The Treasure Hunt with Bas Wiegers

In this episode of The Treasure Hunt, Bas visits composer Vito Žuraj at his home in Slovenia. Together, they reflect on their ongoing collaborations and dive into Žuraj’s creative process - from experimental works involving chefs and theatrical soprano pieces to his upcoming violin concerto for Isabelle Faust. Žuraj shares how ideas emerge through a balance of playful exploration and focused execution, inspired by John Cleese’s concept of “open” and “closed” modes of creativity. The conversation reveals how collaboration, experimentation, and personal experiences shape his music - ultimately leading to a deeply personal new concerto that explores themes of emotional release and authenticity.   Links to recordings    Vito Žuraj - Ubuquité  Hélène Fauchère, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Matthias Pintscher   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncugzv9xYOg   Vito Žuraj - Iasus’s Remorse for Violin Solo Giorgos Panagiotidis  https://www.youtube.com/shorts/TZ1w178RRxY   Vito Žuraj - Hors d’Oeuvre for cook-performer and orchestra Daniel Gottschlich, Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Simon Krecic  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffxSWu0k4Mg   Vito Žuraj - Api-danza Macabra  WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cristian Măcelaru https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-phDfI7i_A   And the link to John Cleese’s lecture about creativity:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb5oIIPO62g

This time, Bas sits down with the extraordinary musician Patricia Kopatchinskaja - someone who refuses to stay in any box. They talk about why we play the music we play, how to stay curious in a world that prefers certainty, and what it really means to find truth inside a piece of music. Patricia shares why she'd rather ask WHY than play it safe, how working with living composers keeps music alive, and why she thinks the word "interpretation" might be missing the point entirely. A conversation for anyone who believes music is not just notes on a page - but something urgent, human, and alive.   The music you heard is here:  Enescu - Minstrel (impressions of childhood)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j3A7LqawvM&t=16s Illes - Vont-tér Munich Chamber Orchestra + Clemens Schuldt  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAbP1uJjPWY&list=OLAK5uy_lR_Q52Sgm9LQ_2ZC5FEYjRwt9d2FfiNgE Vivaldi - RV 191 Giardino Armonico + Giovanni Antonini  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxLu5Ym9fNU      

In this second of two episodes about De Materie (Matter) by Louis Andriessen, fellow composer David Dramm reflects on his close relationship with Andriessen and the creation of De Materie. He describes witnessing the piece’s early development, studying with Andriessen, and experiencing the premiere of De Materie in 1989 up close. Together with host Bas Wiegers, he explores the work’s signature elements - its hammer-like opening chords, mystical second movement, playful boogie-woogie references, and slowly unfolding climaxes - showing how Andriessen combined rigorous structure with raw energy, beauty, and humor. Music:  Louis Andriessen - De Materie played by Asko|Schönberg and Reinbert de Leeuw  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nNB6P-Q3PRGxAlesE6MVMuv0s-JJmc6D8

In the first of two episodes on De Materie, we explore Louis Andriessen’s groundbreaking masterpiece with biographer Jacqueline Oskamp. We trace the influences behind this pivotal work - from the pressure of Andriessen’s earlier successes to the political and musical ideals that shaped his 1980s style. The episode highlights the piece’s structure, its bold musical logic, and the key collaborations with Jan van Vlijmen and Robert Wilson that helped form its distinctive character. We end with a preview of Episode Two, featuring a former student offering his own view on Andriessen and his legacy. Music:  Louis Andriessen - De Materie played by Asko|Schönberg and Reinbert de Leeuw  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nNB6P-Q3PRGxAlesE6MVMuv0s-JJmc6D8    

Conductor Bas Wiegers interviews composer Márton Illés after two intense days recording Illes' new cello concerto with Nicolas Altstaedt and the Münchener Kammerorchester at the Bayerische Rundfunk.  They discuss finding a personal compositional language, balancing freedom and structure, the physical and acoustic reality of sound, use of electronics, and how collaboration and selflessness shape complex contemporary music in rehearsal and recording. The music played in the episode can be found here:  Márton Illés - Violinkonzert (2019)  Patricia Kopatchinskaja, WDR Sinfonieorchester, Michael Wendeberg  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzsGf8NebOg Márton Illés - Ljubljana24 (2018–20/24)  Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin Enno Poppe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1GbmfvlzKI&list=RDN1GbmfvlzKI&start_radio=1 

