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ANNUAL REPORT 2018 2 "For this 70th edition of the Festival d’Aix which is Bernard Focroulle’s last festival, it is tempting to take stock of his achievements as Director in light of the greatest moments of opera that his mandate allowed the development of, whether it be for example, Written on Skin by George Benjamin or Elektra as seen by Patrice Chéreau. By his manner of bringing together talents and horizons, of bringing professionals and amateurs closer together in the same desire for high standards, of creating a dialogue between western music and oriental music, of reaching audiences without ever pandering to them, of inviting in order to enrich, it is not impossible that the Orfeo & Majnun in the long term will become an even more crucial date." AVANT-SCÈNE OPÉRA – Chantal Cazaux 3 ORFEO & MAJNUN a European project, 70 an urban procession involving YEARS 1,500 AMATEURS of the Festival a free opera d’Aix-en-Provence along the cours Mirabeau 15,000 SPECTATORS 20 YEARS SEVEN of the Académie STONES du Festival d’Aix FEDORA GENERALI Prize 86,117 100% spectators of the sets 100% eco-designed 2 WORLD PHOTO PREMIERES Seven Stones EXHIBITIONS 70 years of the Festival d'Aix & Orfeo & Majnun and 20 years of the Académie 4 261 ARTISTS from the Académie MEDINEA 40 given the label NATIONALITIES Europe Créative SPECIAL CULTURE “FAUTEUILS D’ORCHESTRE” TELEVISION PROGRAMME NUM th to celebrate the 70th 5 edition anniversary - live from Aix “The Camp” 454 YOUNG PERSONS > 47,000 TOOK PART IN “OPÉRA ON” FANS ON Facebook on the 5 first nights OPERA PLAY > 90 a new free PROJECTIONS application in France and abroad 5 Richard Strauss ARIADNE AUF NAXOS “The singing in Aix’s new Ariadne Conductor MARC ALBRECHT auf Naxos is exquisite. That is also Stage Director KATIE MITCHELL thanks to Marc Albrecht’s presence La Prima Donna / Ariane LISE DAVIDSEN Le Ténor / Bacchus ERIC CUTLER in the pit… a perfectly paced Zerbinetta SABINE DEVIEILHE evening.” Le Compositeur ANGELA BROWER Le Maître de musique JOSEF WAGNER FINANCIAL TIMES – Shirley Apthorp ORCHESTRE DE PARIS “For this particular Strauss, happiness is both musical and vocal.” LUXEMBURG WORT - Stéphane Gilbart 6 7 Sergueï Prokofiev THE FIERY ANGEL Director KAZUSHI ONO ”Masterful and highly inspired conducting Stage Director MARIUSZ TRELIŃSKI from Kazushi Ono who transformed an Renata AUŠRINE STUNDYTĖ Ruprecht SCOTT HENDRICKS Orchestre de Paris which produced an astonishingly beautiful sound.” CHORUS OF THE POLISH NATIONAL OPERA LE MONDE - Marie-Aude Roux ORCHESTRE DE PARIS “It quite simply takes your breath.” DIE RHEINPFALZ - Gilmar Gilcher 8 9 - “The beauty, intelligence and emotion make you want to weep!” Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart TÉLÉRAMA - Sophie Bourdais THE MAGIC FLUTE Conductor RAPHAËL PICHON “An exceptional Flute […] Raphaël Stage Director SIMON MCBURNEY Pichon and his Ensemble Pygmalion Sarastro DIMITRY IVASHCHENKO are musically in charge much to the Tamino STANISLAS DE BARBEYRAC La Reine de la Nuit KATHRYN LEWEK general delight.” Pamina MARI ERIKSMOEN Papageno THOMAS OLIEMANS LE TEMPS - Sylvie Bonier CHORUS AND ORCHESTRA FROM THE ENSEMBLE PYGMALION 10 11 - ”Overwhelming. An example of successful up-dating” Henry Purcell LE TEMPS - Sylvie Bonier DIDO AND ÆNEAS Director VÁCLAV LUKS “The show is spellbinding, intense. “ Stage Director VINCENT HUGUET Une femme de Chypre ROKIA TRAORÉ OPERA-ONLINE.COM - Alain Duault Dido ANAÏK MOREL Æneas TOBIAS LEE GREENHALGH Belinda SOPHIA BURGOS Sorceress / Spirit LUCILE RICHARDOT CHORUS AND ORCHESTRA ENSEMBLE PYGMALION 12 13 “A brilliant score and powerfully Ondřej Adámek original on a good number of SEVEN STONES WORLD PREMIERE prototype instruments.” LIBÉRATION - Guillaume Tion Directors ONDŘEJ ADÁMEK, LÉO WARYNSKI Stage Director and choreography ÉRIC OBERDORFF “A futuristic opera with sheer Maid / Storyteller I audacity” ANNE-EMMANUELLE DAVY OPERA TODAY - Michael Milensk Land Lady / Storyteller II SHIGEKO HATA Stone Collector NICOLAS SIMEHA Stone Collector’s Wife LANDY ANDRIAMBOAVONJY CHORUS ACCENTUS / AXE 21 14 15 16 Moneim Adwan, Howard Moody, Dick van der Harst - “Orfeo & Majnun is the ORFEO & MAJNUN outcome of a policy of opening FRENCH PREMIERE up to audiences and to the Director BASSEM AKIKI Stage Directors AIRAN BERG, MARTINA WINKEL Mediterranean which will remain Majnun LOAY SROUJI one of the great achievements Layla NAI TAMISH BARGHOUTI Orfeo YOANN DUBRUQUE of Bernard Focroulle’s mandate.” Eurydice JUDITH FA Narrator TÉLÉRAMA – Sophie Bourdais SACHLI GHOLAMALIZAD INTERCULTURAL ENSEMBLE OF THE MEDITERRANEAN YOUTH ORCHESTRA With the participation of amateur choirs coming from the audiences of PASSERELLES Sinfonietta SESSION OF THE MEDITERRANEAN YOUTH ORFCHESTRA 17 AIX EN JUIN 6th EDITION 9 TO 30 JUNE 2018 57 EVENTS 16,670 SPECTATORS 18 Benjamin Dupé “The composer Benjamin Dupé DU CHŒUR À L’OUVRAGE has placed upon this story Opera for children voices Conception, Music and Stage Direction music which is unmeasured and BENJAMIN DUPÉ Original libretto developed for these liberated MARIE DESPLECHIN Instrumental ensemble young singers.” L’INSTANT DONNÉ LA PROVENCE With the singers of MAÎTRISE DES BOUCHES-DU-RHÔNE Choir master PASCAL DESNOYER REMEMBER MOZART “The Académie on all fronts Singing Académie Semi-staging […] The Académie which LEAH HAUSMAN Singers and pianists of the Académie opened up to chamber music Artists from the Mozart's Residency and to staging proposed numerous concerts on the fringe of the opera productions.