From small chamber music groups to large international orchestras, our partners are major players in the return of music in France and around the world.
While the world of culture has been particularly impacted by the international public health crisis, France is doing well. Societe Generale Foundation’s partners are playing a key role in the return of the musical season.
Countertenor Philippe Jaroussky is one of the world’s best known opera stars. He has managed to popularise the countertenor voice, which enables him to sing the repertoire of the famous castrati of the Renaissance and the Baroque period. With our partner, the Concert de la Loge ensemble, conducted by Julien Chauvin, Philippe Jaroussky will be touring Europe this autumn. In France and then in Germany, they will perform the music sung by Giovanni Carestini, the great rival of the castrato Farinelli.
In October, at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the cream of French art-ists will put on “Pelléas et Mélisande”, the only opera by Claude Debussy: they include director Eric Ruf from the Comédie Française, costume designer Chris-tian Lacroix, lighting designer Bertrand Couderc and conductor François Xavier Roth. A leading specialist in French music, he will conduct some great voices (Pa-tricia Petibon, Stanislas de Barbeyrac and Lucile Richardot) and, of course, his orchestra Les Siècles, a privileged partner of Societe Generale.
Les Talens Lyriques, an ensemble specialising in Baroque opera that we have been supporting since 2019, is on the bill at La Scala in Milan. This is a major event, as Italy’s most prestigious opera house rarely stages Baroque music played on period instruments. At the end of October, conductor Christophe Rousset, founder of Les Talens Lyriques, will conduct “La Calisto” by Italian composer Francesco Cavalli (1602-1676), directed by David McVicar. Based on Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the opera about the tragic fate of the nymph Calisto has impressed audiences since the 17th century. Only 930 of the 2030 seats availa-ble at La Scala in Milan have been offered for sale.
In November, our partner ensemble Le Concert d’Astrée will present the opera “Idomeneo” at the Staatsoper in Berlin. After having performed Mozart’s opera “Idomeneo”, conductor Emmanuelle Haïm dares to present another opera in Berlin inspired by the same story, but written by André Campra in 1712. This French composer, renowned in the time of Louis XIV, is largely unknown in Germany. He returns to the Concert d’Astrée to defend the music in the homeland of Bach, Haydn and Beethoven!
And while “made in France” culture is spreading across the globe, the world is also coming to France. Since its opening in 2015, the Philharmonie de Paris has hosted the world’s greatest orchestras. On 1 September, the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra will open the season of major orchestras, for which we are the main sponsor. The orchestra specialising in Wagner will be followed a few days later by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and in December by the London Symphony Orchestra.