12th June 1947
American composer-conductor Leonard Bernstein made his first appearance in the Netherlands in June 1947 at the end of a European tour. Bernstein was supposed to conduct the Residence Orchestra in The …
16th April 1956
A vintage Radio Netherlands’ interview with a proud father in Amsterdam of five musical and artistic boys. The youngest, Christiaan, showed so much promise on the violin that by the time he was …
4th May 1956
The world celebrated the 350th anniversary of the birth of Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) in 1956. In this vintage radio report, Amsterdam fine art dealer Evert Douwes (1928-2019) and the director of …
14th August 1957
Early in his career as an artist, Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) lived in the vicarage of the village of Nuenen, where his father was the vicar of the local church. From 1883 to 1885, Vincent …
24th September 1979
This is few surviving recordings from the series “On and Off Stage”, a programme devoted to well-known personalities of the Dutch musical scene. Guus Geist meets Bernard Haitink, already …
1st January 1982
“Talking To” was a weekly interview programme produced in the 70’s and 80’s by arts and culture host Nevil Gray. In this edition of the programme, his guest was the gifted art …
9th March 1982
Radio drama is an old and illustrious art. In 1970, Radio Netherlands organised a radio drama competition to attract listeners in America. This play, “Post-mortem” was one of the winners. A boy …
10th November 1982
As part of a short series of Saturday Stage progammes, Jonathan Marks introduces a two-part programme on Paul van Vliet. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, van Vliet – a leading Dutch …
17th January 1983
These two recordings contain fourteen short presentations compiled and presented by South African activist, poet and literary scholar Dr. Vernie February. Born in South Africa in 1938, February lived …
22nd May 1984
This programme is part of the series Pete Myers' interviewsAs guest host of Talking to, Pete Myers meets one of Holland’s leading Dutch actors, Jeroen Krabbé. At the time of the interview, …
17th August 1987
This programme is part of the series VIP LoungeVIP Lounge was a series of portraits produced in the late 1980’s of well-known Dutch people who gained international fame for their professional …
5th October 1987
This programme is part of the series VIP LoungeVIP Lounge was a series of portraits produced in the late 1980’s of well-known Dutch people who gained international fame for their professional …
26th October 1987
This programme is part of the series VIP LoungeVIP Lounge was a series of portraits produced in the late 1980’s of well-known Dutch people who gained international fame for their professional …
8th December 1987
In this edition of our weekly arts magazine hosted by Nevil Gray, an interview with a Dutch radio producer who defied public opinion by broadcasting parts of a highly controversial play, boycotted …
10th August 1988
This programme is part of the series VIP LoungeVIP Lounge was a series of portraits produced in the late 1980’s of well-known Dutch people who gained international fame for their professional …
22nd August 1988
In 1988, the Rotterdam International Film Festival presented a programme entitled “The Cruel Machine”. David Swatling presents six filmmakers whose work was on show. The films are …
27th September 1988
The Royal Concertgebouw is one of the world’s greatest concert halls, renowned for its nearly perfect acoustics, and the host to performances by some of the most memorable musicians of …
27th October 1988
– Louis Andriessen’s composition: “The Tower”, piece for the carillion of the Dom of Utrecht – Neo-impressionist exhibition at the van Gogh Museum – The …
7th November 1988
In this unedited interview, Robert Green talks at length with Pierre Audi, artistic director of the Netherlands Opera, about the staging of the Wagner’s Ring cycle, why he wanted to stage it, …
7th June 1989
This programme is part of the series VIP LoungeVIP Lounge was a series of portraits produced in the late 1980’s of well-known Dutch people who gained international fame for their professional …
30th October 1989
Dutch writer Jan de Hartog (1914-2002) was just in his mid-20’s when he suddenly became famous throughout Holland because of the unprecedented success of his best-selling novel “Hollands …
12th June 1990
The great port city of Rotterdam is a close rival to Amsterdam, not only in football but also as a hub of culture, with world-renowned annual poetry and film festivals, as well as some of …
29th May 1991
David Swatling meets Ritsaert ten Cate (1938-2008), theatre director, and actors to talk about 25 years of the avant-garde Mickery Theatre in Amsterdam. Producer: David Swatling Broadcast: May …
