Aix-en-Provence Festival
The International Festival d' Aix -en- Provence (complete French name Festival international d' art lyrique d' Aix -en- Provence) is a music festival which takes place every year in summer in Aix -en- Provence. It was founded in 1948 as a celebration of opera and classical music and is one of the major European music festivals with a special relationship to the operas of Mozart. The performances are given under the open sky in the courtyard of the former archbishop 's palace.
History
The summer festival was launched in 1948 by Gabriel Dussurget to life, who wanted to promote the musical activities in the region of Marseille. The new festival should be all about Mozart:
" Depuis l' évocation d' Aix, une œuvre dans ma tête lyrique chantait. Fiordiligi, Dorabella descendaient et comme le cours de légers fantômes Mirabeau, Mozart et me vint aux lèvres. "
" (About :) When I Aix ( -en- provence ) imagined me singing a lyric that came to mind. Fiordiligi and Dorabella decreased slightly buoyant spirits equal to the Cours Mirabeau down and Mozart was on my lips. "
So the opera Così fan tutte in the courtyard of the Archbishop's Palace, the Théâtre de l' Archevêché was performed with a set of Georges Wakhevitch and under the baton of Hans Rosbaud by the orchestra of the Southwest Radio Baden- Baden in the founding year. About ten concerts and performances were also given in Archevêché, in the Saint- Sauveur ( a Coronation Mass with the young Maria Stader ) and other places in the city.
In 1949, Don Giovanni staged with great success and with the stage of the artist and Werbegraphikers Cassandre. The game plan was set to three operas per festival, two by Mozart and a third from the baroque or contemporary repertoire.
In 1974 Bernard Lefort festival director. He opened the Festival of the Italian bel canto operas by Donizetti, Rossini, Bellini and others.
He was succeeded in 1982 Louis Erlo, former head of l' Opéra de Lyon and the Opéra - Studio. On the Schedule came Baroque operas, among others, of Purcell, Gluck, Lully, Rameau and Campra.
In 1998 Stéphane Lissner took over, former director of the Théâtre du Châtelet (La Monnaie ), the management of the Festival. He put a Don Giovanni in a highly acclaimed production of Peter Brook on the game board. The musical direction had Claudio Abbado and his young student Daniel Harding with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. He invited directors such as Pina Bausch, Patrice Chéreau, Jérôme Deschamps and Macha Makeïeff and let perform contemporary operas such as Le Balcon by Péter Eötvös.
In the season 2006-2009 the ring of Richard Wagner was staged in the staging of Stéphane Braunschweig in co-production with the Salzburg Easter Festival. The conductor was Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. The operas were presented in Aix -en- Provence in July and received the following spring in Salzburg again.
Since 1 January 2007, the Belgian Bernard Foccroulle, former director of the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, held the line of the festival.
List of festival director
Places of Performances
The heart of the festival is the courtyard of the former archbishop 's palace. The performances will take place outdoors in the late afternoon here. The originally small stage of about seven meters deep and twelve feet wide has shaped your character the Festival. The farm has been set up later with rows of seats and a stage opening ( portal).
Concerts and performances will take place in many places in the city distributed instead: built at the Place des Quatre- Dauphin, at the Place des Cardeurs, at the foot of Mount Sainte- Victoire and since June 2007, also in specifically for this purpose and recently completed Grand Théâtre de Provence.