VS’has been the big meeting place for classical music on television since 1994, the year when classical music began to deliver its own victories, without the tutelage of its big sister of varieties. This Wednesday evening, for this last ceremony before the 30and anniversary, it is the Grand Théâtre de Provence, in Aix-en-Provence, which hosts the festivities, presented by the passionate Stéphane Bern.
To ensure a public service mission of promoting classical music and its (young) talents while succeeding in bringing together the widest possible audience, it is on this crest line that the Victories of Classical Music walk. All after two trying years for live performance and artists and in a context of war, which has strong repercussions on classical music. The Ukrainian anthem will also be played this evening by the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra, which will accompany the nominated artists and those invited throughout the evening. A brief overview of this ceremony in 5 points.
As we have said, one of the challenges of this ceremony is to showcase classical music on television – a musical genre which only has a few limited exhibition windows per year – while managing to show the vitality and diversity of this musical genre.
“We wanted to renew our image with new modern, sober and dynamic sets, a redesigned rhythm, and a new way of putting the music on stage and in images. We continue to loosen the tie, while remaining elegant and chic,” explains Marc Voinchet, president of the event and director of France Musique.
And for this, the production has notably planned a dance number to open the evening, with the key to the promise of a beautiful dynamism. An opening thought up by the choreographer and director Mehdi Kerkouche, from hip-hop and invited by Aurélie Dupont at the start of the 2020 school year to sign a piece for the dancers of the Paris Opera ballet. Its overture of 2 minutes 30 will have as its theme transmission, a ballet where we can admire eleven dancers from his company EMKA Dance Project and students from the National School of Dance in Marseille.
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A new award-winning category
New for this year 2022, the Victory “revelation, conductor”. “This new award is essential because it will give exposure to a whole generation of chefs who are flourishing in France. It is important to highlight them, explains Marc Voinchet. It’s a spotlight and an important boost, but also an act of pedagogy around this rare profession. They are three to compete for this first and all are under 35 years old, it is one of the conditions to be named in this category. We find there the fine flower of young chefs. Stephanie Childress, Franco-British born in 1999, began music at a very young age with the violin and decided to become a conductor as a teenager. Supervised in particular by the English chef Simon Rattle, in 2020 she won the 2and prize at the first edition of the La Maestra International Competition for Conductors.
Facing her, Chloé Dufresne, 30, passed through the direction of choirs before moving towards the orchestra, partly trained in Finland and winner last year of the 3and Prize at the prestigious Malko International Competition. The chef is currently leading the 5and production of the French Center for Lyrical Production, The journey to the moon d’Offenbach, alternating with Pierre Dumoussaud, the last named in this category.Born in 1990, he began as a bassoon before moving on to conducting; in 2017, he won the International Competition for Opera Conductors organized by the Royal Opera of Wallonia. “A turning point in my career”, he explained to us in December 2020. While awaiting a hypothetical reopening of theaters, he entrusted us with the responsibility he felt as a young chef “to seek out the public of tomorrow “. The chefs of tomorrow are there.
The premiere of the viola da gamba
Another first for this 2021 edition in the “revelation, instrumental soloist” category, forget pianos and violins, make way for the viola da gamba! Valentin Tournet (almost reached the age limit of 25) is indeed the first gambist (or violist) named in the history of the Victories of Classical Music.
The viola da gamba is a stringed instrument, a cousin of the violin, the cello, or even the guitar or the lute, which is played with a bow and the instrument placed between the legs. The viola da gamba developed from the Renaissance until the 18thand century, where it falls into oblivion, supplanted by the cello. The instrument returns to the XXand century thanks to the trend of baroque music and playing on period instruments.
This surprising instrument is the hero of the film All the mornings of the world by Alain Corneau, which stages the French composer of the XVIIand century, Marin Marais, played by Gérard Depardieu and his relationship with another composer, Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe, played by Jean-Pierre Marielle. The feature film received the César for best film in 1992 and contributed to the notoriety of this ancient instrument as well as that of the person who interprets the pieces of viola da gamba in the film: Jordi Savall.
And it is in particular this film which is at the origin of the vocation of Valentin Tournet, who begins the viola da gamba at 5 years old after having had a real crush on the instrument while watching the film. In 2017, he founded the ensemble La Chapelle harmonique, which brings together a choir and an orchestra playing on period instruments and pursues a prolific career. Facing him a violinist: Marion Galy, and a pianist: Jérémie Moreau.
