This captivating 2008 performance of "Il Silenzio" features a 13-year-old Dutch girl, Melissa Venema, backed by André Rieu and the Royal Orchestra of the Netherlands.
In a cemetery about six miles from the Dutch city of Maastricht lie buried 8,301 American soldiers who died in "Operation Market Garden" in the battles to liberate the Netherlands in the fall and winter of 1944–5. Every one of the men buried in the cemetery, as well as those in the Canadian and British military cemeteries, has been adopted by a Dutch family who tend the grave and keep alive the memory of the soldier they have adopted. It is the custom to keep a portrait of "their" foreign soldier in a place of honour in their home. Annually on "Liberation Day", Memorial Services are held for the men who died to liberate the Netherlands. The day concludes with a concert, at which "Il Silenzio" has always been the concluding piece.Reposted for Memorial Day 2023.
She has an interesting embouchure. I'm surprised that her instructors let her get by with that. She sounds great so I guess she got the job done so they let her go!
ReplyDeleteIt's good to see our men being remembered for their sacrifice in defense of western culture and freedom.
A big thank-you to the people of The Netherlands for honoring the Allied dead of WWII buried in their country.
ReplyDeleteIt is heartwarming to know how the Allied dead are still honored in the Netherlands...
Deletehttp://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerikaanse_Begraafplaats_Margraten
ReplyDeleteSaluut.
Awesome. Thanks for posting that.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it have been great if she had not had to play that! Because that would have meant that the war in which that happened had not happened.
ReplyDeleteOr it could have meant that the soldiers gave their lives in vain..
DeleteThank you.
ReplyDeleteA very sad and beautiful place, tears for the brothers in arms, our gratitude.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it have been great if she had not had to play that
ReplyDeleteThe cost of WWII to the US was very high, even before Dec 7, 41, the loss of life on ships the u-boats sunk, and probably wouldn't have happened if the settlement of WWI wasn't so drastic.
ReplyDeleteBut that said the benefit to the US was immense. The nation was as united as it ever was, the government pushed the industrial capability to incredible heights(with borrowed money), and that was the last war we won.
xoxoxoBruce