“ LIBÉRATION 19 12 RESIDENCIES 261 YOUNG ARTISTS > 40 NATIONALITIES 42 EVENTS WITH THE PASS 65 FREE EVENTS 5 COMMISSIONS AND WORLD PREMIERES 2 FRENCH CREATIONS 20 L’Académie, centre for professional development, for experimentation and vocational integration for young artists, celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2018. To celebrate its 20th anniversary, the Académie invited two emblematic personalities from its earliest days: the French baritone, Stéphane Degout who gave his first cycle of masterclasses here and the pianist Alan Planès. This residence called « The Art of the Recital » enabled six piano/voice duos to perfect the conception of their recital programmes of French melody, each of which would be performed for the partners of the enoa European network during the course of the 2018/2019 season. The traditional Mozart and chamber music residencies completed this programme of professional development. For the second year running, the cycle of workshops on the reflection on creation was opened, this year dealing with the question of the representation of women in opera. The Creative Opera Workshops thus brought together 10 women artists in the middle of their career as part of a workshop on the sharing of professional tools, with the aim of strengthening their position in the sector. In parallel was being held the annual session of the Opera Creation Workshop, a session of exchanges and of reflection on the opera of tomorrow. As part of the symphonic session, 80 musicians from the Mediterranean Youth Orchestra (MYO) took part in three concerts conducted by the conductors Kazushi Ono and Quentin Hindley. Led by the composer Fabrizio Cassol, the MYO’s intercultural session enabled a dozen of these young artists to work on an un precedented collective musical project presented as part of four concerts in Aix and on tour. The sessions for the Sinfonietta from the opera Orfeo & Majnun an urban procession brought together 24 musicians from the MYO conducted by Bassem Akiki. Mediation and transmission are today at the heart of an artist’s professional development. Outreach skills from the Académie, which are run notably by Mark Withers who is Artistic Director of participative projects with LSO Discovery, has enabled 54 artists, singers and instrumentalists, to learn how to pass on their art and their artistic practices to young and new audiences. The Académie is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its creation and of perspectives during the course of three major events: a photographic exhibition which goes back over the best moments of the Académie and of the Festival, photographed by Vincent Beaume, musical workshops available for everyone and particularly for the families and a festive Jam Session that gathered many artists from the Festival and the Académie. This anniversary served as a reminder of the progress that was made and to present the challenges of tomorrow, in images thanks to a specific video and in words with the edition of a special publication. The 2017 HSBC Académie Laureates were revealed7 on the 12 October 2017 at the Philharmonie de Paris. They then performed throughout the 2017/2018 season on tour in France and in 13 concerts at the Festival d’Aix. With the support of 21 The Académie is at the origin of the creation of two international networks. enoa is a European network of opera academies whose aim is to help vocational integration, vocational mobility, and the creation of new opera projects for young European artists. This summer the Académie received 18 artists recommended by members of the network and 3 of its residencies: Opera Creation Workshops, Women Creators of Opera and The Art of the Recital all benefitted from the support ofenoa . On the occasion of the quarterly meeting of the enoa network, the Festival d’Aix hosted its 12 partners the 2 and 3 July. The endorsement of a new manifesto which would guide the development of the next enoa programme was at the heart of the discussions. This summer meeting also marked the end of Bernard Focroulle’s mandate at the Head of the network, of which the presidency will be taken over by Pierre Audi as early as September 2018. The Medinea network assembles more than twenty cultural organisations from the Euro-Mediterranean region, supporting the vocational integration of young Mediterranean musicians by developing intercultural projects promoting dialogue, transmission and mobility within the Mediterranean. Thanks to the recent support of creative Europe as part of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, Medinea this year accompanied the Outreach skills workshop of the Académie in Aix and a Session of intercultural creation of the MYO, “outside the walls” in Nuoro, (Italy).