CORNELIS DOPPER

There is no other recording of this repertoire.

The Residentie Orchestra The Hague records exclusively with Chandos.

Matthias Bamert has won rave reviews not only for his Contemporaries of Mozart series on Chandos but also for his other recordings with the Residentie Orchestra.

All three works here receive their premiere recordings.



Cornelis Dopper was born in 1870 in Stadskanaal in the northern province of Groningen. His father was at first a bargeman, later the owner of a boarding house. Stadskanaal still has its Hotel Dopper. After the death of his parents, Dopper was left in the custody of a musician who lived with the Doppers and taught his young pupil the violin and the basics of music.

In 1888 Dopper left for Leipzig to study with Leo Grill and Reinecke. Back in the Netherlands two years later he earned his living first as a violinist in Groningen and then as a violinist, coach and associate conductor at The Netherlands Opera (until 1903) in Amsterdam. In 1906 he left for the United States where he spent two years as conductor of Henry W. Savage’s Opera Company, notably presenting the American premiere of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly.

After having visited virtually all the American states, Dopper returned to Amsterdam where Mengelberg invited him to conduct his own Third Symphony (Rembrandt) with the Concertgebouw Orchestra. The direct result of this engagement was his appointment as second conductor of the famous orchestra, a position he held until 1931.

The Second Symphony proves to be a genuine Dopper: thoroughly Dutch and sometimes a bit diffuse in its structural conception. The many repetitions of motives, tunes and phrases recall Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony. Time and again Dopper, too, is depicting the countryside, in his case the Dutch, and its ‘simple’ life of hard work, elating dance parties, solemn Sundays, and hope of a brighter future.

Päân I in D minor was written together with Päân II in F minor, during the First World War. Dopper catalogued both Päâns as Symphonic Studies. Both Päâns consist of a multitude of themes, combined in ever-changing moods. Päân I is predominantly heroic and full of life and the force of nature, whereas the overall impression of Päân II is sombre and tragic.

The Residentie Orchestra The Hague records exclusively with Chandos. Matthias Bamert has won rave reviews not only for his Contemporaries of Mozart series on Chandos but also for his other recordings with the Residentie Orchestra. All three works here receive their premiere recordings.

‘Matthias Bamert is just the man for [this] material… and Bamert’s presence on the podium reassures us that it won’t be done much better.’
‘Matthias Bamert and the Hague Residentie Orchestra… engage our sympathies. Excellent well-balanced Chandos recording in the best traditions of the house.’
‘…Matthias Bamert’s hands were just the safe pair it needs. His readings make as strong a case for Dopper as I’ve heard.’

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