30th Victoires de la Musique Classique this Wednesday: in competition, young revelations and real stars like Nemanja Radulovic, Bertrand Chamayou, or Barbara Hannigan. In the second part, a Best of will return to the best moments in the history of these ceremonies
The Victoires de la Musique Classique will celebrate their 30th edition this Wednesday, March 1st. The ceremony presented by Stéphane Bern, broadcast live on France 3 and France Musique from the Dijon Auditorium, starts at 9 p.m. Who are the nominated musicians? Who are the guests? What will we see for 30 years? Franceinfo summarizes what you need to know.
How is the ceremony?
Stéphane Bern will present the trophy presentation evening, punctuated by the performances of the musicians in competition and those of the guest artists. Behind the scenes, the journalist Clément Rochefort will collect in his “Bar de France Musique” the reactions of the artists in a more informal tone. Like last year, an opening number dedicated to dance is entrusted to Mehdi Kerkouche, a choreographer from hip-hop, but very marked by classical music.
On the musical level, the evening is designed with the Dijon Bourgogne Orchestra conducted for the occasion by Debora Waldman. This brilliant Brazilian conductor, raised in Israel, is until 2026 the musical director of the National Orchestra of Avignon-Provence, which makes her the first woman at the head of a French permanent national orchestra.
What are we doing for the 30th anniversary of Classical Victories?
At their beginning in 1985, the Victoires de la Musique included classical music and it was in 1994 that a separate ceremony was created. To celebrate their 30th anniversary, a Best of will be released after the ceremony. We will be able to relive the best moments with a few sequences notably devoted to exceptional musicians or international stars. We will also find these today essential artists who were revealed by the Victoires, such as Renaud and Gautier Capuçon (in 2000 and in 2001), Jean Rondeau (in 2015), Patricia Petibon (in 1998) or Sabine Devieilhe (in 2013) . Among the musicians who marked its history we will find three great voices of lyrical art – Natalie Dessay, Roberto Alagna and Karine Deshayes – in a sequence, and pianists like Bertrand Chamayou and Alexandre Tharaud or even Nicholas Angelich who left us on April 18, 2022.
Who are the guest artists?
The evening alternates the performances of the named artists and those of the guests, starting with the star Jakub Józef Orliński. The countertenor, until now faithful to the baroque, defends these days, on tour, a repertoire of Polish melody (19th and 20th centuries) which he proposed in his last disc Farewells. The soprano Faustine de Monès will perform, with the Ardeo Quartet, a piece of contemporary music by the great Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho. Other guest musicians, the conductor Jean-Christophe Spinosi with his Ensemble Matheus and the Maîtrise Populaire of the Opéra Comique for a sequence announced as special.
The competition: who are the nominees among the confirmed artists?
Barbara Hannigan, Raphaël Pichon, Lea Desandre, Alexandre Kantorow… We find the biggest names in classical and opera competing in the different categories of confirmed artists.
On the instrumental soloist side, the pianist Bertrand Chamayou, figure of the Victories if there is one (he has already won four, all categories combined), rubs shoulders with the star violinist Nemanja Radulovic, who leads a double career, with his chamber orchestra Double Sens and as a recitalist. Facing them, the violist Lucile Boulanger is renowned as much for the baroque repertoire alongside reference ensembles, as for her openness to the contemporary and to original collaborations such as the one with the hip-hop choreographer Mourad Merzouki.
For the Victoire lyrical artist, the competition promises strong moments by seeing three singers with a very assertive career opposing each other: the mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre, 30, Revelation lyrical artist at the Victoires de la Musique Classique in 2017, will face Barbara Hannigan, subscribed to exploits sometimes as a conductor sometimes as a soprano and Marina Viotti, a Franco-Swiss mezzo who began her career… in heavy metal.
If, this year, three women therefore compete in the lyrical artist category, none can be rewarded in the Composer category. Three male artists are named: Benjamin Attahir, also a violinist and conductor, Philippe Leroux, twice honored with the 2017 and 2018 “Contemporary Music Favorite” prize from the Charles Cros Academy, as well as Fabien Waksman, a talented composer from Roubaix. . The last three years, the Victory had been awarded to composers Camille Pépin in 2020, Betsy Jolas in 2021 and Kaija Saariaho in 2022.
