Rencontres Musicales de Champéry | Do you like Brahms ?

Featuring internationally renowned artists and key works from the repertoire, this new edition is sure to delight curious listeners and music lovers alike. As the concerts unfold, discover the many facets of Brahms: virtuoso pianist, chamber musician and orchestrator of genius.

It's through this nod to Françoise Sagan's book that we enter this new edition. But why Johannes Brahms?

Memories... last year, when we were on the trail of Bach, we evoked the famous German genealogy "of the 3 Bs": Bach-Beethoven-Brahms. With Beethoven's birthday coming up in 2020, the idea of completing this trilogy and exploring the work of Brahms made perfect sense, as he left us a staggering body of work!

Over the course of the concerts, we'll discover the different facets of this endearing composer: virtuoso pianist first and foremost, but also chamber musician and orchestrator of genius, as we owe to him the sublime Double Concerto for violin and cello, which we'll hear at the opening of this edition. We evoke his childhood in Hamburg, where he came into contact with gypsy folklore, but also his establishment in Vienna, from which he wanted to escape as soon as the warm weather returned, giving us some beautiful pages inspired by Swiss lakes and mountains. We'll take a closer look at his friendship with the Schumann family, as well as with clarinettist Mühlfeld, who inspired his final creative phase. Finally, we'll be charmed by Brahms's most danceable works for the voice, but also his most intense, as his extraordinary Requiem brings down the final curtain.

To serve this magnificent music, top-flight ensembles and artists will converge on Champéry. The Jerusalem and Pražák Quartets will be joined by clarinettist Sharon Kam and pianist Juliana Steinbach. We'll discover the Appassionato orchestra of Mathieu Herzog, a former member of the Quatuor Ebène, and the Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne, so popular last year, will be back. The most charismatic soloists of the younger generation will also be present: violinist Anna Egholm, cellist Estelle Revaz, harpist Laudine Dard, pianist Mélodie Zhao and coloratura soprano Odile Heimburger.

The traditional Jazz evening will be led this year by Thierry Lang, and comedian Benjamin Cuche will revisit Peter and the Wolf, much to the delight of children.

Dear audience, we look forward to seeing you again, so that we can all experience the intense emotions that this music promises... Do you like Brahms? If you still have doubts, we look forward to seeing you at the end of this 24th edition for the final verdict!

Program below.

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