Classic Dutch: Cellist Anner Bylsma

Anner Bijlsma -©Keke-Keukelaar
Anner Bijlsma (© Keke-Keukelaar)

“Classic Dutch” is a panorama of classical music, composed or performed in the Netherlands through the centuries. Most of the music in this series was selected from among the huge wealth of recordings made by Radio Netherlands’ Music Department. In each programme, presenter Hélène Michaud speaks with a guest conductor, composer or music performer.

In this programme, one of Holland’s greatest baroque cellists, Anner Bylsma (1934-2019), reflects on Johann Sebastian Bach and, in particular, the never-ending debate about how Bach’s suites for violincello solo are truly supposed to be played. After all, we have no original manuscripts. With a career as solo cellist with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam and as a teacher at some of the world’s leading music conservatories (Berlin, Paris and New York), Bylsma brings some authority to the subject. So perhaps there is something to his speculation that maybe Bach’s second wife, Anna Magdalena, holds the key.

Producer: Hélène Michaud

Broadcast: December 27, 2003