26th October 1991
These are excerpts from the cultural magazine programme “Images”, produced by Nevil Gray. John Eliot Gardiner, conductor of the English baroque soloists on how to play Mozart Françoise …
21st February 1993
This week’s edition of Happy Station has a definite carnival theme. And Jonathan Groubert interviews Dutch singer Mariska Versa of the group Shocking Blue. Producer: Pete Myers Broadcast: …
13th October 1993
This programme is part of the series Pete Myers' interviewsDuke Ellington called him “my European son”. He was one of the leading presenters of music entertainment in the Netherlands: the …
19th December 1994
While some people are simply reminded of handkerchief designs at the sight of a canvas by the Dutch artist Piet Mondrian (1872-1944), there is no doubt that he was one of the leading painters of the …
15th August 1995
The most famous Dutch novel of the 19th century is “Max Havelaar” by Multatuli (pen name of Eduard Douwes Dekker (1820-1887). It not only became a classic of European literature but also …
14th November 1995
In the fall of 1995 and early 1996, the Mauritshuis in The Hague and the National Gallery in Washington D.C. jointly hosted a milestone exhibition that brought together the largest number of …
20th October 1996
In this unedited interview, Maggie Ayre talks to Dutch writer, poet, novelist and translator J. Bernlef (1937-2012) about his latest book translated into English. He explains how he writes, why he …
7th November 1996
In this unedited interview, Robert Green meets East German conductor (and at the time) music director of the Netherlands Opera, Hartmut Haenchen. The topic of discussion is the production of …
3rd June 1997
The Holland Festival is the oldest and largest performing arts festival in the Netherlands. Founded after the war in 1947, it first took place amid the optimism and hope after the darkness of the war …
22nd August 1997
David Swatling combines three interviews: with Nicholson Baker, author of the novel “Vox” (1993) on telephone sex, with Arthur Dong, documentary filmmaker, whose “Licensed to …
26th October 1997
Dheera Sujan meets Anil Ramdas, broadcaster, journalist and the most high profile Surinamese Indian in the Netherlands. In the 1870’s, Indian labourers from Bihar were taken to Surinam to work …
1st June 1998
David Swatling takes June 1st as a starting point for a series of letters (10 in total) written over the ages. The authors range from Frans Hals (fictional), Herman Meville, Vincent van Gogh, Oscar …
28th August 1998
In the fourth programme marking the 200th anniversary of the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum, David Swatling examines the masters’ menagerie. In the 17th century, Dutch painters depicted animals in all …
31st August 1998
In the weekly cultural program “Aural Tapestry”, David Swatling speaks with author Michael Kernan about his vivid recreation of the life of Frans Hals, who was perhaps the greatest of …
1st November 1998
We possess over 600 letters by Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890). Most of them are addressed to his brother Theo, an art dealer, and they contain a priceless record of Vincent’s thoughts about art …
8th November 1998
In this edition of our arts programme Aural Tapestry, we mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of the world’s most widely published writers, Erich Maria Remarque. He is especially …
6th December 1998
Mindy Ran goes in search of women painters from the 17th century who were equally good as their male counterparts. She speaks with the curator of the Frans Hals Museum and others, including Els …
1st January 1999
This programme is part of the series Stories of Our CenturyIn 1999, Radio Netherlands marked the end of the millennium with a series of 12 programmes telling the story of the 20th century through …
4th April 1999
One of Holland’s oldest musical traditions is the annual performance at Easter of the Passion of St. Matthew by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). Tickets for the performances of the Passion—an …
9th May 1999
As with so many born talents, Bernard Haitink got his first big career break when he had to fill in unexpectedly for the maestro–before he was even 30. Since then, one of Holland’s …
9th June 1999
In 1348, the infamous Black Death ravaged the city of Florence. One who witnessed and survived the plague was Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio, who used the experience to create a classic of Italian …
30th August 1999
Just south of Albany, New York, a beautiful example of early American Dutch architecture is being lovingly restored, using techniques dating back to when the farmhouse was originally built in the …
19th September 1999
The people who many of us refer to as “gypsies”, but who call themselves Sinti and Roma, are a small ethnic minority in the Netherlands, numbering between 5,000 and 7,000 at the …
