei: 100 years.  In 2012  Daniel attended Martins Beethoven Fantasiasonata world premiere that was performed in he Concertgebouw and the duo then gave some encores. The duo decided to study a complete program for quatre mains and  will be touring in October this year.

In the autumn of 2013, the master pianist Daniël  Wayenberg and Martin Oei will perform five concerts together. The concerts take place in Utrecht (Vredenburg Leeuwenbergh), Amsterdam (Concertgebouw), Wassenaar (Wittenburg Castle), Voorschoten (Concert House) and Mierlo ( ‘t Patronaat ).

Daniël Wayenberg played several times with Martin in 2012; he was the suprise guest at the world premiere in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam.

 Click here for the action from the agenda of the National Postcode Lottery.

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Review LUISTER  MARCH / APRIL 2013

BEETHOVEN, NIEUWENHUIZEN
Pianosonates

Martin Oei (piano)
Zefir Records ZEF 963L. DDD-65′

Execution **** | Recording  ****

The Dutch musicologist and componist Cees Nieuwenhuizen is known for his reconstructions of Beethoven compositions which the master left behind in more or less detailed sketches. Out of Nieuwenhuizens hands emerged an early violin concerto and the sixth pianoconcerto. Recently the Fantasiasonata also called the ‘ Early pastorale’ from 1792 was recorded, based on the 1000 bars  in the Kafka sketchbook. This sonata precedes the well known numbered pianosonatas (from 1793 onwards). The Fantasiasonata was played for the first time in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam by the young pianist Martin Oei (1996). Despite his age, we hear a well balanced and robust piano personality.
This sonata is already completely Beethoven; we can only guess why he left the sketches unfinished. Nieuwenhuizen took up the challenge. What moments of intimacy to lead the masters notes into good tracks after 220 years. Time will learn whether this reconstruction will become part of the traditional Beethoven repertoire.
Nieuwenhuizen dares to combine the reconstruction with his spicy sonata ‘Fire and snow’ (1984). Here we hear a passionate Dutch Janácek. As a bonus this CD contains the definitive version of the Für Elise (1822): Für Therese.

Jurjen Vis
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(Review after solo recital february 10, 2013 )

Martin Oei revives young Beethoven

Appreciation: *****
Steenwijk

The young pianist Martin Oei performed Beethoven sonatas in the Rabo Theater this sunday. The recital was part of the series ‘Classic Masters’.
As a young passionate musician Beethoven broke the strings of the fortepianos of his era. He became an example for his contemporaries in the ‘Sturm und Drang’ period. The enormous dynamic differences appealed to the very young Martin Oei,a  talented pianist still studying at the conservatory, who performed two complete sonatas in the theater. He played the recently reconstructed Fantasiasonata in D, which was premiered at the Concertgebouw this autumn. Cees Nieuwenhuizen, musicologist and Beethoven expert, reconstructed the three parts of this sonata. Some of the themes can be found back in Beethovens 7th symphony and the Apassionata sonata shows many similarities in exposition of the themes.
The popular name ‘Early pastorale’ is quite appropriate, Beethoven was only 22 years old when he composed this sonata. He travelled in november 1792 from Bonn to Vienna to study at Haydns. Is that the reason why this sonata sounds so modern and playful? Martin Oei played this new sonata passionately with beautiful dynamic accents. He didn’t break any strings  on the Yamaha grand piano, the young and introvert talent was extremely tender, paying attention to dynamic differences between left and right hand. With his phenomenal musical memory Martin had studied the piece by heart within 6 weeks.
Is he the young successor of the 83 year old master pianist Daniël Wayenberg, with whom he regularly performs? On the program this sunday was another Beethoven sonata, commonly known as The Storm opus 31 from 1801. We heard a rich and fine tone in the strong passages, with beautiful thundering motifs. Nothing of the depressing Beethoven of later years, but crystal clear exposés. The right hand tenderly strikes the keys, while the left plays a clear and robust baseline. Martin Oei is definitively a big talent, his Liszt interpretations were of out of this world. This newly reconstructed Fantasiasonata deserves it to become a hit; a beautiful introduction for young people to classical music. Martin Oei in The Arena (edit: Ajax-soccer stadium) with thousands of listeners: this brilliant execution of the ‘ Early pastorale’ deserves it!

Dick Idema

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Beethoven Worldpremiere

Beethoven Musicologist Cees Nieuwenhuizen requested Martin Oei to perform the Early Pastorale, a recently reconstructed Beethoven fantasy sonata from 1792. The the world premiere took place on 21 october 2012 at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. Now a tour has started with concerts in Holland, Belgium and Germany (check out the agenda).

Cees en Martin have recorded the composition at the Zeeuwse Concertzaal. The CD is now available through Zefir, specialist retailers and CDBaby, iTunes en amazon. BBC 3 broadcasted the news on multiple occasions.

Ringtone 1, download mp3 (slow) and Ringtone 2, download mp3 (fast)

Click once on the following images or articles to enlarge them
   
photo: Conny Tiebout

NRC  October 16 2012          Brabants Dagblad October 16 2012
 

RTV Noord-Holland October 19, 2012

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