I speak about Charles Ives with the great Ives connoisseur Thomas Brodhead, whom I got to know when we worked on Ives’ Fourth Symphony with the Concertgebouw Orchestra back in 2012. Ives is such a fascinating composer and has been a constant inspiration in my life as a musician. At the moment, I’m preparing his piece Three Places in New England, which I get to conduct for the first time.    Links to the pieces:    Charles Ives: Country Band March  President's Own United States Marine Band https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avowzDI8uR0   Charles Ives (orch. T. Grahl, 2021): Walt Whitman - (1921) from 114 Songs Klangforum Wien, Thomas Hampson, Bas Wiegers  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqnO8dJJPYs   Charles Ives: Fourth Symphony  Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Peter Eötvös, Bas Wiegers, Ralph van Raat Private recording    Charles Ives: March No. 6 for Piano, with Here's to Good Old Yale Charles Ives, piano  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMW0r_ZxFm8&list=OLAK5uy_lE6Eb6U39_HOe_juxz9dJukRFRewUz3xs&index=41   Charles Ives: Three Places In New England - 1. The "St. Gaudens" In Boston Common Boston Symphony Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhbutHpwEh8   Charles Ives: They Are There!, second take Charles Ives, piano  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az0iNeRvNts&list=OLAK5uy_lE6Eb6U39_HOe_juxz9dJukRFRewUz3xs&index=39   Charles Ives: Four Transcriptions from Emerson: No. 1 (beg.) Charles Ives, piano https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c8lNFR5xWw&list=OLAK5uy_lE6Eb6U39_HOe_juxz9dJukRFRewUz3xs&index=1   Charles Ives: Three Places In New England - 2. Putnam's Camp, Redding, Connecticut Boston Symphony Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-Ytm0l0FTU   Charles Ives: The Unanswered Question  Ricciotti Ensemble, Leonard van Goudoever Private Recording    

Today I'm spending some time with the 93 year old Theo Loevendie, one of the first living composers I worked with as a student. I'm coming back to his music after 25 years, to prepare two concerts with the Concertgebouw Orchestra. We speak about his youth, his influences, and about the two works I'm preparing: Flexio for orchestra and Six Turkish Folk Poems for singer and orchestra.   Here's info about the music you hear:    Draaiorgel Sarie Marais - Appeltjes van Oranje   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgOlWzqXXnY   Glenn Miller - American Patrol  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAVejLjXVdw   Umm Kulthum - 1967, Live at the Olympia, Paris https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPGHpBOt5sE   Theo Loevendie - Six Turkish Folk Poems   Dorothy Dorow, soprano  Residentie Orkest  Ernest Bour, conductor  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU4090D14hs   Theo Loevendie - Flexio  Residentie Orkest  Peter Eötvös, conductor  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYxMTfeEbFQ&t=412s   Theo Loevendie - Venus and Adonis  Insomnio:   Carlos Galvez, bass clarinet  Bas Wiegers, violin  Martine Sikkenk, mandolin  Reinhold Westerheide, guitar  Ulrich Pöhl, percussion  (private recording)    Photo Loevendie: Teo Krijgsman   

I have a chat with Rebecca Saunders, who works very closely with musicians to find the sounds she loves. We speak about the new piece (Skull) which we have just premiered at the Achtbrücken Festival, but also about other pieces and musicians who have inspired her.    I’ve woven small fragments of her music into the episode. If you want to have a proper listen to the entire pieces, the links are below.    YES https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtuJLKb0Vwc Ensemble Musikfabrik, Juliet Fraser, Enno Poppe   DUST https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA2P7PQp0OU Dirk Rothbrust, percussion    SKIN https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkdODcg2Fmw Klangforum Wien, Juliet Fraser, Bas Wiegers   SCAR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BriQ35IrGxA Klangforum Wien, Julien Leroy 

For this episode, I spoke with Johanna Zimmer, a wonderful soprano I had the joy of working with many times. She works as a soloist, as a chamber musician, in the choir, in opera. We speak about this versatility and why she needs it in her life. We speak about words in music and how important they are for us as musicians. At the moment, we are working with the SWR Vokalensemble on a program with music by Ligeti, Feldman and Orlando di Lasso.    The music you hear, is:    György Ligeti - Three Fantasies: Wenn aus der Ferne  SWR Vokalensemble, Yuval Weinberg  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvJzdYziCic   Morton Feldman - Rothko Chapel  SWR Vokalensemble, Marcus Creed  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGQe3NsuvfM&t=636s   Orlando di Lasso - Lagrime di San Pietro: il magnanimo Pietro  Ensemble Vocal Européen, Philippe Herreweghe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeHZQ83oFQM   Franz Tunder - Ach Herr, lass deine lieben Engelein Johanna Zimmer, Ensemble with Fabian Wöhrle, continuo 

For this episode, I spoke with Enno Poppe. At the moment of recording, I am doing his piece Speicher with Klangforum Wien. We speak about deciding what ideas you want to put in a piece, Enno's love of idiomatic material and his close relationship to players, which is so important for the way he writes. We speak about the different roles we can have: in the case of Enno, he is not only a composer, but also a conductor, a player, and, of course, also sometimes audience. How does his persona change when his role changes? Is a conductor a different person?  The music you hear is:   Enno Poppe - Speicher (Klangforum Wien, Enno Poppe)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zR_43dJWjFw   Enno Poppe - Augen (Sara Maria Sun, WDR Symphony Orchestra, Bas Wiegers)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkiG3uWah1s