Journeyers Rosanne Philippens, Julien Brocal, Lidy Blijdorp

• Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937): Daphnis et Chloé, M. 57, Tableau III:
• 1Daphnis et Chloé, M. 57, Tableau III: X. Lever du jour (Arr. for Cello)05:29
• Rapsodie Espagnole, M. 54:
• 2Rapsodie Espagnole, M. 54: II. Malagueña (Arr. for Cello)02:30
• 3Rapsodie Espagnole, M. 54: III. Habanera (Arr. for Cello)02:30
• Sonata for cello and violin, M. 73:
• 4Sonata for cello and violin, M. 73: I. Allegro05:00
• 5Sonata for cello and violin, M. 73: II. Très vif03:33
• 6Sonata for cello and violin, M. 73: III. Lent05:48
• 7Sonata for cello and violin, M. 73: IV. Vif avec entrain05:30
• Zoltán Kodály (1882 - 1967): Sonata for solo cello in B Minor, Op. 8:
• 8Sonata for solo cello in B Minor, Op. 8: I. Allegro maestoso ma appassionato09:18
• 9Sonata for solo cello in B Minor, Op. 8: II. Adagio (con grand espressione)12:21
• 10Sonata for solo cello in B Minor, Op. 8: III. Allegro molto vivace11:51
• Total Runtime01:03:50

Info zu Journeyers

Dutch cellist Lidy Blijdorp has long been in love with the music of Ravel, the magical sound world, the colours and imagery he conjures.

Ravel wrote very little for the cello, so Blijdorp made her own arrangements for cello and piano of Lever du jour (Sunrise) from Daphnis et Chloé and two movements from Rapsodie espagnole.

Award-winning pianist Julien Brocal is her partner in these skilful arrangements.

The delightful Sonata for Cello and Violin and Kodály’s great Solo Cello Sonata round off a programme that spans music from France, French music with Spanish dance as its inspiration and then ending the journey in Hungary with the folk infused masterwork that is Kodály’s op.8.

Lidy Blijdorp, cello
Rosanne Philippens, violin
Julien Brocal, piano

Rosanne Philippens
is an extraordinary communicator, with an innate musicality and an infectiously joyful yet sincere approach to music-making. She is in high demand across the Netherlands where she performs regularly in the major halls and series both as soloist and chamber musician. She is also a keen play/director and recently made her debut with the Orchestre National de Lyon leading the orchestra in a hugely successful performance of The Seasons by Vivaldi and Piazzolla in Lyon’s Auditorium receiving the highest praise from players and management. Philippens’s playing is refined, exuberant and profound, and was described by the Dutch daily paper De Telegraaf as “energetic, sensitive and flawless.”

Recent highlights include performances with the Rotterdam Philharmonic at De Doelen, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic in the prestigious Zaterdag Matinee series and the Residentie Orkest both in The Hague and at the Concertgebouw Hall, Amsterdam. Elsewhere Philippens has played with the Barcelona Symphony, Ulster Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, Winnipeg Symphony and with orchestras across Germany, Finland and Switzerland, with conductors including Nézet-Séguin, Foster, Tausk, de Vriend, Hermus and Collon.

In recital and chamber music, Philippens plays regularly with artists such as István Vardai, Vilde Frang, Julien Quentin, Vikingúr Olafsson, Amihai Grosz, Camille Thomas and Zoltán Fejérvári in festivals and halls across Europe. A strong believer in breaking down barriers in classical music, she runs her own concert series ‘The Amsterdam Salon Pop-Up’, presenting high-quality concerts in carefully sought-out and unusual locations in an intimate salon atmosphere.

Philippens records exclusively for Channel Classics and all her recordings have received glowing praise. Her latest CD 'Insight' represents the culmination of a very special and personal journey for Philippens; the choice of works by Bach, Enescu and Biber and the order in which they were recorded was inspired directly by the feedback gathered from audience members during a solo European tour. The Strad has described the CD as being “both softly spoken and intensely powerful” and Philippens as a “dazzling performer”. Earlier albums include 'Dedications', featuring works by Kreisler, Fauré and Ysaye, and a recording of Prokofiev’s 2nd Concerto, described by BBC Magazine as “a triumph”.

