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ANNUAL REPORT 2017 Annual report d’Aix-en-Provence 2017 d’Aix-en-Provence report Annual A WINNING BET FOR AN INTENSE AND DARING 69TH EDITION The 2017 edition of the Festival d’Aix was a very great success, The 2017 Festival d’Aix was also present on the airwaves and not only from the artistic point of view, but also for the attention the big screen, as the summer’s five operas were broadcast given to the Festival’s outreach programmes and the media on Arte, France Musique, France Télévisions, Mezzo, Arte coverage from which it benefited. This edition drew almost Concert and Culture Box. Two of them – Carmen and Pinocchio – 85,000 spectators. The five opera productions were all warmly were screened free of charge on 99 big screens in France and welcomed by the public and the national and international abroad. Finally, the closing concert of the Mediterranean Youth press. They also seduced the many professionals who came Orchestra was broadcast live on the Festival’s YouTube channel. from around the world, some of whom expressed their desire to I would like to congratulate Mr Bernard Foccroulle, Director present them in the near future on their home stages. General of the Festival, his entire team, and to express my gratitude to the Ministry of Culture, the municipal authorities The 5th edition of AIX EN JUIN attracted a broad and enthusiastic of Aix-en-Provence, Métropole Aix-Marseille Provence audience to about forty artistic events presented throughout the and the Territoire du Pays d’Aix, the Departmental Council, city of Aix-en-Provence and the surrounding communities the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Regional Council and the by the amateurs involved in the outreach and socio-artistic European Union for their loyal support, as well as our private projects of the Festival’s Passerelles department and by the and corporate sponsors, whose generosity is essential for the young talents of the Académie. PARADE[S] once again lit up the Festival. Cours Mirabeau, bringing together 5,000 people who came to listen free of charge to extracts from Carmen performed by the soloists, chorus and orchestra of the production presented at Bruno Roger the Théâtre de l’Archevêché. President of the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence Don Giovanni THE FESTIVAL D’AIX IN THE WORLD In many respects, 2017 has been an exceptional year for our Moscow is the city that has most honoured our Festival, with Festival. Three criteria allow us to take the full measure of two productions, Written on Skin and Trauernacht, presented on this success: the presence of the foreign audience in Aix, the tour at the Bolshoi last April, and the entry of Alcina into the echoes in the international press, and the circulation of our prestigious theatre’s repertoire starting in October. Similarly, productions around the world. the Stanislavsky Theatre, which co-produced The Rake’s Progress, presented a series of filmings of our productions during free The foreign audience, which is well-represented at the Festival, projections, a way of familiarising the Moscow audience with grew this year, and for the first time we welcomed the presence the creations of Aix. of important delegations from the boards of directors of the Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles operas, as well as the Sydney Festival, and a very large number of professionals. The This phenomenon is not about to stop, because all our 2017 identity of our own Festival seems to be better perceived and productions have aroused considerable interest, as exemplified more appreciated than ever. by The Rake’s Progress, which will travel in the next few years to Amsterdam, Moscow, Rome, Chicago, San Francisco, Los This is also what the international press seems to suggest, as we Angeles, and New York. can see from the extracts that appear in this report. Does this mean that we are seeing a standardisation of the Moreover, no less than thirteen opera productions have toured opera on a global scale? I am convinced of the contrary: sharing this year in France and abroad, for a total of 77 performances the best of lyric creation, promoting the circulation of artists (see p. 35) in 16 cities: that is more than double the number of and productions, and participating in the emergence of new those presented in Aix in July! repertoires and new interpretative practices is the best means of fighting against the commercialisation and ‘star system’ that It is not only the most widely publicised productions that go produces a very real and regrettable standardisation. on tour: The Monster in the Maze, the participatory opera that premiered in Aix in 2015, has been reprised by local amateur Each performance of one of our productions in front of a choirs in Lille, Montpellier and Lisbon, with undeniable different