7th October 1999
To mark the 80th birthday of Karel Appel, one of Holland’s best-known and most controversial contemporary artists, Mindy Ran paints a vivid, impressionistic portrait in this special edition of …
21st October 1999
In 1999, the famous Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague hosted one of its most spectacular exhibitions: Rembrandt’s Self-Portraits. Few artists in history have painted themselves so often. Why? If …
7th November 1999
The focus of this programme is “sound poetry”, which means the voice produces sounds rather than words. The Dadaists started it all in the 1920’s. Jaap Blonk is a contemporary Dutch …
9th November 1999
Anne Marie Michel looks at 100 years of architecture in the Netherlands from Berlage as the father of the new architecture, the Amsterdam School (functional as well as fanciful), the Style Movement …
2nd February 2000
Within 100 years of Johann Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press, The Netherlands was the publishing centre of Europe. With presses in Amsterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, the most famous name in …
3rd May 2000
The ornate present-day building of the Rijksmuseum, or Dutch National Gallery, is a major tourist attraction in the middle of Amsterdam’s museum quarter, erected at the expanding 19th century …
29th May 2000
In the mid-17th century, Dr. Franciscus Sylvius was a professor of medicine at Holland’s first and most famous university. The Faculty at Leiden paid double the normal salary to entice the famous …
18th June 2000
In this two-part series, David Swatling compares the tulip mania of the 17th century with the latest new economy hype. Producer: David Swatling Broadcast: June 18, 2000…
16th July 2000
David Swatling attends the modern Clowns Festival 2000 in Amsterdam. He meets the organiser and director of the Dutch Clown Foundation. as well as a number of international performers who talk about …
29th September 2000
In 1950, the topic of European unity was being talked about in Holland as much as it is today but for very different reasons. It was just five years after the end of World War II, and the Marshall …
20th October 2000
As part of her series on city rivalries, Maggie Ayre talks to Dutch poet and performer, Jules Deelder. With his Rotterdam heart, he hates Amsterdam, its mentality and its soccer club, Ajax. …
27th October 2000
In this edition of our weekly arts programme, David Swatling speaks about the challenges of translating a poem from one language into another. Dutch is not a world language, and poetry in the …
4th November 2000
David Swatling profiles English artist and film-maker Peter Greenaway whose latest film “Prospero’s Books” has just been voted best Dutch film. At the same time, Greenaway put …
31st December 2000
This programme is part of the series Chris Chambers meetsIn this unedited interview, Chris Chambers speaks with leading Dutch filmmaker Marijke Jongbloed (1956-2016), best known for her …
29th May 2001
In this new millennium, Amsterdam like so many cities around the world has been facing the challenge of building for an expanding population, a changing economy and new technologies. In these two …
22nd June 2001
This programme is part of the series Chris Chambers meetsIn this unedited interview, Chris Chambers talks to Herman Gordijn (1932-2017), one of Holland’s leading painters. He talks about his …
19th July 2001
This programme is part of the series Chris Chambers meetsIn 2001, Michael Dudok de Wit won an Oscar for best short animated film: “Father and Daughter”. Chris meets him in his studio in …
24th August 2001
This programme is part of the series Chris Chambers meetsChris Chambers talks to Dutch author Mies Bouhuys (1927-2008), who was a successful writer of children’s stories. She was profoundly …
27th September 2001
This programme is part of the series Chris Chambers meetsIn this two-part edition of “Talking it Over”, Chris Chambers speaks with Willem Nijholt, a well-known Dutch actor, musical star …
13th October 2001
This programme is part of the series Chris Chambers meetsIn this unedited interview for Talking it Over, Chris Chambers talks to one of Holland’s greatest violinists and, for the past 20 years, …
24th November 2001
Amsterdam has a tradition of violin making which goes back to the 17th century. It produced some fine violin builders whose instruments are still sought after today. This tradition of craftsmanship …
30th December 2001
In the fourth and last programme in the Collective Memory series, Michele Ernsting goes to the Jordaan, the famous Amsterdam district, to find out more about the residents’ passion for opera, …
6th March 2002
