How do you navigate the multitude of summer festivals? Le Point offers a selection of cultural events offering music concerts (classical and modern) for all tastes…
Saintes Festival (Charente-Maritime) until July 22
It is an eclectic program imagined by the artistic director Hervé Niquet for the setting of the Abbaye aux Dames, both cutting-edge and popular. With there also a tribute to our British neighbors during a concert “God save the King” (July 21) with the spiritual concert to put back in the ear the soundtrack of the coronation.
Festival of Saintes – Abbaye aux Dames
Saoû sings Mozart (Drôme) until July 23
Every year in Provence, the Saoû chante Mozart festival offers a magical setting to the music of Wolfgang Amadeus. Because they shed a very unique light on the composer’s creative journey, his final works are, this year, put forward within the framework of this beautiful event.
Chorégies d’Orange (Vaucluse) until July 24
Like every summer, the city’s ancient theater hosts operas and concerts. The two greatest singers of the current opera scene (soprano Anna Netrebko and tenor Yusif Eyvazov) will perform there on July 24 “Gala” by Verdi.
Aix-en-Provence Festival until July 24
Radio France Festival (Montpellier) until July 28
Michel Orier (director of music and creation at Radio France) recently took over as head. His evenings give pride of place to jazz, but also to symphonic music, chamber music and electro. More than 90 concerts are organized in 40 different places. And 700 artists participate.
Festival 1001 notes (Limoges) July 25 to 29
An event that gives pride of place to musical diversity to “give a current flavor to classical music”. A breath of fresh air is indeed blowing on the event which, for example, on July 25 offers “the imaginary journey” which brings together the pianist Guilhem Fabre and the female choir of Music Chain for Ukraine, made up of Ukrainian women who have taken refuge in Paris for a program based on popular Ukrainian songs, but also Bach or Rachmaninoff or even on July 26 a “Mozart project” with the intriguing presence of an electric guitar.
Festival 1 001 Notes
Messiaen Festival (Hautes-Alpes) until July 30
Violin on the sand (Royan Plage) until July 29
The most seaside of summer festivals takes place squarely with your feet in the sand. Three concerts, subject to the vagaries of the weather, mostly free, only four stands are set up, you will have to come to the beach early, between 30,000 and 50,000 people are present for each concert. Accompanied by the festival’s symphony orchestra, nearly 75 musicians, mostly from the Opéra national de Paris, we will be able to hear Félicien Brut, Lucienne Renaudin Vary and Gautier Capuçon.
A violin on the sand
The Timeless (Creuse) July 24 to 30
Listening to music in the moonlight, by candlelight? This is what this festival like no other offers. Fifteen concerts are scheduled for a week around Argenton-sur-Creuse. Do not miss the recital of Astrig Siranossian (soloist of large orchestras regularly invited by the greatest philharmonies) at the edge of the ancient fountain of Argentomagus which opens the 2023 edition.
Verbier Festival (Switzerland) until July 30
30th anniversary for the Verbier Festival which, after the musical encounters in Évian at the end of June, welcomed conductor Zubin Mehta as the opening act. A shower of stars makes the trip for this vintage edition and in particular for the Gala evening (July 24): Barbara Hendricks, Gautier and Renaud Capuçon, Joshua Bell, Yo-Yo Ma, Wynton Marsalis, Renée Fleming… The festival, which aims to be a place of exchange, also offers educational programs for children or conferences. And for budding singers a delightful lyrical karaoke.
Program – Verbier Festival
Jazz in Marciac (Gers) from July 20 to August 6
Do we still present the Marciac festival? For 45 years, this event has honored the greatest jazzmen in the world. The 2023 edition offers a particularly eclectic program with MC Solaar and Sofiane Pamart and Norah Jones, Suzane Vega, Selah Sue, Gregory Porter, Ben Harper and Jacques Dutronc as guest stars.
Jazz in Marciac
Nice Classic Live until August 8
For its 6th edition, the festival relies on sure values: a celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sergei Rachmaninoff (August 1) or a literature and music evening (July 26). But it is also committed to digital modernity with end-of-session concerts by young talents from the Nice International Summer Academy (July 22-29 and August 5) broadcast on Twitch.
Nice Classic Live
Estivales du Haut Calavon from July 24th to August 9th
This unclassifiable festival mixes philosophy and music in the Davids wine estate. Between Ventoux and Lure, the enchanting setting through which the Calavon flows offers a splendid setting for a series of exceptional concerts, organized with the complicity of Christian Girardin, director of the Harmonia Mundi label. On the program this year, pianists Pascal Amoyel, Julien Libeer, but also double bassist Joëlle Léandre and saxophonist Evan Parker…
Haut Cavalon summer program
The Musical Hours of the Abbey of Lessay (Manche) until August 11
The Norman festival is celebrating its 30th anniversary, as is the soprano Marie-Andrée Bouchard-Lesieur, who for the occasion benefits from a carte blanche which she shares with several musician friends (July 25). In fact, all concerts are intended to be “like a party” at the height of the place that hosts them. There will be given in particular a “Tribute to the life and reign of Elizabeth II” (concert already given at the Tower of London) on August 4.