audience, whether it be in New York, Beijing, Seoul or success. Contemporary creations, such as Svadba by Ana Montpellier, creates a new encounter that enriches both artists Sokolovic´ (presented in Aix in 2015) and Kalîla wa Dimna by and spectators alike, without diminishing the identity of our Moneim Adwan (which premiered in Aix in 2016) have been partner venues. The knowledge that all these productions have seen and heard in Ljubljana and Casablanca, as well as Paris, been initiated, studied, prepared, rehearsed and staged in Aix is Luxembourg, Dijon and Le Mans. a source of great pride for all our teams. Bernard Foccroulle Director General of the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence 3 Pinocchio “ The Festival d’Aix-en-Provence continues to pose the question of why other institutions with equally generous resources so seldom come even close to this level. Opera can be this good – and it should be.” Financial Times The Rake's Progress PINOCCHIO Contemporary creation lies at the heart of the mission givent to the Festival d’Aix. This year, it is the turn of the puppet Pinocchio to come to the DIAPASON LES ÉCHOS opera stage for the first time, thanks to a commission given to composer Philippe Boesmans and stage director and librettist Joël Pommerat. Pinocchio is to Boesmans what L’Enfant is to Ravel. A magnificent Philippe Boesmans superimposes soaring and colourful music, The adaptation of this lyrical tale revives the dark interpretation of an unvarnished society that is to be found in Collodi’s work, and that is production by Joël Pommerat, as powerful as it is minimalist, resistant to any explanatory overload on Joël Pommerat's play. … given form by way of six singers who awaken under the impulsion of the narrator, here called the troupe manager. The world premiere of this plunged into an obscurity given life by Renaud Rubiano's video, There’s no doubt that we could not dream (the precise word) of a coming-of-age tale brings the question of freedom to the forefront. which is consubstantial with the stage design and Éric Soyer’s better cast. … Nobody is about to forget Stéphane Degout, both an dreamlike lighting. … One could not dream of a better cast, flattered, admirable Nosferatu-like story-teller and a deeply moving singer. NEW YORK TIMES.COM LE SOIR it is true, by a music that never goes against the voices and assumes It’s undeniable: Philippe Boesmans’ Pinocchio … is a hit. Deftly Pinocchio triumphs in Aix. … Boesmans and Pommerat: the the specificities of the opera. Chloé Briot portrays an ideal Pinocchio, LIBÉRATION probing the nature of honesty, accountability and freedom with a meeting of two giants has created an opera that reconciles the spoken protected by Marie-Eve Munger's Fairy and her crystal-clear trebles. An intimate atmosphere, brilliant performers and stunning music blend of magic, comedy and an ethical quest, it’s a Magic Flute for word and song. The other singers take on several, often opposing, roles, beginning with by Philippe Boesmans. The stage director has succeeded in his poetic our times. the superb Stéphane Degout who is omnipresent as the empathetic or adaptation of the work by Carlo Collodi. LA LIBRE BELGIQUE distant, now speaking, now singing, troupe manager. Yann Beuron FINANCIAL TIMES Pommerat's writing is implacable: a succession of short and punchy is a disturbing crook and despicable as the ridiculous judge. Vincent TÉLÉRAMA These are people (Mr Pommerat, Mr Pomarico and Mr Boesmans) scenes that create a dialogue between a narrator (and also a singer, Le Texier overflows with humanity as the father and is pitiful in the Philippe Boesmans and Joël Pommerat's Pinocchio, whose world who can turn any score into a masterpiece; the musicality, the polish, the wonderful Stéphane Degout) and the development of the plot. role of the school master. Julie Boulianne plays the diva as a cabaret premiere was presented in Aix, keeps its promises, including the the warmth and skill are breathtaking. … Long, philosophical and In a reduced but sumptuous cast, each character is profoundly artist and runs amuck as the bad pupil. difficult task of truly being an opera for all. just a little twisted, it is the Twin Peaks of children’s operas. engaged before being presented by successive brush strokes within a minimalist and meticulous stage setting, where everything that CLASSICAGENDA FRANCE CULTURE DAILY TELEGRAPH can be seen ideally serves the action while connecting closely to the Pinocchio in Aix: The birth of an opera Is Joël Pommerat an alchemist? We would be tempted to say yes when Boesmans’s bittersweet score, a mix of styles that never sounds like spectator’s deepest emotions. In a world of the opera that has been described (and criticised) as a we see the extent to which everything he touches turns to gold.

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