Democratizing excellence… This is one of the “Credos” of cellist Gautier Capuçon. Whether through his own foundation, or the A Summer in France concert tour that he organizes every year in France. This is also the ambition of the mayor of Six-Fours-les-Plages, Jean-Sébastien Vialatte, with The Classic Wave. Much more than a simple festival, four months of what increasingly resembles a real season of concerts, whose list of invited artists often has nothing to envy of that of the major Parisian venues. “The recognition that Six-Fours-les-Plages has become, over the years, a land of culture,” the city councilor rightly rejoices.
To prove him right, one of the most prominent pianists of the moment, Khatia Buniatishvili, will kick off this new Wave this evening. An edition whose red carpet will more than once, until September, look like a real Cannes Festival of classics! In addition to the Georgian keyboardist, whose Parisian concert is sold out and who will bring into dialogue at Six-Fours, in the bucolic and enchanting setting of the Maison du Cygne, Jean-Sébastien Bach, Liszt, Beethoven and Schubert (in the one of those eclectic programs for which she has the secret), many classical stars have actually come together for this new edition. From all generations… And from all backgrounds. The piano will be particularly in the spotlight during the “Nuits du Cygne”, which last until June and allow this art center that is the Maison du Cygne to welcome in its certified garden since 2018 “Remarkable Garden” the best of the French and international chamber music scene.
Succeeding Khatia Buniatishvili, the Argentinian Nelson Goerner, still crowned by the success of his impressive recording of Liszt’s monumental sonata in B minor (Alpha), will play Schumann, Rachmaninov and Balakirev next week… Leaving the virtuosity of the Hungarian composer to his younger brother Alexandre Kantorow, who will notably confront, on May 31, the first of the Years of Pilgrimage with Rachmaninov’s sonata no. The next day will be dedicated to four hands, with one of the young star duos of the genre: that of the Dutch brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen, very present in the baccalaureates but unfortunately too little on our French stages.
After this keyboard ace, a festival familiar will return to the Maison du Cygne: Renaud Capuçon. Like last year, the violinist will take three of the young talents from his new production company, Beau Soir, under the stars: the violist Paul Zientara, the cellist Yan Levionnois and the pianist Guillaume Bellom, in a program tribute to Gabriel Fauré, whose disappearance is being commemorated this year.
Also read: Renaud Capuçon, passion revelations
Another anniversary, that of Schubert’s Arpeggione, published posthumously but composed just two hundred years ago, in 1824. This will be performed on June 8 by two other young talents among the most promising on the French scene. classic of today: the cellist Aurélien Pascal (revelation at the Victoires de la Musique a year ago) and the pianist Selim Mazari.
Youth always, with the following two concerts, which will close these “Nuits du Cygne” in majesty, welcoming another great devotee of the place: the youngest of the Capuçon brothers, Gautier. Having literally fallen in love with the town, whose cultural investment he does not hesitate to praise, this year the cellist wanted to strengthen his partnership with the town, by involving his Foundation in a lasting manner. Thus allowing the young musicians it supports to perform regularly in the Var city. Whether at the Maison du Cygne, as during these last two concerts on June 10 and 11: with his faithful accomplices Frank Braley and Jérôme Ducros on the piano, he will lead the brothers Lucas and Léo Ispir on the paths paved with hits of his latest album (Destination Paris), as well as the young pianist Karen Kuronuma, this time in a completely different universe, that of sonatas for cello and piano and Beethoven. Or at the Maison du Patrimoine, where pianist Nour Ayadi, the latest laureate of her Foundation, will have the honor of performing during one of the three major free concerts which traditionally close the season in September – the two other concerts will see the participation of pianists Shani Diluka and the very young Arielle Beck, one of Martha Argerich’s protégés, barely fifteen years old!
In the meantime, the Var public will have the opportunity to reconnect, from July 16 to 20, with Les Concerts de la Collégiale Saint-Pierre. It is on the baptismal font of this event, born ten years ago from the meeting between Jean-Sébastien Vialatte and the twirling baroque conductor Jean-Christophe Spinosi, that the Classical Wave unfolded. Ten years after the start of the restoration work on the collegiate church, this event, still hosted by the Ensemble Matheus and still dedicated to the Baroque, will be an opportunity to marvel, to the sounds of the voices of the mezzo Marina Viotti and the young countertenor Rémy Brès-Feuillet, in front of the site’s just-renovated lighting (a lighting which will be inaugurated in a few days, on June 2, during a concert by clarinetist Pierre Génisson).
Finally, for jazz lovers, note the two concerts at the Villa Simone, which will have Jean-Sébastien Bach and Michel Legrand “grooving” at the beginning of July. And the great lyrical concert given by the strong forces of the Toulon Opera, directed by Victorien Vanoosten and accompanied by the soprano Adriana Gonzalez and the tenor Freddie de Tommaso, on September 8, to inaugurate the beautification of the Parc Méditerranée… A season decidedly worthy of Paris, and always masterfully orchestrated by artistic director Gerald Lerda.