Midi du Festival — A NEW GOLDEN AGE OF FRENCH SINGING

With Samson, the two Iphigénies and Pelléas et Mélisande, French-language opera is in the spotlight at the 2024 Festival d'Aix. Each of these works stands as a manifesto in its own way, offering new reflections on the declamatory ideal. From Rameau to Debussy, the alliance of sound and word is reinvented: Samson and the two Iphigénies keep text and score closely connected, while Pelléas et Mélisande redefines the boundaries of the musical phrase by blurring its contours. This edition, which features many major figures in French singing as well as several international opera artists in title roles, testifies to the richness of French-language opera, and leads us to wonder if this is indeed a ‘new golden age’. Thanks to the insight of the performing artists and vocal coaches of these operas, the discussion examines the various aspects of singing in French: Is there such a thing as ‘French school of singing’ today? Is there a particular pleasure you feel when you sing in this language? In an international artistic context, how do you work a language that is not your own? How are you trained? What difficulties do you encounter?

WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF: Véronique Gens (Clytemnestre - Iphigénie en Aulide), Huw Montague Rendall (Pelléas - Pelléas et Mélisande), Lucile Richardot (Geneviève - Pelléas et Mélisande), Emma Fekete (Yniold - Pelléas et Mélisande) and Mathieu Pordoy (vocal and language coach - Pelléas et Mélisande).