It was one of the most lavish movie theatres to be built in its time, a pioneering monument to the new medium of cinema, a palace for the dreams of movie-goers, from bored housewives to weary …
15th March 2002
An intimate profile of Antoine de Bakker. His name in Dutch means “the baker”, and he earned his living making the machines necessary to produce Holy Communion hosts. These very thin …
7th April 2002
Part Two: A Celebrated Master Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck was influenced by musical sources from all over Europe and combined forms and techniques to create new and exciting work. His reputation …
28th April 2002
This programme is part of the series Chris Chambers meetsIn this unedited interview, Chris Chambers speaks with Wina Born (1920-2001), a famous Dutch cookery writer who started her career in 1949. …
10th May 2002
Ariana Nozeman (1628-1661) was the first actress on the Dutch stage. Although she came from a family of thespians, this was a daring career choice for a woman in Calvinist Holland, given the …
13th October 2002
This programme is part of the series Chris Chambers meetsOne of Holland’s leading choreographers talks about what dancing means to him and working with Rudolf Nureyev. Rudi van Dantzig …
31st January 2003
This programme is part of the series Rivers of the WorldRivers are the cradle of the world’s earliest civilisations. Mythology and religion were born on their banks. They provide us with life-giving …
30th March 2003
Though he was first and foremost a painter, Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) had a deep love of literature, chronicled in great detail in the wealth of letters to his brother Theo. Some 800 references to …
5th December 2003
An excursion to Yerseke in the southwestern coastal province Zeeland in search of the perfect Dutch oyster, served up with a few old time recipes. Producer: Chris Chambers Broadcast: December 5, 2003…
21st January 2004
For her time, Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) was a modern, daring, scandalous, divorced woman who lived in a cloister and at the age of 52 went off to Dutch Suriname to fulfill her calling as a …
28th March 2004
There isn’t a Dutch person alive who doesn’t know the characters Jip and Janneke – toddlers who have all sorts of adventures that can be read out in perfect bedtime story chunks. Going …
31st March 2004
A montage documentary about one of the greatest of the Dutch Masters, Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) of Delft, using six of his paintings to look at aspects of his life and fame. …
7th December 2004
The Netherlands now has more than one million Muslims in an overall population of 17 million. Issues like the banning of the veil for women in schools, debates on female circumcision and the recent …
4th October 2005
More than 30 years after his death, the work of Dutch graphic artist Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972) remains popular around the world. His woodcuts and lithographs possess a unique quality that …
10th January 2006
Reinier Sijpkens travels around the world, making magic and music for children and collecting their laughter. At home in the Netherlands, he haunts the canals of Amsterdam playing barrel organ, …
2nd April 2006
Otto van Eck was just seventeen when he died of tuberculosis in 1798. His name and life had been totally forgotten until the recent discovery of his unique diary. It was started when he was ten years …
5th June 2006
Was he really a misunderstood genius? In the 400 years since he was born, the famous Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) has been the subject of ever-changing myths and projections in films, …
1st July 2006
Hundreds of years after he lived, the painter Rembrandt continues to affect the lives of people in our own century. In every generation, there are people who study his work, trade in it and try to …
3rd March 2007
A profile of Amsterdam’s most multicultural district, De Baarsjes, where locals are active with many projects to bring the community’s diverse residents closer together. Producer: David Swatling, a …
30th July 2007
© sueddeutsche/Koos Breukel and nationalgallery Gary Schwartz is a Brooklyn-born expert on Rembrandt and Dutch 17th century art. He studied art history in the United States, came to the Netherlands …
20th August 2007
Theo Jansen is a sculptor, kinetic scientist and designer of a new species called “strandbeest“, beach animal. Born in the dunes near Delft, Jansen’s animals seem to be alive as …
23rd August 2007
David Swatling meets this petite woman with platinum blond hair and an other-worldly demeanour. She grew up as an Earthling, named Shirley, later wrote her autobiography “From Venus I …
11th March 2008
Kristina Goikoetxea Langarka: “Twelve hours is a long time” After spending 30 years at an African mission post, Daniel returns to his home town somewhere in southern Europe. He has his …
