The Nuits d'Uzès d'Uzès program
- Par nbesse
- Le 05/05/2023
- Dans Living in Uzès and around
The Nuits Musicales d'Uzès is a 2023/2024 season full of arpeggios and that juggles with notes and musical styles, "an eclecticism which will satisfy the expectations of the public and pay tribute to excellence", as Eric Desnoues, director of the Nuits Musicales, comments.
52nd edition of the Nuits Musicales d'Uzès, from 20 to 31 July
From Mozart to Chopin and a tribute to Duke Ellington and Cuban jazz, the July concerts represent a subtle balance between summer performances.
And if the courtyard of the Duchy has become the emblematic stage of the Summer Festival for music lovers, the shows also find a privileged place in the Duch.
The programme begins on 20 July in the Cour du Duché with a festive Mozart gala...
Overtures and arias by Mozart will be performed by the Roman soprano Arianna Venditelli who, after having started out studying the violin, now devotes herself entirely to singing, and the Canadian baritone Robert Gleadow, a couple on stage as well as in the city. Accompanied by the Royal Opera Orchestra, conducted by Gaëtan Jarry, one of the ensemble's regular conductors. Lovers of the Italian master will be delighted to rediscover the great moments of Nozze di Figaro, Cosi fan Tutte, Die Zauberflöte and Don Giovanni.
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Founded in 2019, the royal ensemble plays is part of a partnership with the Château de Versailles and our desire for solid artistic partnerships (Eric Desnoues).
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Libertà! on Saturday 22 July at the Ombrière for a hymn to freedom by the Jeune orchestre baroque européen (JOBE)
Supported by Les Ombres and Les Nuits Musicales d'Uzès, the European JOBE project works within the framework of the professional integration of students in music conservatories or in the process of becoming professional in various baroque music departments: instrumentalists (viola da gamba, harpsichord, archlute, bassoon, etc.), singers, dancers, etc., aged between 18 and 20. Good to know: the 16 young people selected (and remunerated like each artist hosted during the festival) put together a musical production and present it to the public. On the programme for 22 July? Excerpts from oratorios, symphony Alessandro Stradella, one of the most fascinating figures of 17th century Italian music...
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The German composer Friedrich von Flotow (1812/1883) wrote a romantic opera in three acts in 1844, which is recognised as one of his most accomplished works, and is dedicated to the life of the Baroque musician Alessandro Stradella.
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The symphony concert on 24 July
The Brazilian conductor Deborah Waldman joins forces with the talent of the young pianist (in residence at the Avignon-Provence National Orchestra) Célia Oneto Bensaïd to offer us Beethoven's piano concerto No. 3. After Beethoven's 5th concerto programmed in 2021, here comes the moment to appreciate the performance of the all-Mozartian musician in Beethoven's first great concerto, but also in Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 3 "Scottish".
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Mendelssohn's Ecossaise was composed between 1829 and 1842 after a trip to Scotland where the composer visited Mary Stuart's castle. Applauded by Queen Victoria, the Ecossaise is dedicated to her.
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Baroque concertos in the courtyard of the Duchy on Wednesday 26 July
We are delighted to hear the violins of Leonor de Lera from Madrid, Ludmila Piestrak from Poland and the Frenchman Théotime Langlois de Swarte, who also conducts the performance. The young baroque music prodigy from Céret will perform concertos for 1, 2 and 3 violins by Johann Sebastian Bach, accompanied by the orchestra of the Royal Opera.
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In 2015, violinist Leonor de Lera founded the ensemble L'Estro d'Orfeo, an early music ensemble specialising in instrumental music from the late 16th and 17th centuries.
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Piano recital in the Cour du Duché on Thursday 27 July
The fantastic acoustics of the venue are conducive to a magical encounter with a little-known pianist of Russian origin, Irina Lankova, who has a fine career. Nocturnes, Chopin preludes, Musical Moment, Rachmaninov prelude and Scriabin preludes bring out her strong personality and her very personal way of presenting the works, addressing the audience in a very pedagogical way.
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Composer, poet, Alexander Scriabin is a virtuoso Russian pianist, Scriabin will gradually establish himself as an outstanding composer (Radio Classique)
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On Sunday 30th of July, tribute to Duke Ellington
A tribute concocted by the brilliant and inventive THE AMAZING KEYSTONE BIG BAND. Created in 2010, this formidable ensemble of 17 trumpeters, trombonists, saxophonists... and as many soloists, revisits the music of Duke Ellington and remains faithful to the master's motto "It don't mean a thing if it ain't that swing".
This tribute to the Duke will be followed on Monday 31 July by a concert devoted to Cuban jazz
Orchestrated by a Cuban trio: on piano Rolando Luna, who once played with the Buena Vista Social Club, on double bass Felipe Cabrera and on drums Lukmil Perez. Not to be missed under any circumstances.
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Rolando Luna only started playing the piano at the age of 15. With a classical background, he became interested in traditional music, accompanying Omara for 20 years and the Buena Vista Social Club for 10 years. Honorary First Prize at the 2007 Montreux Piano Solo Jazz Competition and Audience Award, he has participated in more than 200 albums of Cuban music over the past twenty years.
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Autumn and year-end programme
Saturday 25 November at L'Ombrière
A programme of Camille Saint-Saëns' marvellous Carnival of the Animals with a surprising combination of artists, the inspired Belgian presenter and writer Alex Vizorek and the piano duo Jatekok, created in 2007 by the Lebanese Naïri Badal and the French Adelaïde Panaget. The wit and humour of the former are a perfect match for the piano duo, for a playful and delightful evening with Camille Saint-Saëns but also Claude Debussy for the Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun and Georges Bizet/Anderson for a Carmen Fantasy.
Festive end of December at L'Ombrière
Messiah on 20 December
To end the year in style and to offer a stimulating musical follow-up for both artists and audiences, Les Nuits Musicales d'Uzès is programming "without a doubt the most frequently performed oratorio in the history of sacred music", which will be performed by four magnificent soloists, soprano Adèle Carlier, alto Nicolò Balducci, tenor Laurence Kilsby and bass Victor Sicard, accompanied by the choir and orchestra of the Royal Opera of the Château de Versailles.
Saturday 27 and Sunday 28, two dates to remember for an unmissable event with Les grandes dames du jazz
Continuation of the first part, which was a great success: Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Etta James... will be honoured as well as the great classics of the 20th century by Pascal Horecka's Gospel Philharmonic Experience, founded in 2018, "which combines the excellence of the classical symphonic world with the fervour of gospel" (pascal-horecka.com).
Beginning of the 2024 season
The symphony concert on 23 February 2024 at L'Ombrière
The young Moldavian violinist Alexandra Conunova, a disciple of Renaud Capuçon, will delight Tchaikovsky lovers with "a violin concerto, Op. 35, one of the most difficult and passionate works in the violin repertoire, with a crazy and flamboyant romanticism", a true bravura piece. This will be followed by Mozart's 40th Symphony, accompanied by the Avignon-Provence National Orchestra.
André Manoukian's Voices from the Levant Saturday 16 March 2024
Enjoy this fantastic tribute concert to the grandmother of artist André Manoukian, Anouch, "guided by the Balkans who mixed their Bulgarian voices with the atmospheric jazz of his trio".
Good to know : Anouch also "inspired the song that gives its title to the album of the musician and composer, known for his lyrical flights of fancy".
Many thanks to Eric Desnoues, Director of the Nuits Musicales d'Uzès and to Justine Labesse, press agent of the Festival, for their collaboration to this article.