Peter Eötvös, the renowned Hungarian composer and conductor who died Sunday in Budapest at the age of 80, was a much-loved artist at the Holland Festival. His work was frequently featured in the festival, including the operas Angels in America (2006) and Le balcon, the festival opening in 2003. 'Eötvös touches strings of melancholy', wrote the Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant at the time. In the Netherlands, Eötvös was best known as conductor of contemporary classical music with the Radio Kamer Orkest (later Radio Kamer Filharmonie) from 1994 to 2013. In that role, he performed at the festival, including a Boulez retrospective and a Richard Rijnvos programme. Eötvös worked extensively with composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. He conducted the world premiere of his work Michaels Jugend (part of the opera cycle Licht) at the 1980 Holland Festival, for instance. In 2009, Eötvös performed at the festival for the last time: as conductor of Varèse 360°, performing the complete works of this French-American composer in a two-day -programme.