11th November 2008
“Feelings without Frontiers” Nilgun Yerli is a Dutch writer and cabaret artist, born in Turkey in 1969 and who has been living in the Netherlands since the age of 10. She is the author of …
22nd November 2008
Felix Meritis is one of the Netherlands most remarkable and important historical buildings. Lying on one of the grandest canals in Amsterdam, it has been the centre of the Dutch Enlightenment, …
12th June 1947American composer-conductor Leonard Bernstein made his first appearance in the Netherlands in June 1947 at the end of a European tour. Bernstein was supposed to conduct the Residence Orchestra in The …
16th April 1956A vintage Radio Netherlands’ interview with a proud father in Amsterdam of five musical and artistic boys. The youngest, Christiaan, showed so much promise on the violin that by the time he was …
4th May 1956The world celebrated the 350th anniversary of the birth of Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) in 1956. In this vintage radio report, Amsterdam fine art dealer Evert Douwes (1928-2019) and the director of …
14th August 1957Early in his career as an artist, Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) lived in the vicarage of the village of Nuenen, where his father was the vicar of the local church. From 1883 to 1885, Vincent …
24th September 1979This is few surviving recordings from the series “On and Off Stage”, a programme devoted to well-known personalities of the Dutch musical scene. Guus Geist meets Bernard Haitink, already …
9th March 1982Radio drama is an old and illustrious art. In 1970, Radio Netherlands organised a radio drama competition to attract listeners in America. This play, “Post-mortem” was one of the winners. A boy …
10th November 1982As part of a short series of Saturday Stage progammes, Jonathan Marks introduces a two-part programme on Paul van Vliet. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, van Vliet – a leading Dutch …
17th January 1983These two recordings contain fourteen short presentations compiled and presented by South African activist, poet and literary scholar Dr. Vernie February. Born in South Africa in 1938, February lived …
22nd May 1984This programme is part of the series Pete Myers' interviewsAs guest host of Talking to, Pete Myers meets one of Holland’s leading Dutch actors, Jeroen Krabbé. At the time of the interview, …
17th August 1987This programme is part of the series VIP LoungeVIP Lounge was a series of portraits produced in the late 1980’s of well-known Dutch people who gained international fame for their professional …
5th October 1987This programme is part of the series VIP LoungeVIP Lounge was a series of portraits produced in the late 1980’s of well-known Dutch people who gained international fame for their professional …
26th October 1987This programme is part of the series VIP LoungeVIP Lounge was a series of portraits produced in the late 1980’s of well-known Dutch people who gained international fame for their professional …
8th December 1987In this edition of our weekly arts magazine hosted by Nevil Gray, an interview with a Dutch radio producer who defied public opinion by broadcasting parts of a highly controversial play, boycotted …
10th August 1988This programme is part of the series VIP LoungeVIP Lounge was a series of portraits produced in the late 1980’s of well-known Dutch people who gained international fame for their professional …
22nd August 1988In 1988, the Rotterdam International Film Festival presented a programme entitled “The Cruel Machine”. David Swatling presents six filmmakers whose work was on show. The films are …
27th September 1988The Royal Concertgebouw is one of the world’s greatest concert halls, renowned for its nearly perfect acoustics, and the host to performances by some of the most memorable musicians of …
27th October 1988– Louis Andriessen’s composition: “The Tower”, piece for the carillion of the Dom of Utrecht – Neo-impressionist exhibition at the van Gogh Museum – The …
7th November 1988In this unedited interview, Robert Green talks at length with Pierre Audi, artistic director of the Netherlands Opera, about the staging of the Wagner’s Ring cycle, why he wanted to stage it, …
7th June 1989This programme is part of the series VIP LoungeVIP Lounge was a series of portraits produced in the late 1980’s of well-known Dutch people who gained international fame for their professional …
30th October 1989Dutch writer Jan de Hartog (1914-2002) was just in his mid-20’s when he suddenly became famous throughout Holland because of the unprecedented success of his best-selling novel “Hollands …
29th May 1991David Swatling meets Ritsaert ten Cate (1938-2008), theatre director, and actors to talk about 25 years of the avant-garde Mickery Theatre in Amsterdam. Producer: David Swatling Broadcast: May …
