From October 22 to 29, 2010, the festival will celebrate the Russian composer Shostakovich (Saint Petersburg, 1906-1975). Seven days of music among the most beautiful perched villages of the Var hinterland (Bagnols-en-Forêt, Callian, Fayence, Mons, Montauroux, Saint-Paul-en-Forêt, Seillans, Tanneron, Tourrettes) and a closing “azurean” evening in Saint-Raphaël, with the Brodsky (England), Debussy (France), Meta4 (Finland), Modigliani (France), Auryn (Germany), Danel (France/Belgium), and Prazák (Czech Republic) quartets, and the pianist Miguel Borges Coelho (Portugal).
-Master class by Miguel da Silva
October 25 to 27 – St Raphael
-Artistic direction, Daniel Bizien
The perched villages of the Fayence area host every October the world’s greatest quartets. Each evening, a different quartet performs in a different village. A meeting of the beauty of the places and the music for an audience particularly appreciated by the musicians…
Fifteen symphonies, fifteen quartets, Shostakovich equally devoted himself to both the grand form and the “quintessence of music” that is the string quartet. The symphonies span from 1926 to 1971. The first quartet dates from 1938 and the last one from 1974, a year before the composer’s death.
Forming the soil of his indispensable “secret garden,” his personal creative breathing space, the approach to the string quartet corresponded to his maturity. He only undertook it after deepening his writing with the masters of the genre, primarily Haydn and Beethoven, and taking into account the legacy of the Russian school, especially Borodin, Mussorgsky, and Tchaikovsky.
For the 20th century, alongside Bartók’s six quartets, no work is as rich and accomplished.
It was not easy to program the complete works, but each evening a Shostakovich quartet will be performed. To this end, the Brodsky, Debussy, Meta4, Modigliani, Auryn, Danel, and Pražák quartets will perform numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 15.
And, at the conclusion of this 23rd String Quartet Festival in the Fayence region, the Pražák, along with pianist Miguel Borges Coelho, will perform the splendid Quintet in G minor Opus 57, composed during the summer of 1940. Thus, his entire body of work for quartet will be covered, from the first to the last.
Miguel da Silva’s Master Class
The Master Class will be given by Miguel da Silva, violist, founding member of the Ysaÿe Quartet, professor at the Haute École de Musique in Geneva, at Saint-Raphaël from Tuesday, October 25 to Thursday, October 27. It will be open to formed quartets that, after a public lesson on Thursday, October 27, will participate in a concert on Friday, October 28, at the church of Saint-Paul-en-Forêt as part of the Festival.
A chamber music / ensemble music session
Parallel to the Master Class by Miguel da Silva, a chamber music session will also take place from October 25 to 27, at the Cultural Center of Saint-Raphaël. It will be led by Janette-Filippas Pantin, chamber music professor at the Toulon Provence Méditerranée Regional Conservatory, and Jean-Michel Bossini, composer and professor at the Municipal Music School of Saint-Raphaël. This session will be widely open to students from music schools and conservatories, regardless of their instrument or age.
-THE PROGRAM
Saturday, October 22
4 PM | Tanneron Animation Hall | Concert-lecture | DEBUSSY QUARTET (France)
9 PM | Fayence Church | BRODSKY QUARTET (England)
> Sunday, October 23
9 PM | Montauroux Church | DEBUSSY QUARTET (France)
>> Monday, October 24
9 PM | Mons Church | QUARTET META4 (Finland) |
> Tuesday, October 25
9 PM | Seillans Church | MODIGLIANI QUARTET (France)
Wednesday, October 26
9 PM | Bagnols-en-Forêt Church | AURYN QUARTET (Germany)
Thursday, October 27
2:30 PM | Auditorium of the cultural center of Saint-Raphaël – Public lesson with the trainees of Miguel da Silva’s Master Class.
6 PM | Auditorium of the cultural center of Saint-Raphaël – Audition of the trainees of the Chamber Music Session led by Janette Filippas-Pantin and Jan-Michel Bossini.
9 PM | Tourrettes Church | DANEL QUARTET (France/Belgium)
Friday, October 28
3 PM | Saint-Paul-en-Forêt Church | Concert of the quartets of Miguel da Silva’s Master Class
9 PM | Callian Church | PRAZAK QUARTET
Saturday, October 29
9 PM | Palais des Congrès of Saint Raphaël | PRAZAK QUARTET & MIGUEL BORGES COELHO, Piano