Two years ago, this same category had already distinguished itself with an instrument named for the first time, the baroque violin of Théotime Langlois de Swarte, he had not won, but try his luck again this year, this time in the category “instrumental soloist”
For the curious who would like to know this instrument better, Radio France is organizing a day and 4 concerts on Sunday March 27 to celebrate the viola da gamba.
Women and youth first
Since 2010, no category has rewarded an ensemble (excluding best recording). A choice that can be questioned in a profession that often lives through the collective, but which reflects the desire to highlight individualities, in a form of “starification”.
Among the 18 nominees in this 2022 vintage, there are more women (11) than men. A trend that has imposed itself for several years among the artists selected for the Victories of Classical Music. A few years ago, they were still counted on the finger of one hand. It should also be noted that this year, women are present in all categories and are no longer confined to the “lyrical” categories. For the 3and consecutive year, it is also a conductor, Ariane Matiakh, who will be at the baton of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Nice, which accompanies the evening.
We must also salute in this year’s selection the great part given to young people – including in the categories which are not capped by age limits – and which clearly reflects the vitality of the French classical music landscape. Showing once again, if necessary, that this is not an “old” musical genre.
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Who decides on the winners of the Victories?
The rules for awarding the Victories of Classical Music are subject to well-defined regulations, but a bit complicated to follow. For this 29and edition, 7 victories are to be distributed: “instrumental soloist”, “lyrical artist”, “revelation, instrumental soloist”, “revelation, lyrical artist”, “revelation, conductor”, “composer” and “recording”.
Be careful, therefore. In November, a first round of voting is organized for a college of 350 voters of professionals in the sector for instrumental soloists or lyrical artists, excluding revelations, and “recordings”. Voters then receive a “memory” with a list of artists, but they are free to add names as long as they correspond to the criteria of the category: area and period of activity, not having received this same victory in the previous three years. With regard to the discs, a list of 100 recordings was previously drawn up by a jury of 18 people.
After this first vote, the 8 names having received the most votes in each category reach the second round. For the 3 above-mentioned categories, it will make it possible to determine the 3 nominees and the winner among them.
But new categories appear at this time: the three “revelations” and “composer”. There, no proposal of artists, but lists of names, drawn up by restricted juries. This second ballot will allow to decide between the candidates for the Victory of the composer of the year, but not yet the revelations.
We now come to 3and round for the remaining 3 categories. In mid-January, a concert is organized with the 9 nominated artists, 3 per category. They are then decided by the votes of the public (50%) and those of a jury of personalities (50%).
The complexity of these rules, coupled with the requirements of each category, does not prevent, as on the side of their cousin “of varieties”, some from being repeat offenders of Victories. Thus the soprano Natalie Dessay, who accumulates 6 Victories of the lyrical artist of the year. Among this year’s nominees, cellist Emmanuelle Bertrand has already been awarded a revelation Victory in 2002, soprano Sabine Devieilhe was a revelation in 2013 then Victoire de l’artiste lyrique in 2015 and 2018 and baritone Ludovic Tézier, Victoire him also the opera singer in 2006 and 2013.
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The 2022 nominees:
instrumental soloist
Emmanuelle Bertrand, cello
Sol Gabetta, cello
Théotime Langlois de Swarte, baroque violin
lyrical artist
Sabine Devieilhe, soprano
Barbara Hannigan, soprano
Ludovic Tezier, baritone
Revelation, instrumental soloist
Manon Galy, violin
Jeremie Moreau, piano
Valentin Tournet, viola da gamba
Revelation, opera singer
Sarah Aristidou, soprano
Marie-Andrée Bouchard-Lesieur, mezzo-soprano
Eugenie Joneau, mezzo-soprano
Revelation, conductor
Stephanie Childress
Chloe Dufresne
Pierre Dumoussaud
Composer
Benoît Menut – Une Odyssée, for vocal ensemble taking percussion, Commissioned by the Musicatreize ensemble (creation / France)
Alex Nante – Sinfonia del cuerpo de luz (creation / France)
Kaija Saariaho – Innocence, opera (creation / France)
Registration
“BariTénor”, Michael Spyres – Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Marko Letonja – Erato Warner Classics
“Screams”, Thierry Escaich – Choir and conductor of Radio France, Philharmonic Orchestra of Radio France, Soloists of the National Orchestra of France, Mikko Frank – Radio France
“The mad lover”, Thomas Dunford & Théotime Langlois de Swarte – Harmonia Mundi