Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra to perform opera by Surinamese composer Johannes Nicolaas Helstone

Johannes Nicolaas Helstone (Berg en Dal 1853 – Paramaribo 1927) was an important figure in Surinamese cultural history as a composer, musician and a writer. His musical magnum opus, Het pand der goden (‘The pledge of the gods’) from 1906, had acclaimed performances in both Paramaribo and Berlin, then fell into obscurity. The Concertgebouw Orchestra is delighted to bring this piece of cultural heritage to the public’s attention once again. This performance reinforces the orchestra’s artistic policy, one aspect of which is to enrich the orchestral repertoire with unknown and forgotten compositions that deserve to be performed and heard.

The five-act drama tells the mythical story about a young hero, Olindo, who ventures into the realm of the gods to find his kidnapped sister Athlolinda. The opera will be sung in Dutch, with surtitles in Dutch and English.

The performance of Het pand der goden is not an isolated event. On 1 October 2023, the chamber music series ‘Bijlmer Klassiek’, a joint effort by the Concertgebouw Orchestra and Bijlmer Parktheater, will feature music by Helstone and other Surinamese composers. In the future, the orchestra will bring music by composers from the former Dutch colonies to the audience's attention more often.

Born in slavery on the plantation Berg en Dal, Johannes Nicolaas Helstone was one of the first Surinamese composers of classical music, in part thanks to his upbringing by German Hernutters. He graduated in 1894 from the Leipzig Conservatoire, and gave concerts as a professional organist, pianist and composer in Berlin, Paris and Vienna. Yet instead of further expanding his international career, he opted to return to his native land in order to help Surinamese culture develop further. He taught and was the organist of the Lutheran church and founder of the local Hernhutter Committee. He also wrote essays and studied the Sranantongo language, for which he created a grammar. In 1948 a monument to him was erected in Paramaribo.

The performance in February 2024 is made possible in part thanks to contacts between the Concertgebouw Orchestra and the composer’s descendants: John Helstone, who passed away in May 2023, and Astrid Helstone. The family has extensive archives which include many works by Johannes Nicolaas Helstone and his students, including Helstone's Het pand der goden. The archives are now housed in the Allard Pierson Museum, where they can be viewed by the public.

These performances are made possible in part by the Helstone Fonds, founded by Astrid Helstone and Diederik Burgersdijk. The goal of the fund is to facilitate research and performances of the work of Helstone, his students, and other composers from former Dutch colonial areas, and to increase public awareness of them. Bringing forgotten works by Surinamese composers back to attention is in line with the Concertgebouw Orchestra's ambition to enrich the concert repertoire with unknown compositions that deserve to be performed and heard on account of their artistic and historical importance.