Henri Arends
Henri Arends (born May 8, 1921 in Maastricht , † August 6, 1994 in Lanaken ) was a Dutch conductor .
Henri Arends belonged to the generation of conductors who paid equal attention to modern, classical and romantic music.
Initially a violinist, he later took part in conducting courses at the Mozarteum in Salzburg under Carlo Zecchi and in the Accademia Chigiana in Siena under Paul van Kempen .
Even then he was noticed by his mature interpretations and his extraordinary musical memory. Wilhelm Furtwängler , who had seen him work with the Mozarteum Orchestra, prophesied a brilliant career for him.
From 1953 to 1957 he was initially assistant conductor and then second conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, under the first conductor Eduard van Beinum , and repetitor of Toonkunst Koor.
As the first conductor and musical director of the Noordhollands Philharmonisch Orkest since 1957, he attracted attention with his entirely new treatment of the large repertoire and his extremely original attempts to interest a new audience in the concert hall. One of these successful endeavors was the initiative for the "Heart Desire Festival" for adolescents.
As a guest conductor, he was celebrated at numerous concerts at home and abroad, where the audience, members of the orchestra and critics received him with sympathy, praised and admired him.
He has conducted the radio orchestras from Hilversum, Paris, Helsinki, the FOK orchestra from Prague, the philharmonics from Brno, Ostrava, Kraków, Łódź, Katowice, Gdańsk, Budapest, Innsbruck, Osnabrück, Aachen and the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra. He has also conducted several orchestras in South Africa (Cape Town and Johannesburg) and in the USA (New York and Baton Rouge).
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Arends, Henri |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Dutch conductor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 8, 1921 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Maastricht |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 6, 1994 |
| Place of death | Lanaken |