Musical Hours of Lessay Abbey
Mayenne Nights until August 11
Combining theatre, dance, circus and music, the festival founded by actor and director Jean Guichard celebrates its 50th anniversary in style. It offers three exceptional concerts: a musical version of Saint-Exupéry’s Little Prince, read by Thibault de Montalembert and accompanied by the Mayenne instrumental ensemble, a concert-conference by André Manoukian around the great figures of the history of music and a breathtaking evening to the sound of the group Mouv’N’Brass.
Citadel Nights (Sisteron) July 21-August 12
He was one of the lyrical stars of this season, we saw him everywhere, he will be on August 3 in Sisteron. Countertenor Jakub Jozef Orlinski will present for the occasion a program taken from his album Facce d’Amore. But the festival is not afraid to draw from all genres and will also offer dance (July 25) or theater (July 31).
Program – Citadel Nights
La Vézère (Corrèze) until August 12
For its poster, the 42nd edition of the classical music and opera festival in Corrèze has chosen the sensation of the accordion, Théo Ould, the first accordionist nominated for the revelations of the Victories of Classical Music. A choice of circumstance for a region that shares a long history with this instrument (July 25).
Vezere Festival
Périgord Noir Festival July 27 to August 19
The program for this 41st edition turns resolutely towards the east with the theme: “Vienna, music in the capital!” Enough to make way for a more angled program, the opportunity to (re)discover certain baroque instruments such as the viola da gamba and the harpsichord (August 4) or the baroque violin and the lute (August 6). The stars more familiar to the general public are not absent, however: Karine Deshayes (August 16), Alexandre Kantorow (August 18) or Anne Queffélec (August 19).
Black Perigord Festival
La Roque d’Anthéron until August 20
Nîmes Musical Encounters August 22 to 26
Young shoot of this selection, the festival, whose artistic direction is partly ensured by the pianist Alexandre Kantorow, with the violinist Liya Petrova and the cellist Aurélien Pascal, proposes for its second edition a large symphonic concert in opening. Then three evenings of chamber music, the opportunity to listen to these soloists, including the much sought-after winner of the Tchaikovsky competition, in a more intimate setting.
The Musical Meetings of Nîmes
La Chaise-Dieu Festival (Haute-Loire) August 17 to 27
The venerable festival of sacred music, which still displays 56 editions on the clock, offers the first program of Boris Blanco, new director general. If you didn’t have a seat in Westminster on May 6 to see Charles III, a catch-up screening of Handel’s Coronation Anthems by The Spiritual Concert is scheduled for August 6. The festival also inaugurates a cycle around Beethoven’s 9 symphonies which will take him to his 60th birthday.
La Chaise-Dieu Festival
Philharmonie de Paris until August 31
As part of the Cultural Olympiads which began this summer in Paris in preparation for the 2024 Olympics, the Philharmonie de Paris is offering a funny installation until August 31. Entitled Play With Me, and located in the gardens of the Parc de la Villette in front of the Cité de la Musique, these six device-instruments activated by the movements of visitors offer a curious musical experience to passers-by.
Luberon String Quartet Festival August 20 to September 3
The theme chosen this year for this event installed since 1976: “At the dawn of romanticism”. What to discover in the intimate setting of the abbey of Silvacane in La Roque d’Anthéron, the church of Cabrières-d’Avignon, that of Goult or Roussillon or even in the open air at the ecomuseum of Ocher, pieces around Schubert, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, etc. Note that for college students who would like to treat themselves to a little beauty before the start of the school year, the place is free and a reduction is offered to an accompanying person.
Luberon quartet festival
Berlioz Festival (Isère) from August 20 to September 3
Organized in La Côte Saint-André, birthplace of the romantic composer Hector Berlioz, this festival offers exceptional concerts (Marc Coppey and François Dumont, Renaud Capuçon, Jodie Devos accompanied by the Rameau orchestra) in singular heritage places (castles, abbeys…). John Eliot Gardiner will conduct the river opera Les Troyens for two consecutive evenings. Not to miss.
Festival Berlioz
Musicancy Festival (Yonne) until September 3
For its 20th anniversary, the festival runs throughout the summer with a program around the voice at the Château d’Ancy-le-Franc. In particular, on Sunday August 6, it offers a triple program, three Musical Promenades consisting of a “Musical Tournament” by the Ensemble Les Timbres, mysterious “Barriques baroques” by the Ensemble Artifices and a Bal Pop Jazz: Charleston, madison and co, with Pierre-François Dollé, choreographer specializing in historical dances.
Festival Musicancy
Ravel Festival in the Basque CountryAugust 23 to September 9
With the pianist Bertrand Chamayou as artistic director, this event (resulting from the merger of the Musique en Côte basque festival and the Académie Ravel) logically attracts prestigious guests. The Orchester des Champs-Élysées (August 23), the Labèque sisters (August 25), Renaud Capuçon in a public master class (August 30), the Orchester de l’Opéra national de Paris (August 31) or even Karine Deshayes (September 1). It should be noted that, faithful to its terroir, the festival also offers local and traditional catering on several concerts.
Festival Ravel