Rencontres Musicales Champéry | Theatrical concert - Le Grand Tour

Theatrical concert - le Grand Tour

In the 18th century, "Le Grand Tour" enabled young English aristocrats to discover the various cultural and political facets of the continent. The journey lasted several months, even years. Olivier Fortin and his orchestra will retrace their itinerary in music, and actor Thomas Condemine will reveal their encounters, but also their antics, since these journeys were also an opportunity for welcome emancipation! The ultimate goal: Italy, the cultural beacon of the time.

Ensemble Masques
Renowned as much for its expressiveness and vitality as for its integrity and precision, Ensemble Masques fully embodies the multiplicity of the Baroque spirit. Since its creation, Ensemble Masques has deliberately chosen to explore different repertoires from the 17th and 18th centuries, rather than confine itself to one style or genre. This curiosity, inseparable from its identity, reflects the reality of composition in the Baroque period, in which different influences crossed and mixed. It has led the Ensemble to take an in-depth look at 17th-century Germanic music, to reveal Telemann's universalism and humanism, and to take an interest in the initiatory journey of the "Grand Tour", all artistic choices underpinned by a taste for exchange, mixing, borrowing and blending. Ensemble Masques is a regular guest at prestigious concert series and festivals in Germany, Italy, France, Portugal, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands and Belgium. It has also toured most of the major centers in Canada and the United States. Ensemble in residence at Abbaye de Cluny, it is supported by the DRAC Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, the Centre National de la Musique, SPEDIDAM and ADAMI.

Olivier Fortin | Harpsichord
An honors graduate of the Conservatoire de musique du Québec, OLIVIER FORTIN is the recipient of several scholarships for excellence that enabled him to pursue his training in Paris with Pierre Hantai and in Amsterdam with Bob van Asperen. Winner of the Montreal Bach Competition and the Bruges Competition, he is much in demand as a soloist and chamber musician. He performs throughout Europe, in Japan, China and South Korea, in Australia and New Zealand, and in the USA and Canada with Ensemble Masques, Capriccio Stravagante and the Tafelmusik baroque orchestra. He also performs with Skip Sempé and Pierre Hantaï in programs of music for two and three harpsichords. From 2004 to 2008, he taught harpsichord and chamber music at the Conservatoire de musique de Québec. He supervises and teaches at the Cluny summer course in early music, and is professor of basso continuo and chamber music at the École Supérieure de Musique de Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.

Thomas Condemine
Trained at the École du Théâtre National de Strasbourg, Thomas Condemine has performed in theater under the direction of Alain Françon, Stéphane Braunschweig, Yves Beaunesne, Nora Granovski, Elie Triffault... In recent years, he has collaborated with Laurent Pelly on various theater and opera projects: HARVEY at the Théâtre du Rond Point, SMYRNE'S L'IMPRESARIO at the Théâtre de L'Athénée and GYPSY at the Philharmonie de Paris. This season and next, he will play Orestes in ANDROMAQUE, directed by Stéphane Braunschweig (Théâtre National de Strasbourg, Théâtre des Célestins-Lyon, CDN Reims...). From 2012 to 2018, he was associate director at the Centre Dramatique National de Poitiers, and has appeared in films by Jérôme Bonnell, François Favrat and Thomas Blanchard. Alongside his acting and directing activities, he teaches at the École de la Comédie de Saint Etienne, in the Cours Florent Open Class, and accompanies amateur groups at the Théâtre de La Flèche in Paris.

Musicians:
- Ensemble Masques
- Thomas Condemine, actor
- Olivier Fortin, harpsichord and direction


- I. England & the crossing (Purcell - Marais)
- II. Paris & Versailles (Rameau - Corette)
- III. Switzerland (Rousseau)
- IV. Italy (Vivaldi - Marcello - Corelli)
- V. Germany (Bach - Telemann)

Practical information:
- https://www.rencontres-musicales.ch/

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