My singing relatives
My father and his two older brothers were also musicians. They worked in very different areas of the music world.
My uncles Reinier and Dick Schweppe sang together in the boys' choir of Amsterdam under the direction of Willem Mengelberg, performing Bach's Matthäus Passion, and later in 1933, under Stravinsky in Paris, they premiered Perséphone.
My father, Marius Schweppe, sang under the stage name Marius van Altena to avoid confusion with his older brother Reinier, who was very well-known at that time.
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Uncle Dick lived and worked abroad for more than 60 years. He traveled across Europe with a car and caravan to earn a living performing with various groups. He sang, played guitar, and bass guitar. He was self-taught and composed and arranged for a big band. He worked for many years with the dance orchestra of Hugo Strasser. He passed away in April 2012.
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Uncle Reinier was a very well-known singer and sought-after evangelist in Bach's passions during the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. He had a heroic tenor voice and could also sing larger roles such as Verdi's Requiem or Berlioz's Damnation de Faust. For many years, he sang with his wife, my aunt Fredy, in the Dutch Chamber Choir, and he is actually my predecessor in the choir. Uncle Reinier and Aunt Fredy have both passed away.
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My father, Marius Schweppe (better known by his stage name Marius van Altena), took a completely different path and is primarily known as a specialist in Baroque music. He was a professor of Baroque singing at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague for many years. In the 1960s and 70s, he was a member of the ensemble Syntagma Musicum. They gained fame with record releases and tours through Europe, North and South America, Australia, and Japan. In the 1990s, he was part of the ensemble Camerata Trajectina. He also worked with conductors such as Gustav Leonhardt, Philippe Herreweghe, Ton Koopman, Ivan Fischer, Jean Fournet, René Jacobs, Reinbert de Leeuw, and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. In his later years as a singer, he primarily performed with the Huelgas Ensemble of Paul van Nevel. My father has stopped performing professionally but often helps me as an advisor and producer for CD recordings.
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Reinier Schweppe Ne parle Pas met Radio Filharmonisch Orkest o.l.v. Bernard Haitink (1957)
Reinier Schweppe met het Radio Filharmonisch Orkest o.l.v. Bernard Haitink (1957)
Reinier Schweppe, O Schmerz uit Matthäus Passion van Bach o.l.v. Piet van Egmond (1963)
Marius van Altena, Egidius Waer Bestu bleven. Met Camerata Trajectina (omstreeks 1995)
Marius van Altena, tenor aria uit BWV 16. o.l.v. Gustav Leonhardt
Marius van Altena met Michiel ten Houten de Lange. Ardo e scoprir van Claudio Monteverdi. o.l.v. Gustav Leonhardt
Marius van Altena met Marianne Kweksilber. Bel Pastor van Claudio Monteverdi. o.l.v. Gustav Leonhardt
Dirk Schweppe In the old fashioned way. Met Tanz Orchester Hugo Strasser