Rediscover Brel, Barbara, Aznavour and many others in a chamber music setting.
The beautiful French chanson repertoire is full of moving stories. Classics by personalities such as Brel, Barbara, Gainsbourg, Brassens and Piaf, on subjects that everyone can identify with. Café des Chansons tells them in beautiful arrangements, based on the string quartet. “Brilliant, this”, thinks Het Parool ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Café des Chansons consists of singer Charlotte Haesen and a string quartet. Charlotte – born in Amsterdam in 1987 and raised in French-speaking Belgium – studied jazz singing at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. On a beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon she sang French chansons on the Noordermarkt, where viola player Odile Torenbeek from the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra discovered her. Together they decided to make a chansons program for string quartet. It didn’t stop there. This dynamic ensemble has already released two CDs under the Challenge Classics label and can be heard frequently on Radio 4 and Podium Witteman.

In the press
“Beautiful, this.” – Het Parool ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

“A seasoned storyteller reveals himself before your very eyes.” – de Volkskrant

“Beautifully intimate and authentic.” – NRC

The String Quartet
In addition to Café des Chansons, the musicians of the string quartet are also associated with other ensembles and orchestras: Odile Torenbeek (viola) and Anjali Tanna (cello) play with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra. The violinists Giles Francis and Evelien Jaspers both play in the Ballet Orchestra, Nedpho, Aristos Quartet, Kamerata Zuid, and others.

Source: PLT Website