Anne Queffelec, all grace and nuance at La Roque d’Anthéron – Wukali

Anne Queffelec at the piano, Marion Tasousoprano, and theSinfonia Warsaw Orchestradirected by Aziz Shokhakimov, yes, really with grace in abundance this Monday August 8 at 9 p.m. in the park of the Château de Florans

In the program:
Mozart: Ch’io mi scordi di te?…Non temer, amato bene K. 505
Mozart: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 27 in B flat major K. 595
Dvorák: Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 “From the New World”

Anne Queffelec is back in the park of Florans. A festival regular, eagerly awaited and much loved by the public. His program this Monday, August 8 was devoted to mozart. Music lovers love her in all repertoires, but she is certainly for many a brilliant Mozartian.

Those who do not have the chance or the opportunity to attend the concerts of Roque d’Antheronwill have been able to discover the pianist on the small screen on August 1st: France television broadcast a concert of great beauty.

Another “headliner” of this evening, theorchestra Sinfonia Warsaw directed by Aziz Shokhakimovwhich thrilled the public on Friday August 5 with Alexander Kantorov in a program Tchaikovsky : Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 by Tchaikovskyand Liszt, Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in A major.

So we expected the best and we got it!

A little less convinced by the interpretation ofMarion Tasou in the mozart : Ch’io mi scordi di te?…Non temer, amato bene K. 505, a superb work so often sung by renowned singers and we remember sopranos who literally bewitched us. We never tire of the irresistible beauty of the main melody. Perhaps we are less sensitive to the particular timbre of the soprano, to its singular high notes? We recognize in Marion Tassou an excellent pronunciation and a nice phrasing and whatever it is, the soprano, the orchestra, Anne Queffelec on the piano, and this sublime song allowed us to have a great time and the public was visibly enchanted .

Anne Queffélec has the delicacy required to offer all the poetry of Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 27 in B flat major K. 595. It is the whole Mozartian soul that unfolds here. His playing is of indescribable beauty, combining light and melancholy, anguish and optimism, sticking so perfectly to this Mozart of lightness and sadness. The pianist distils all these pearly and colored notes with grace. She is one of the pianists who best reaches the intentions, the spirit of the composer, and makes his music sing. At times, the joy of living on the keyboard is contagious, and we are thrilled in these pages full of musicality where the orchestra and the soloist come together, in a smiling and luminous atmosphere, to then break away in tears and complaints. . It is often full of ambiguity, more complex than it seems in Mozart, and that is precisely what fascinates us in this piano concerto. There is always something to surprise us, something new that we had not perceived in other plays. Anne Queffélec’s performance finds an attentive and smiling partner in the charismatic Uzbek chef. No doubt, the pianist is delighted with this meeting under the starry sky of the park. Especially since the temperature has fallen, and a light breeze has invited itself. We breathe!

This sweetness will be accompanied by an encore, the Minuet in G minor of handelannounced by the pianist as a “ ritual at La Roque d’Anthéron because she offered it several times. Who will complain?

After a short intermission, a return full of fervor from this magnificent orchestra, whose commitment this year is decidedly extraordinary. The four movements of the symphony, while being very different, share the same momentum, the same dynamic. We are not in front of a well-oiled, mechanical “orchestral machine”, as is sometimes the case in this symphony full of tension and rigor.

Here the engagement in this epic and heroic journey offered by Aziz Shokhakimov is moving, full of promise. It is rich in inspirations from two continents, Europe and America.

The young conductor is part of the rest of the show, making his musicians obey him with conquering gestures. Much applauded the English horn. We liked him especially in ” Largo », the second movement of a touching nostalgia. A nostalgia that spreads even in the woods that dialogue subtly. We anticipate in our head, we are almost looking for this main theme, Allegro moltoa powerful leitmotif that carries us away.

The strings are still superb, full of mystery and we could still evoke the charm of the flutes. All the rest of the desks are highlighted and create beautiful sounds, and at the end of this concert, we understand even more why this New world full of fervor and panache, is also popular, in the noblest sense of the word.