It will be there Mass of Our Lady by the musician and poet Guillame de Mauchaut, a polyphonic masterpiece of Ars Nova entrusted to the Gilles Binchois Ensemble, to inaugurate the Festival on Thursday evening 10 March Spring of the Arts of Monte-Carlo, one of the most anticipated musical-cultural events of the season as well as among the most important in Europe. At its 38th edition, the review scheduled until 3 April promises – an «explosion of creativity and sharing». Which will have Armenia as its main protagonist. To evoke its ancient history, there will be concerts, a choreography, a film screening and an exhibition dedicated to the director and artist Sergei Parajanov. And it is also the graphics of the festival that pay homage to this country between Asia and Europe, in the mountainous region of the Caucasus.
«We focused on an image of Armenian art, an artistic collage that recalls the colors of diversity, the creative way of conceiving composition and beauty. I think that today a festival must be rooted in the present with an eye to the past ”, underlines the new artistic director Bruno Mantovani, successor of Marc Monnet.
The Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Marko Letonja © Pascal Bastien
So a festival to listen to but also to see. Yes, because one of the points in favor of the festival is that the various events are hosted in concert halls and unconventional places, which makes the various performances even more interesting: from the Auditorium Ranieri III to the Opera, from the Église Saint -Charles at the Riva Tunnel, from the Oceanographic Museum to One – Monte-Carlo, from the Lycée Technique et Hôtelier to the Théâtre des Variétés and the Yacht Club.
Let’s go back to the sound bill. This year it ranges from 14th century music proposed by the Gilles Binchois Ensemble, to the rediscovery of Haydn and Debussy with the great French pianist Jean Efflam Bavouzet, from Bach with the organist Éric Lebrun, to Mozart, Debussy, Ravel and Shostakovich interpreted by the Quatuor Voce string quartet.
There will be the world premieres commissioned by Spring of Arts to Yan Maresz (“Trends”, March 17), Bastien David (“The Shadow of a Doubt, double concerto for cello and string orchestra”, March 24), Bruno Mantovani (Allegro barbaro, concerto for percussion and orchestra March 31st) and Armenian-born composers Aram Hovhannisyan and Michel Petrossian (March 27th), Amazing Keystone Big Band jazz and major formations such as the Strasbourg, Monte-Carlo, Radio France Collectif Xenakis, Les Folies Françoises and the Auvergne National Orchestra. For the closing concert on April 3, the Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra with violin soloist Renaud Capuçon, conducted by Andris Poga, will perform pages by Beethoven, Dutilleux and Shostakovich.
The Quatuor Voce composed by Sarah Dayan and Cécile Roubin, violons; Guillaume Becker on viola and Lydia Shelley on cello, performs on March 19 (Sophie Pawlak)
The complex and fascinating work behind the scenes will also be highlighted with a series of interviews with artists posted on the site. Round tables, masterclasses and chats with the artists will mark it all: the latter are held in the setting of the Hotel Hermitage in Monaco. Information: http://printempsdesarts.mc