It is an annual tradition at De Bijloke in Gent, Côté Jardin in and next to the Bijloke concert hall at the beginning of summer. In the large concert hall and outside under the tent there were six concerts, ranging from classical to jazz and flamenco. All free, which explains the large crowds. In addition, plenty of activities for children, who are always present in large numbers at Côté Jardin.
Many young families come to it. The largest musical picnic in Gent, it is called. People gather and bring food and drink. Logical, when you look at the bar's price list (€3.50 for a glass of water …).
Mysterious Bach
The families go with their children to listen to the concerts in the large concert hall. Things go differently there than usual. These little ones can of course not sit still for an hour, so children's voices sound between the Bach concertos. On the stage are the Boho Strings with soloist Gwen Cresens on accordion. A surprising combination. Cresens is not the first virtuoso to perform classical music on his accordion. The accordion as a small organ, you can play anything on it.
The Boho Strings from Borgerhout are incidentally a string ensemble that wants to break down boundaries. Not an orchestra that plays concerts that audiences come to, no, they go to the audience themselves. That is sometimes companies, or for audiences that would not otherwise go to the concert hall. They have a nice project for people with dementia. Today they play a part from their project "Bach Works in Mysterious Ways". Between the two Bach concertos they also play one of Villa-Lobos' Bachianas Brasileiras.
Listening Practice
After the Bach and Villa-Lobos, they continue with a world premiere: "Betsubara" by Gwen Cresens herself, a concert for accordion and strings, based on Japanese food culture. No difficult music, light and digestible, with here and there a touch of waltz and tango.
One and a half hours of sitting and listening is too much for small children. But it is precisely the spontaneity of the children that makes Côté Jardin so nice. Next to me sat a father with his toddler on his lap. He summed it up nicely: "When will it be done, daddy?".
So there is a different atmosphere in the concert hall than usual, but there are also listeners who continue to listen concentratedly and expect that from others as well. During the concert I was reading on my smartphone. When leaving, a stern gentleman addressed me and corrected me. "Was it interesting on your phone?". "Yes, thank you, I replied". He probably did not realize that I had practiced an authentic listening practice. In Bach's time there were no concerts where you sat and listened in silence. People sat talking, playing cards, drinking, reading the newspaper and smoking during the performance.
Petites Histoires of Big and Small
Outside the sun has broken through and under the canvas Myrddin & Helena Casella bring compelling poems by Lorca, with singing and flamenco guitar. After lunch, Petites Histoires is on the programme in the large hall. Like last year, De Bijloke has set up an original project with B'Rock and Paul Griffiths to bring people to the stage who would otherwise never come there. Last year it was about people with low incomes, this year about a dialogue between children and the elderly.
The children from Toverberg, a primary school in Gent, have been writing letters to the elderly at a care home for months. They wrote back and so an entire correspondence developed. From this they wrote all the texts and music themselves. They made it into an idealistic story, with songs about sand, clouds, the sky, Utopia, about love and friendship. It seems like an ecumenical service. Everyone sings along, an elderly woman does a little dance. Nice, but well-behaved. Where is the social dimension that was there last year? Last year there was much more bite in it. You heard the uprising of the poor in their songs.
Special about this performance was the bond between child and elderly. That is an enrichment for both generations. For children there is fortunately plenty of attention and care in our society. The elderly, on the other hand, often fall through the cracks in society, are patronized and discriminated against. Where are the grey wolves in these Petites Histoires? As original as it was, it was a tame affair.
Packed House for the Carnival
Later in the afternoon comes the main act of this Côté Jardin: Carnaval des Animaux by soloists from the Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen, conducted by concertmaster Jan Orawiec. How popular the piece is today, Saint-Saëns never allowed its publication during his lifetime, he found it too satirical and joking compared to his great works.
With the hall filled to capacity, the choir benches were also opened for the massive crowds of people. Beforehand, pianists Shuhei Aoshima and Abel Hox play Schubert and then they join in for the Carnaval des animaux. Masterfully played by the soloists of the Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen, but it could have had more staging for this audience. When the double bass began his solo, one could guess an elephant. The swan, everyone knows that. A chicken, a tortoise, a kangaroo… nice when you know the piece and can imagine the animal. But this audience would have enjoyed it more if they had received the order of the animals beforehand or during the piece.
Back outside for a chat with friends I notice some familiar faces. Côté Jardin is not only for young families or the all-round music lover. My eye fell on the legendary professor Walter Prevenier, a historian who had many thousands of students under his care at UGent. He is ninety years old. Music keeps him young. Long live De Bijloke!