Henriëtte Bosmans: Concertstuk

In March 2022 concertmaster Vesko Eschkenazy, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Santtu-Matias Rouvali performed Henriëtte Bosmans’s beautiful Concertstuk for violin and orchestra (Concert Piece for Violin and Orchestra). The work had not been played for 70 years, but during Bosmans’s lifetime it was played no less than eight times by the Concertgebouw Orchestra, from its premiere on 31 October 1935 with concertmaster Louis Zimmermann and conductor Willem Mengelberg to the performance in September 1951 conducted by Eduard van Beinum with the renowned musicologist and violinist Willem Noske as soloist.

In World War II the half-jewish pianist and composer was banned from the concert podium, after refusing to comply to the occupier’s demands. She showed resistance in her compositions. Seventy years after her death, it is time to get reacquainted with Bosmans’ music.

This single will be part of an all Bosmans album (RCO 23001, due for release 3 November 2023), also featuring the Violin Sonata and Piano Trio, where Mr. Eschkenazy is joined by the orchestra’s principal cellist Gregor Horsch and pianist Jeroen Bal.