There remains the Recordings category, submitted to the vote of the public – this is a novelty for this 30th edition – where we find very great figures of the classic: Bertrand Chamayou, Raphaël Pichon and his Pygmalion ensemble, and Alexandre Kantorow, winner of the very prestigious Tchaikovsky Prize.
Instrumental soloist nominees
. Lucile Boulanger, viola da gamba
. Bertrand Chamayou, piano
. Nemanja Radulovic, violin
The nominated Opera singers
. Lea Desandre, mezzo-soprano
. Barbara Hannigan, soprano
. Marina Viotti, mezzo-soprano
The appointed Composers
. Benjamin Attahir – Layal, for violin and orchestra (first performance / Germany)
. Philippe Leroux – The announcement made to Marie, opera (creation / France)
. Fabien Waksman – L’île du temps, concerto for accordion and symphony orchestra (CD Warner Classics J’ai deux amours)
The Named Records
. Twenty Looks at the Child Jesus, Messiaen, Bertrand Chamayou – Erato
. Matthäus-Passion, Johann-Sebastien Bach -Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon, S. Devieilhe, L. Richardot S. Degout – Harmonia Mundi
. Piano concertos n°1 & 2, Saint-Saëns, Alexandre Kantorow – Bis
The competition: who are nominated in the Revelations categories?
Focused above all on transmission, the Classical Victory ceremony gives them all its attention: they are the stars of tomorrow, these young talents who find in the Revelations category a great springboard for their future careers.
In the Instrumental Soloist Revelation category, three experienced musicians are in the running. At the age of 28, the cellist Aurélien Pascal, Classical Revelation of ADAMI in 2013, has already recorded several discs including one devoted largely to Zoltan Kodali, All’ungheresehailed by the press.
At the same age, clarinettist Joë Christophe had already played under the direction of conductors such as Simon Rattle and Alain Altinoglu and recorded his first personal disc of French and English repertoire. His other pleasure, playing jazz, kletzmer or even gypsy music.
The youngest in competition is Théo Ould, presented at 24, as “one of the most promising representatives of the new generation of accordionists”. His universe is classical but he also collaborates with contemporary composers such as Régis Campo, Thomas Gubitsch and Philippe Hersant.
The Lyrical Artist Revelation category is more feminine, opposing a soprano, a mezzo and a baritone.
Former violinist, soprano Alexandra Marcellier has already experienced the thrill of singing at Carnegie Hall in New York and made a short-term replacement, in 2021, in the title role of Madame Butterfly at the Monte-Carlo Opera.
The mezzo-soprano is Marine Chagnon, who combines the experience of the Jaroussky Academy and the Paris Opera Academy, thanks to which she played several roles. His first disc of Swedish melodies received critical acclaim.
The Victoires audience will finally discover the baritone Edwin Fardini: Adami’s classic revelation in 2019, he has already performed at La Scala in Milan in the role of Paris in Romeo and Juliet and sings regularly in training in L’Archipel, the ensemble he co-founded.
Like last year, in 2023 we find the Revelation conductor category, which rewards the direction of young talents. The candidates all already have serious baggage: Special prize at the International Competition for Conductors of Besançon (a true grail) in 2019, Victor Jacob is currently Musical Director of the Orchester national de Lyon des jeunes, but regularly conducts national phalanxes in France and abroad. Like Sora Elisabeth Lee, currently assistant conductor of the Orchester de Paris with Klaus Mäkelä. Or Lucie Legay, third in the running, who has also recorded a disc of French repertoire with a new version of Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals.
The named Revelation instrumental soloist
. Joe Christophe, clarinet
. Théo Ould, accordion
. Aurélien Pascal, cello
The named Revelation lyrical artist
. Marine Chagnon, mezzo-soprano
. Edwin Fardini, baritone
. Alexandra Marcellier, soprano
The appointed Revelation Conductor
. Victor Jacob
. Sora Elisabeth Lee
. Lucie Leguay