26th October 1991These are excerpts from the cultural magazine programme “Images”, produced by Nevil Gray. John Eliot Gardiner, conductor of the English baroque soloists on how to play Mozart Françoise …
21st February 1993This week’s edition of Happy Station has a definite carnival theme. And Jonathan Groubert interviews Dutch singer Mariska Versa of the group Shocking Blue. Producer: Pete Myers Broadcast: …
13th October 1993This programme is part of the series Pete Myers' interviewsDuke Ellington called him “my European son”. He was one of the leading presenters of music entertainment in the Netherlands: the …
19th December 1994While some people are simply reminded of handkerchief designs at the sight of a canvas by the Dutch artist Piet Mondrian (1872-1944), there is no doubt that he was one of the leading painters of the …
15th August 1995The most famous Dutch novel of the 19th century is “Max Havelaar” by Multatuli (pen name of Eduard Douwes Dekker (1820-1887). It not only became a classic of European literature but also …
20th October 1996In this unedited interview, Maggie Ayre talks to Dutch writer, poet, novelist and translator J. Bernlef (1937-2012) about his latest book translated into English. He explains how he writes, why he …
7th November 1996In this unedited interview, Robert Green meets East German conductor (and at the time) music director of the Netherlands Opera, Hartmut Haenchen. The topic of discussion is the production of …
3rd June 1997The Holland Festival is the oldest and largest performing arts festival in the Netherlands. Founded after the war in 1947, it first took place amid the optimism and hope after the darkness of the war …
22nd August 1997David Swatling combines three interviews: with Nicholson Baker, author of the novel “Vox” (1993) on telephone sex, with Arthur Dong, documentary filmmaker, whose “Licensed to …
26th October 1997Dheera Sujan meets Anil Ramdas, broadcaster, journalist and the most high profile Surinamese Indian in the Netherlands. In the 1870’s, Indian labourers from Bihar were taken to Surinam to work …
1st June 1998David Swatling takes June 1st as a starting point for a series of letters (10 in total) written over the ages. The authors range from Frans Hals (fictional), Herman Meville, Vincent van Gogh, Oscar …
28th August 1998In the fourth programme marking the 200th anniversary of the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum, David Swatling examines the masters’ menagerie. In the 17th century, Dutch painters depicted animals in all …
31st August 1998In the weekly cultural program “Aural Tapestry”, David Swatling speaks with author Michael Kernan about his vivid recreation of the life of Frans Hals, who was perhaps the greatest of …
1st November 1998We possess over 600 letters by Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890). Most of them are addressed to his brother Theo, an art dealer, and they contain a priceless record of Vincent’s thoughts about art …
8th November 1998In this edition of our arts programme Aural Tapestry, we mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of the world’s most widely published writers, Erich Maria Remarque. He is especially …
6th December 1998Mindy Ran goes in search of women painters from the 17th century who were equally good as their male counterparts. She speaks with the curator of the Frans Hals Museum and others, including Els …
1st January 1999This programme is part of the series Stories of Our CenturyIn 1999, Radio Netherlands marked the end of the millennium with a series of 12 programmes telling the story of the 20th century through …
4th April 1999One of Holland’s oldest musical traditions is the annual performance at Easter of the Passion of St. Matthew by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). Tickets for the performances of the Passion—an …
9th June 1999In 1348, the infamous Black Death ravaged the city of Florence. One who witnessed and survived the plague was Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio, who used the experience to create a classic of Italian …
30th August 1999Just south of Albany, New York, a beautiful example of early American Dutch architecture is being lovingly restored, using techniques dating back to when the farmhouse was originally built in the …
19th September 1999The people who many of us refer to as “gypsies”, but who call themselves Sinti and Roma, are a small ethnic minority in the Netherlands, numbering between 5,000 and 7,000 at the …
7th October 1999To mark the 80th birthday of Karel Appel, one of Holland’s best-known and most controversial contemporary artists, Mindy Ran paints a vivid, impressionistic portrait in this special edition of …
