The
Festival of Aix-en-Provence 2010 edition
The 2010 edition of the Festival
d’Aix-en-Provence
marks the start of a new cycle, it is the illustration
of all the themes and fundamental elements making up the
present identity of the Festival and that we are willing
to develop in the years to come.
Don Giovanni and Alceste in the
courtyard of the Archvêché show a return
to the roots of the Festival, a dialogue between
two artists who admired and influenced each other,
it is a way to revisit
the art and thought of the Age of Enlightenment.
Rameau
and Stravinsky will resound through the Grand
Théâtre
de Provence in productions meant to remind us that contemporary
dance and ancient techniques such as shadow theaters and
Vietnamese water puppets nurture and foster the Opera of
the 21st century.
The Return – El
regreso by
Oscar Strasnoy, a world creation based on Alberto Manguel’s
libretto, takes the form of a journey through exile, an
initiation journey through which the shadow of Virgil follows
the protagonists – Dido and Aeneas meet up with Argentina’s
recent history – and gives the narrative
a universal scope.
This 2010 edition also celebrates
the return to the Grand Saint-Jean, a magical site
that has been discovered
and loved by a large audience since 1999
thanks to the Festival. There, we will explore the
multiple links between
nature and the opera, music, dance, litterature...
The
Grand Saint-Jean naturally becomes an ideal place
to welcome
the lyric productions of our Académie whose European
vocation intensifies as an ambitious European network is
being created. The Académie also proposes a large
program of master classes, concerts, and encounters at
the heart of the city of Aix.
The concerts are highly colourful,
from Monteverdi’s Vespers to the works of Jonathan
Harvey, as well as Beethoven, Berlioz, Schumann, Sibelius,
but also a journey through Mediterranean musics.
This
Festival will also welcome the London
Symphony Orchestra for the
beginning of a residence meant to last
several years, conducted by Sir Colin Davis, the legendary
musical
director associated
to this prestigious phalanx formation
for half a century. The LSO also shows the greatest
sensitivity to everything
concerning artistic education and creative
projects involving fragile young people.
To
see and to do
