Mythos Europa – Sounds of Europe

The spirit of Europe is rooted in antiquity and the name of our continent has been associated with the mythological figure of Europa since ancient times. As legend goes, she was the daughter of a Phoenician king who lived on the coast of what is now Lebanon. She was abducted to Crete by Zeus, father of the gods, where she would give her name to the entire continent. One of the most important ideas that was spread around the world in connection with the »Myth of Europe« is undeniably democracy! However, since the late Middle Ages, the arts and especially music, have also played a central role in shaping Europe’s cultural identity. Under the title »Mythos Europa – Sounds of Europe«, each year the festival has cast a musical spotlight on a neighbouring country since 2021. After Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Austria in previous years, the focus is now on France.

For centuries, France has shaped and enriched the classical music scene. The foundations were already laid in the Middle Ages, when the troubadour poetry of William IX of Aquitaine was followed by composers such as Guillaume de Machaut and Clément Janéquin with their musical stories in verse and motets. Under the reign of King François I (1494-1547), Paris became not only the political but also the cultural centre of France. For centuries, music life was centred around the royal court, the aristocratic houses and the university. During the Baroque, court life and the representation of the monarchy through art reached its zenith. Composers such as Jean-Baptiste Lully, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, François Couperin and Jean-Philippe Rameau were the leading names of this golden age. After the turmoil of the French revolution, the »Grand Opéra«, the French version of a prestigious, large-scale kind of opera, established itself with composers such as Giacomo Meyerbeer and Daniel-François-Esprit Auber. By the middle of the 19^th century at the latest, Paris had finally become the world’s undisputed cultural capital! The list of composers who worked and made their mark here is manifold and ranges from Frédéric Chopin, Hector Berlioz and Jacques Offenbach to César Franck, Camille Saint-Saëns and Charles Gounod to Jules Massenet, Georges Bizet, Léo Delibes and Gabriel Fauré. Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel then heralded musical impressionism, which in turn was succeeded by the neo-realism of Francis Poulenc, the minimalism of Erik Satie and the avant-garde sounds of Olivier Messiaen and Pierre Boulez in the 20^th century. At the same time, the chansons of Edith Piaf, Juliette Gréco, Boris Vian, Charles Aznavour, Françoise Hardy, Serge Gainsbourg & co cemented France's worldwide reputation as a nation of music.

This fascinating interplay between eras and genres is reflected in many of our concerts – with the best musicians anyone could wish for. At the opening night, the programme offered by Les Musiciens du Louvre puts Offenbach and Bizet centre stage, while Félicien Brut, Thibaut Garcia and Lucienne Renaudin Vary tackle the chanson. The Quatuor Van Kuijk draws on music by Fauré and Ravel for its »Impressions parisiennes«, as does Lucas Debargue in his piano recital, while Richard Galliano confronts his »New Musette« with Astor Piazolla. Thomas Dunford highlights the magic of his lute with music by Marin Marais, while in »Idylle«, he and mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre cover a wide range of music from Charpentier to Offenbach and Debussy to chansonnière Barbara. The Nevermind quartet presents little-known Baroque chamber music by Jean-Baptiste Quentin. Philippe Herreweghe, the Orchestre des Champs-Elysées and the Collegium Vocale Gent bring Luigi Cherubini's Requiem with them and remind us that this Italian-born composer was one of the leading composers of the French Classical and early Romantic periods. Thierry Escaich will perform his own work as well as a composition by Louis Vierne, one of his predecessors as titular organist of Notre-Dame. Other featured French ensembles such as Il Caravaggio, Le Concert Spirituel and Le Concert de la Loge prove with non-French repertoire just how rich and vibrant musical life still is in the »Grande Nation«.

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