21st October 1999In 1999, the famous Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague hosted one of its most spectacular exhibitions: Rembrandt’s Self-Portraits. Few artists in history have painted themselves so often. Why? If …
7th November 1999The focus of this programme is “sound poetry”, which means the voice produces sounds rather than words. The Dadaists started it all in the 1920’s. Jaap Blonk is a contemporary Dutch …
9th November 1999Anne Marie Michel looks at 100 years of architecture in the Netherlands from Berlage as the father of the new architecture, the Amsterdam School (functional as well as fanciful), the Style Movement …
2nd February 2000Within 100 years of Johann Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press, The Netherlands was the publishing centre of Europe. With presses in Amsterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, the most famous name in …
3rd May 2000The ornate present-day building of the Rijksmuseum, or Dutch National Gallery, is a major tourist attraction in the middle of Amsterdam’s museum quarter, erected at the expanding 19th century …
29th May 2000In the mid-17th century, Dr. Franciscus Sylvius was a professor of medicine at Holland’s first and most famous university. The Faculty at Leiden paid double the normal salary to entice the famous …
18th June 2000In this two-part series, David Swatling compares the tulip mania of the 17th century with the latest new economy hype. Producer: David Swatling Broadcast: June 18, 2000…
16th July 2000David Swatling attends the modern Clowns Festival 2000 in Amsterdam. He meets the organiser and director of the Dutch Clown Foundation. as well as a number of international performers who talk about …
29th September 2000In 1950, the topic of European unity was being talked about in Holland as much as it is today but for very different reasons. It was just five years after the end of World War II, and the Marshall …
20th October 2000As part of her series on city rivalries, Maggie Ayre talks to Dutch poet and performer, Jules Deelder. With his Rotterdam heart, he hates Amsterdam, its mentality and its soccer club, Ajax. …
27th October 2000In this edition of our weekly arts programme, David Swatling speaks about the challenges of translating a poem from one language into another. Dutch is not a world language, and poetry in the …
4th November 2000David Swatling profiles English artist and film-maker Peter Greenaway whose latest film “Prospero’s Books” has just been voted best Dutch film. At the same time, Greenaway put …
31st December 2000This programme is part of the series Chris Chambers meetsIn this unedited interview, Chris Chambers speaks with leading Dutch filmmaker Marijke Jongbloed (1956-2016), best known for her …
29th May 2001In this new millennium, Amsterdam like so many cities around the world has been facing the challenge of building for an expanding population, a changing economy and new technologies. In these two …
22nd June 2001This programme is part of the series Chris Chambers meetsIn this unedited interview, Chris Chambers talks to Herman Gordijn (1932-2017), one of Holland’s leading painters. He talks about his …
19th July 2001This programme is part of the series Chris Chambers meetsIn 2001, Michael Dudok de Wit won an Oscar for best short animated film: “Father and Daughter”. Chris meets him in his studio in …
24th August 2001This programme is part of the series Chris Chambers meetsChris Chambers talks to Dutch author Mies Bouhuys (1927-2008), who was a successful writer of children’s stories. She was profoundly …
27th September 2001This programme is part of the series Chris Chambers meetsIn this two-part edition of “Talking it Over”, Chris Chambers speaks with Willem Nijholt, a well-known Dutch actor, musical star …
13th October 2001This programme is part of the series Chris Chambers meetsIn this unedited interview for Talking it Over, Chris Chambers talks to one of Holland’s greatest violinists and, for the past 20 years, …
24th November 2001Amsterdam has a tradition of violin making which goes back to the 17th century. It produced some fine violin builders whose instruments are still sought after today. This tradition of craftsmanship …
30th December 2001In the fourth and last programme in the Collective Memory series, Michele Ernsting goes to the Jordaan, the famous Amsterdam district, to find out more about the residents’ passion for opera, …
6th March 2002It was one of the most lavish movie theatres to be built in its time, a pioneering monument to the new medium of cinema, a palace for the dreams of movie-goers, from bored housewives to weary …
15th March 2002An intimate profile of Antoine de Bakker. His name in Dutch means “the baker”, and he earned his living making the machines necessary to produce Holy Communion hosts. These very thin …
