On Friday through Sunday of this week, the under-dog of the Festival of Saint Denis will take place: The Métis Festival.
Hindi Zahra, Jeanne Cherhal, Féfé and Speed Caravan are on the awesome program, concerts for all and concerts for free.
These concerts are dedicated to reunite electronic music of the oud of Mehdi Haddab (Speed Caravan) to the sweet sound of acoustic guitar of Hindi Zahra, with a true musical adventure of intstruement that cross the deserts of Middle East to the west. The rhythmic voice of Fefe and the clear voice of Jeanne Cherhal embark on a journey of singing and beautiful vocals.
Métis proposes a hot, colorable and accessible program for a moment of conviviality and dance in the court of Saint Denis and a couple of steps away from the Basilica of Kings.
Laurence Equibley is a great woman conductor, a rare gem in a sea if men especially in Paris. One could see her intense passion for the Requiem on her face, rarely was it a look of disapproval, and with each phrase a gentilesse. The rehearsal this evening not a typical one, there was an audience of children as part of participation in the culture and social actions part of the festival.
Often an opera of other classical music concert is too expensive for the school to pay for, therefore the festival offered free rehearsal concerts open to these low-income schools; who would otherwise not be able to see a concert of this nature first hand.
The orchestral ensemble of Paris lyrically played the melodies of Faure with lightness. This small ensemble and chorus empowered the room as if it was the London Philharmonic with it's chorus. Their sound filled the inside walls of the basilica plus echoed throughout the courtyard, who knows how it will sound on Friday the day of the actual concert. Probably more power with the bow and fingers lightly touching the string and keys.
The sound of the oud fluttered in every part of the room as if we were being drifted off to some foreign land in the Orient. Smadj, a Tunisien, living in Istanbul, dedicated these series of songs to a woman he fell in love with in Istanbul ho ended up dying. It was a great concert which brought musicians from London and Paris itself, and in two weeks will bring artists from Istanbul, Algeria and Morroco! Some songs were a reflection on belly dancing music or others that followed a tranquil beat that recalled the death of his muse. Not only was it sounds of the Orient but a mix of manipulated and computerized sounds.The drums called tablas were very intriguing each different part of the drum created a different tone and in order to be tuned it needed to be hit with a hammer.
The trumpet was ok, he often had difficulty producing a sound and one could tell that Smadj didn't appreciate that it usually happened during the important melodic lines, but was perfect during the improv. It was ironic that he nailed the lines that he didn't pratice, but failed at those that he had spent a long time on. Smadj also manipulated the sound of the trumpet with the use of his 2 macs by creating an organ sound or a flute sound, it as definitely interesting.
Samples of his music can be found at his myspace: http://www.myspace.com/jeanpierresmadj and he will also be performing next Thursday June 17 at the Festival de Saint Denis in the Basilica!
The ensemble performing was called "Douce Memoire" which means Sweet Memory, and a sweet memory it was. Though I didn't see the actual concert, because I was in charge of keeping watch of the dressing rooms and helping with the reception, what I heard was good. The group performs with musical instruments from the Medieval and the Baroque period, about 10 instrumentalists and 6 singers (2 women and 4 men).
The concert was in memory of Henri IV's death and was influenced by the queens and kings of the court. Therefore, when the music started it was reminscent of the sounds one would hear in the 16th century. It made me want to process down the walkway like a princess, "Now presenting Princess Adrienne of Drancy"!
The main instruments used were recorders, bassons, a small pump with your feet type organ and a cross-between a trumpet and a cornette. The trumpet cornette sounded like a flute but it wasn't, I asked one of the woman playing these instruments to describe it and she said there was no relation with the flute.
The music echoed throughout the Basilica and echoed into the courtyard of the church as if angels were sending the music into the ears of the crowd. The only disappointment was the music and the echo did not stay in rhythm, this coming from a musician. But I guess not everything can be perfect.
This ensemble and their concert were great, the women's voices harmonized well and one could see that they loved singing as there was a sort of glitter in their eyes. The men were so enthusiastic when singing, they would just sort of jump right in, when it was their turn to add the harmony to the fugue.
And the instruments, one thing I could never forget... harmonized and sweet melodies never making a mistake, thus creating sweet melodies.
The houses of Education of the Legion of Honor was founded in 1805 by Napoléon the 1st as a school for girls of military army men. The first of these house was the Ecouen castle in 1807 and was directed by Madame Campan. The coount of Lacepede, the first Chancellor of the Legion of Honor created the second house in the abbey of Saint Denis (the basilica) in 1811.
In order to be admitted in to the school, the girls must be a daughter, grand daughter, etc of members of the Legion of Honor, or those who have received military medals, or those who have received a national merit.
