I would like to live to be a hundred (2012)

Directed by: Paul Hegeman | 72 minutes | documentary| With: Ton Koopman, Tini Mathot, Jordi Savall, Klaus Mertens, Iestyn Davies, Christina Landshamer

Conductor, organist, harpsichordist and music teacher Ton Koopman is such a typical example of Dutch glory that seems to go beyond the homeland. Koopman is especially known worldwide as a master in the performance of baroque music (including Bach). Koopman is a rewarding main subject for documentary maker Paul Hegeman for several reasons. Born in Zwolle, he is a completely authentic figure, who shows nothing but passion and perfectionism for his niche in the arts and leaves the practical rest to his life partner Tini Mathot, who pays a lot of attention in this documentary. At the same time, Koopman turns out to be far from an unworldly, sectarian artist, but a strict, fair teacher with a non-conformist view. Does pop music change the performance of age-old pieces? Yes, Koopman says, because by listening to it, a different sense of rhythm settles in the performers’ constitution. The result is a round of applause from the audience; everywhere Koopman goes, the respect is immense, without him having to impose himself.

We learn this in just under an hour, in which anecdotal dramatization is done to make a point. The viewer falls in the middle of the story, when, according to Tini, the immense Ton has once again stuffed his airplane suitcase too full. Hegeman followed Koopman and his wife – also a harpsichordist and a former student – ​​for a year. Now the camera is pointed at a possessed conductor Koopman; then again we spy on him in a moment of emotion when cellist Jordi Savall plays his instrument like a harp. It is one of the few poignant moments in the documentary, but that matters little because Koopman appears above all to be a tireless doer, cleverly captured by Hegeman in filming the musician in transit. We see a stiff, introverted man who saves all his energy and qualities for the rehearsal, performance or lecture to which he is headed. Koopman gratefully wallows in the attention that falls to him, but only because of the beauty he passes on, as a self-proclaimed ‘accomplice of the composer’. We don’t doubt it for a moment.