Philippens was taught from an early age by Anneke Schilt at the Amstelveen music school. She continued her studies at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and the Hanns Eisler Academy in Berlin with Coosje Wijzenbeek, Vera Beths, Anner Bylsma and Ulf Wallin, receiving the highest distinction from both institutes. Philippens won first prize at the Dutch National Violin Competition in 2009 and the Freiburg International Violin Competition in 2014.

Philippens plays on the 1727 "Barrere" Stradivarius, thanks to the generous support of the Elise Mathilde Foundation.

Lidy Blijdorp
studied with Monique Bartels (Royal Conservatory, The Hague), Michel Strauss (Conservatoire National Supérieure de Paris) and Gary Hoffman (Queen Elisabeth Chapel). She received lessons from Anner Bylsma, Dmitri Ferschtman and Richard Aaron.

Lidy won prizes at several competitions: the Cello Biënnale Amsterdam, the Grachtenfestival Competition, the Princess Christina Competition and, with her string quartet, the Charles Hennen International Competition. In the summer of 2014 she won the Prix Académie Maurice Ravel (France).

Blijdorp plays at festivals such as the Janine Jansen Festival Utrecht, the Grachtenfestival Amsterdam and the Cello Biënnale Amsterdam. She also gave recitals in Belgium (Brussels Bozar, Flagey), France (Theatre des Bouffes du Nord, Paris; Auditorium Maurice Ravel, St. Jean de Luz; La Lucarne, Arradon) and Japan (Kinan Hall,

Wakayama; Bamboo Hall, Tokyo). In September 2015 she gave a Beethoven-recital with Maria João Pires in Madrid (Auditorio Nacional).

As a soloist she has played with various orchestras. In 2013 she was invited to play the Dvorák cello concerto and the premiere of the Russian composer Sergej Yevtushenko, with the State Hermitage Orchestra (Hermitage Theatre, St. Petersburg). She also played with the Orchestre de Chambre de Wallonie (Bozar, Brussels, 2014), the Liège Philharmonic Orchestra (Flagey, Brussels; Salle Philharmonique, Liège, 2014), Camerata Amsterdam (2016) and the Netherlands Wind Ensemble (2016, Vredenburg).

In april 2017 she made a tour with the NESKO. In 2018 she gave solo performances with the Orchestra of the 18th Century and with the “Orkest van het Oosten”. In June 2019 she played the Rococo Variations with the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra.

Two cello pieces have been dedicated to Lidy Blijdorp: ‘Lidy’s Piece’ by Australian composer Kate Moore and ‘Cello Song – ‘What if’ by Dutch composer Ig Henneman.

Lidy plays the Italian cello of Anner Bylsma, on loan from the Dutch National Musical Instrument Fund.

Julien Brocal
Born in 1987 in Arles, France, Julien began learning the piano at the age of five. He was taught by Erik Berchot and Rena Shereshevskaya at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris Alfred Cortot and in 2013 began working with Maria João Pires at the Cité de la Musique in Paris. She subsequently invited him to continue his studies at the Queen Elisabeth Musical Chapel in Belgium and to be one of the founding members of the Partitura Project.

Maria and Julien have performed together all over the world, with performances at the Chopin Festival (Warsaw), Auditorium Teatro dell’Opera di Firenze (Florence), Sheldonian Theatre (Oxford), Severance Hall (Cleveland) and Tippet Rise Art Centre (Montana). In addition, they have also given many workshops together and launched educational and social programs for children (including Equinox). Highlights of Julien’s 17/18 season include recitals at the Festival Classique au Vert, Piano aux Jacobins and the Philharmonie de Paris.

Julien is now resident in Belgais, at the Centre for Arts created by Maria, and his first solo recording (of works by Chopin) was released in January 2017 by Rubicon Classics. The recording was received with critical acclaim by the international press, notably BBC Music Magazine which called it “Spellbinding Chopin”, gave it 5 stars and featured it as its ‘Instrumental Choice’ album of the month. Julien’s next album will be released in 2018, again on Rubicon Classics, and feature works by Ravel and Mompou.

Booklet für Journeyers