The text comes from the information I was given the first day of internship, but all of it is in French. Therefore, I am translating the text into English, since no translation is offered on their website and it’s a great way to practice translation!
The first edition of the festival took place in June 1969 under the direction of Maurice Soucheyre, the cultural assistant to the city of Saint Denis and Marcelin Berthelot, the mayor of the city at that time.
During the first years, the festival took place in the Basilica (more to come…) offering around 10 concerts. 40 years later, the Festival proposes more than 40 concerts, taking place between March and July in the Plaine Commune Territory (more to come…).
In 1979, Jean Pierre Le Pavec became director of the Festival, and a partnership was formed between the Festival and Radio France, because of a wonderful performance of Mahler’s Symphony #8 directed by Seiji Ozawa that was transmitted on one of their stations. This relationship has permitted the Festival to bring some of the big names to participate in the concerts. Such names include in the conductor section: Seiji Ozawa, Riccardo Muti and Kurt Masur, singers include: Barbara Hendricks, Teresa Berganza, Jessye Norman, and Giovanna Marini.
The festival welcomes artists of all music backgrounds, not just those of classical music as is evident with the electronic oud (more to come…) group and electronic classical Mozart.
The festival often collaborates with some top names such as the choreographer Philippe Decoufle, the theater producer Bob Wilson, the composers: Nicolas Frize, Philippe Glass, John Cage, Pierre Boulez and this year’s composer: Goran Bregovic (lots to come about him!).
This Festival was conceived and is organized by the city of Saint Denis, which mixes its heritage (the Kings of France’s legacy), architecture(the Basilica) and unique culture (the atmosphere) , and for the most part the neighborhood supports it with a huge supply of volunteers.
The Politics:
Since the 80’s and the cultural politic of Jack Lang (a former Minister of Culture), the cultural structures have obtained and received grants which helps to provide “culture for all” (the slogan of the Minister of the Culture in France).
The last fifteen years due to this slogan, the festival has decided to take a different route in the organization of its concerts by offering a wider selection.
Some examples of these concerts this year are Métis: a week dedicated to music influenced by the classics, master classes with free concerts, lower ticket prices for people who are from Saint Denis and giant screens streaming the concerts next to the Mayor’s Office.
The Program for this year!!!
Mar. 1er juin 20h30 Basilique Requiem des Rois de France 4
Jeu. 3 juin 20h30 Basilique Messe de Schubert / Muti 6
Ven. 4 juin 20h30 Basilique Messe de Schubert / Muti 6
Lun. 7 juin 20h30 Basilique Margot, Mémoire d’une Reine (Métis) 8
Mar. 8 juin 20h30 Basilique Margot, Mémoire d’une Reine (Métis) 8
Mar. 8 juin 20h30 Légion d’Honneur Capuçon / Grimaud 27
Mer. 9 juin 20h30 Légion d’Honneur Capuçon / Grimaud 27
Jeu. 10 juin 20h30 Basilique Requiem de Fauré 10
Ven. 11 juin 20h30 Légion d’Honneur Requiem de Fauré 10
Ven. 11 juin 22h15 Basilique Private Domain 11
Dim. 13 juin 17h00 Légion d’Honneur David Fray 28
Lun. 14 juin 20h30 Basilique Motets & Fireworks de Haendel 12
Mar. 15 juin 21h00 Légion d’Honneur Barenboim / Said 29
Mer. 16 juin 20h30 Basilique Symphonie no5 de Beethoven 14
Jeu. 17 juin 20h30 Basilique Le Oud selon Smadj (Métis) 16
Sam. 19 juin 20h30 Basilique Symphonie no4 de Mahler 18
Mar. 22 juin 20h30 Basilique Les Reines du Bel Canto 20
Jeu. 24 juin 20h30 Basilique Stabat Mater de Poulenc 22
Ven. 25 juin 20h30 Basilique Stabat Mater de Poulenc 22
Dim. 27 juin 17h00 Légion d’Honneur Lecture 5
Lun. 28 juin 20h30 Légion d’Honneur Lecture 5
Mar. 29 juin 20h30 Basilique Symphonie no4 de Brahms 25
Mer. 30 juin 20h30 Légion d’Honneur Lecture 5
Jeu. 1er juillet 20h30 Basilique Thamos, Roi d’Egypte de Mozart 26
The next blog posts will be dedicated to the Festival de Saint Denis, a classical music festival that I am intern for during the month of June. Different posts will contain: the history, a description of the concert and reception halls, plus daily or weekly reviews of the concerts.
For more information: refer to http://www.festival-saint-denis.com/ but be advised the site is only in French.
