within
SUONA FRANCESE
Festival di nuova musica
promoted by the French Embassy in Italy and
Culturesfrance
with the support of the Fondazione Nuovi Mecenati
in collaboration with Institut Français de Florence,
Tempo Reale, Fabbrica Europa
Programme
Pascal Contet, Improvisation I
Philippe Fénelon, Die Nacht (national premiere)
Pascal Contet, Improvisation II
Bernard Cavanna, L'album (national premiere)
Pascal Contet, Improvisation III
Luciano Berio, Sequenza XIII
Pascal Contet, Improvisation IV
Franck Bedrossian, Bossa nova (national premiere)
Pascal Contet, Improvisation V
Bruno Mantovani, 8'20'' chrono (national premiere)
Jacques Rebotier, Peut-être (national premiere)
Pascal Contet, the much-praised accordion-player, will give an account of repertory diversity through the eyes of three generations of composers: Luciano Berio with the melancholy Sequenza XIII (1995); Philippe Fénelon in an invitation to the poetry of the darkest hours of the night, occasionally overwrought, such as Die Nacht, played for the first time in 1998 on Radio France; and Bernard Cavanna who turns the pages of an evolutionary "accordion-album".
The young generation will be represented by Bruno Mantovani with 8'20", played for the first time at the Festival International de Musique of Besançon, and Franck Bedrossian in a creation commissioned by "Suona Francese".
Pascal Contet's improvisations will touch other sound aspects of an instrument in constant evolution and will be the fil rouge linking the works.
The concert will be recorded by Radio3 Rai.
Pascal Contet
"... I am five years old and I listen to my aunt on her accordion playing songs by Dalida, Rika Zaraï, Michel Sardou and other singers on the crest of the wave at that time. I clap, sing, dance.
You'll say: "what culture!", and I'll answer: "the accordion is celebration, family get-togethers, confirmations, christenings, weddings. It the sliding of patent leather shoes across a worn wooden floor, it is using one's musical talent to be listened to, to be heard, and to give pleasure. It is something repeated continuously: "You know, mum, I love the accordion!"
Born in Compiègne, France, in 1963, Pascal Contet is considered by international critics as one of the main interpreters of the contemporary accordion and of the renewal of its repertory. His wish to go beyond the frontiers of art and style led him to improvised and theatrical music (Jean-Pierre Drouet, Andy Emler, Vinko Globokar, Jacques Rebotier), and to take part in choreographical productions with, among others, Jean-Claude Gallotta e Angelin Preljocaj and Emmanuelle Huyhn.
He has also taken part in the creation of works by Luciano Berio, Bernard Cavana and Jean Francaix.
In the course of his career he has received numerous awards (DAAD, Lavoisier, Menuhin, Cziffra) and in 1989 he was awarded the Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet Foundation Prize for Vocation by President François Mitterand.
In 1995, together with violinist Noëmi Schindler and cellist Christophe Roy, he founded the Trio Allers - Retours, a tribute to his love of chamber music. In this field, his album with double-bass player Joëlle Léandre is memorable.
As soloist, he has played with Radio France's Orchestre Philharmonique, with the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, and with the Philharmonics of Lorraine, Göttinger, Podebrady and Timisoara.
