Keeping a youthful spirit despite its 70 years, the Menton Music Festival is resolutely looking to the future.
For this edition, which begins tonight, it stays true to tradition by inviting regulars (Renaud Capuçon, Fazil Say…) while also embracing novelty with prestigious newcomers (Yuja Wang, Jordi Savall…).
And it’s innovative, with the presence of young performers discovered in the series of 6:00 PM concerts who, this year, will perform for the first time on the Parvis (Beatrice Rana, Alexandra Conunova), and young ensembles and soloists who will play at the Salon de Grande-Bretagne.
For the past 7 years, under the leadership of the festival’s artistic director, Paul-Emmanuel Thomas, a young conductor with an international career, the program has been prepared (mixing orchestral concerts, chamber music, opera arias, recitals, great soloists…) divided into 3 series: “Les Grands interprètes” at 9:30 PM on the Parvis of the Basilica of Saint-Michel Archange (12 concerts this year); “Concerts at the Palace” at the Salon de Grande-Bretagne in the Palais de l’Europe, at 6:00 PM (9 concerts); and the “Off” at the Esplanade des Sablettes at 9:30 PM (3 concerts).
On the Parvis at 9:30 PM, it is Jordi Savall, accompanied by the Concert des Nations, who will open the festival (July 25) with a concert dedicated to the elements (storms, thunderstorms…); followed, on July 27, by Emmanuel Pahud and his friends from the Berlin Philharmonic (Rossini, Mozart, Dvorak); on July 28, Yuja Wang (piano) and Andreas Ottensamer (clarinet) will perform Mendelssohn, Bizet, Weber, Debussy, Chopin; on July 31, Patricia Petibon invites to a magical journey with “Alchimia,” an original project born from her collaboration with her late husband, Didier Lockwood who created most of the arrangements; on August 1, Bertrand Chamayou is given carte blanche, inviting his friends from Quatuor Casals (Handel, Haydn, Liszt, Franck); on August 2, the Quatuor Ebène (Brahms, Dutilleux, Beethoven); on August 3, Beatrice Rana will perform for the first time in the Les Grands interprètes series (Chopin, Ravel, Stravinsky); on August 6, Boris Berezovski returns to Menton to play Bach, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Kreisler, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Scriabin, Chopin; on August 8, the festival’s audience will reunite with Fazil Say performing Debussy, Say, Janacek, Shostakovich; on August 10, Zefira Valova leads Pomo d’Oro alongside countertenors Carlo Vistoli, Justin Kim, and Jake Arditti (Vivaldi, Handel); then violinist Renaud Capuçon will be in residence for 2 days with 2 programs around Bach, on August 12 with David Fray on piano and on August 13, with Alexandra Conunova on violin and the Lausanne Soloists.
Artists participating in the 6:00 PM concerts at the Salon de Bretagne include: on July 26, Lise de la Salle (Mozart, Fauré, Beethoven); on July 29 and August 1, the Quatuor Allegri (Haydn, Beethoven); on July 30, Alexander Melnikov (Brahms, Schumann); on August 4, flutist Mathilde Calderini and harpist Sylvain Blassel (Bach, Haydn, Beethoven, Jenner); on August 5, violinist Pierre Foucheneret and pianist Simon Zaoui (Fauré); on August 7, for the first Nuit du Piano: Marie-Ange Nguci at 8:00 PM (Scriabin, Liszt, Prokofiev); Jean-Paul Gasparian at 9:30 PM (Debussy, Rachmaninov, Chopin); Ana Kipiani at 11:00 PM (Schumann, Prokofiev); on August 9, the accordion quartet Aeolina (Drouet, Berlioz); on August 11, pianist David Kadouch (Dussek, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Debussy).
The music festival also includes an “off” program (with free entry) highlighting original ensembles: Pavel Sporcl, violin and Romano Stilo, music ensemble (Gipsy Way); DJ Chloé and Vassilena Serafimova, marimba (Sequenza); Quai n°5 (quintet violin, piano, double bass, accordion, percussion) as well as sopranos Magali Léger and Valérie Yen Seng (Station Opéra, rêve de divas).
To complete the vast program, there are also conferences; concerts in the heart of the city; guided tours; exhibitions… in short, a festive atmosphere surrounding the Menton Music Festival.
Simply delightful!