7th April 2002Part Two: A Celebrated Master Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck was influenced by musical sources from all over Europe and combined forms and techniques to create new and exciting work. His reputation …
28th April 2002This programme is part of the series Chris Chambers meetsIn this unedited interview, Chris Chambers speaks with Wina Born (1920-2001), a famous Dutch cookery writer who started her career in 1949. …
10th May 2002Ariana Nozeman (1628-1661) was the first actress on the Dutch stage. Although she came from a family of thespians, this was a daring career choice for a woman in Calvinist Holland, given the …
13th October 2002This programme is part of the series Chris Chambers meetsOne of Holland’s leading choreographers talks about what dancing means to him and working with Rudolf Nureyev. Rudi van Dantzig …
31st January 2003This programme is part of the series Rivers of the WorldRivers are the cradle of the world’s earliest civilisations. Mythology and religion were born on their banks. They provide us with life-giving …
30th March 2003Though he was first and foremost a painter, Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) had a deep love of literature, chronicled in great detail in the wealth of letters to his brother Theo. Some 800 references to …
5th December 2003An excursion to Yerseke in the southwestern coastal province Zeeland in search of the perfect Dutch oyster, served up with a few old time recipes. Producer: Chris Chambers Broadcast: December 5, 2003…
21st January 2004For her time, Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) was a modern, daring, scandalous, divorced woman who lived in a cloister and at the age of 52 went off to Dutch Suriname to fulfill her calling as a …
28th March 2004There isn’t a Dutch person alive who doesn’t know the characters Jip and Janneke – toddlers who have all sorts of adventures that can be read out in perfect bedtime story chunks. Going …
31st March 2004A montage documentary about one of the greatest of the Dutch Masters, Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) of Delft, using six of his paintings to look at aspects of his life and fame. …
7th December 2004The Netherlands now has more than one million Muslims in an overall population of 17 million. Issues like the banning of the veil for women in schools, debates on female circumcision and the recent …
4th October 2005More than 30 years after his death, the work of Dutch graphic artist Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972) remains popular around the world. His woodcuts and lithographs possess a unique quality that …
10th January 2006Reinier Sijpkens travels around the world, making magic and music for children and collecting their laughter. At home in the Netherlands, he haunts the canals of Amsterdam playing barrel organ, …
2nd April 2006Otto van Eck was just seventeen when he died of tuberculosis in 1798. His name and life had been totally forgotten until the recent discovery of his unique diary. It was started when he was ten years …
5th June 2006Was he really a misunderstood genius? In the 400 years since he was born, the famous Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) has been the subject of ever-changing myths and projections in films, …
1st July 2006Hundreds of years after he lived, the painter Rembrandt continues to affect the lives of people in our own century. In every generation, there are people who study his work, trade in it and try to …
3rd March 2007A profile of Amsterdam’s most multicultural district, De Baarsjes, where locals are active with many projects to bring the community’s diverse residents closer together. Producer: David Swatling, a …
30th July 2007© sueddeutsche/Koos Breukel and nationalgallery Gary Schwartz is a Brooklyn-born expert on Rembrandt and Dutch 17th century art. He studied art history in the United States, came to the Netherlands …
20th August 2007Theo Jansen is a sculptor, kinetic scientist and designer of a new species called “strandbeest“, beach animal. Born in the dunes near Delft, Jansen’s animals seem to be alive as …
23rd August 2007David Swatling meets this petite woman with platinum blond hair and an other-worldly demeanour. She grew up as an Earthling, named Shirley, later wrote her autobiography “From Venus I …
11th March 2008Kristina Goikoetxea Langarka: “Twelve hours is a long time” After spending 30 years at an African mission post, Daniel returns to his home town somewhere in southern Europe. He has his …
11th November 2008“Feelings without Frontiers” Nilgun Yerli is a Dutch writer and cabaret artist, born in Turkey in 1969 and who has been living in the Netherlands since the age of 10. She is the author of …
22nd November 2008Felix Meritis is one of the Netherlands most remarkable and important historical buildings. Lying on one of the grandest canals in Amsterdam, it has been the centre of the Dutch Enlightenment, …