Bargemon or Les Musiciens de Jacqueline (sold) oil on canvas (cotton) 60 × 120 cm December 2010
For many years Jacqueline Wezenberg has arranged Orchestra projects somewhere abroad. Both in the spring of 2007 and 2010 Bargemon was chosen as our destination, a village in the Haute Provence located near the city of Draguignan in Southern France.
In this painting I’m trying to capture the warm interpersonal atmosphere that developed over the course of these projects.
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My retirement in 2007 made it possible to take part in such projects. Both in 2007 and in 2010 the weather was extremely bad; it rained nearly every day and night during the week of our stay.
Most members of the Orchestra were staying in Chateau de Reclos, also our rehearsal space, every morning, from Monday to Thursday, from 9 am till 1.30 pm.
Thanks to everyone’s involvement in the beautiful music, the inspiring and very precise conductor Kian Pin Hiu, and Jacqueline and her husband Eef’s good care in particular, the atmosphere in the Orchestra was excellent during both occasions.
Transforming a chilly and rainy Bargemon into a sunny village scene is rather superficial; the warm atmosphere created, however, is not.
Reminiscences
2007
Otto Bentinck’s oboe solo in Bizet’s symphony 1
The Last Post on the evening of May 4 (played by Jos Vossen)
2010
My horn part in Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony 4, also known as the Italian
